When a cause comes around that really means something to you, you have to grab it with both hands. Which is why I hauled myself out of bed at 7am yesterday morning (on a day off work) to go down to Bath Spa station and take part in the Worst Late Western fare strike, organised by MoreTrainLessStrain.
The verdict? Media attention was hot – cameras, interviews, reporters, even Dom Joly of Trigger Happy TV was outside Bath station in the rising light. I caught his attention for a moment, and asked Mr. Joly what brought him to the fare strike. And then immediately wished I’d said something matey and funny like “I’M AT A STRIKE!”. Or something like that. Sigh.
Joly is making a film about rail travel – seemingly focusing on First Great Western especially. He’s had personal experience of the “ridiculously expensive” service, he told me, and he turned up to the strike because “we need to start complaining more”. He’s bloody right, too. And, all credit to him, Joly rode the Bath-Bristol line, refused to pay and got his name taken by FGW – who have yet to decide what to do with the contact details of the 100 “fare evaders”, as FGW calls them.
I wish I’d tagged along. Instead I followed the line I get when travelling to London, where my girlfriend lives, and went to Chippenham and back. Which meant I missed where the real action was, with the cow-faced protesters and all. And, worse, the only ticket inspector that got near me was delayed, and then distracted, by his broken ticket machine. Which meant my ‘fare strike’ was me presenting the Bath Spa guard my strike ticket as I left the station.
Before giving him my paid ticket. Hey, I’m all for taking part in the protest, but I don’t fancy paying the even more ridiculously expensive penalty fees. Actually, talking to a few people around, the real thing missing was a united front on the actual platforms, reinforcing that feeling of power in numbers, though I’m sure there was that sort of impact on some of the Bath-Bristol services.
Anyway, if First Great Western continue spouting meaningless and non-committal nonsense about the percentage of services improved, instead of addressing the fact that the trains are less a public transport service and more an expensive and exploitative method of lining the pockets of fat cat investors, there’ll be plenty of other fare strikes in the future!
