On the rare occasions I use public transport I remember why I usually don't

[soupyspoon]

Packed to the gills despite it being very late at night, drunks, no working toilets, filthy, seats too small, migraine inducing lights. Still got half hour to go.

Vive la car

You'd be surprised how often people will just pile on to the nearest one and ignore the other. Certainly works well with three.

Sorry to hear that.
But did he have no friends or relatives who could have picked him up?
I agree that cars are often needed esp outside city centres and not everyone is a young lycra clad cyclist.
Some of us are older frailer dopier or have to carry those who cannot cycle or use buses.

I love my public transport but then again we've had a revamped train station, a brand new station car park, new rails, new trains and the works in the last decade and commuting into London is now very pleasant. Appreciate this is not UK wide. Also the number of smelly drunks on the 6:18 is zero, it's all well mannered fellow commuters. I am lucky and do realise this, and genuinely enjoy commuting on public transport.

Literally after posting on here I had to use the train with DC and my goddness! No seats anymore on platforms , train delayed which worried me as I had to get connection.
That worked out ok but not without stress.

However coming back there was a power failure far up the line and this impacted us ,the platform was dangerously crowded people told to go to one platform then another , crowds packed trying to get up and down stairs in heat.

One poor older lady was asking someone what's going on because she was desperate for loo had been diverted didn't know which train to get and didn't want to miss it.
The boards were not displaying any correct info and one of my biggest bug bears....inaudible announcements.

We all straining to hear what the hell is going on

Absolute bloody carnage. Things happen but it's the way it's handled.

I was once so squashed there wasn't even enough room to sit down on the floor - literally standing room only. This was a 2 hour journey on a train. Never again.

I use a bicycle for local journeys because that is by far the fastest, easiest and most convenient way to travel around my town compared to local buses. The trains recently have been poor, I have been averaging a delay-repay once a week over the last year and I only commute for work twice a week. I wonder if there are any other countries with temperate climates where the infrastructure cannot cope with conditions equivalent to a one year return period (i.e. 30C temperatures in SE England in summer).

The classic response to this is that the trains can't be that bad if so many people are using them and are willing to pay the perceived high fares. Otherwise known as flicking through the book of excuses to avoid bothering to improve something.

I have lived in London for over 35 years. Love the tube and love the buses. I don’t take it for granted how frequent the services are. I can think of under 5 occasions where there has been proper antisocial behaviour. My major issue currently is people who watch videos without headphones.

But I love our public transport system. I prefer our London services to the Paris Metro or the New York subway.

One of the reasons I'm glad I live in London is that I don't need to drive everywhere. Traffic is appalling.
I'm over 60 so I get free travel and it's amazing.

London has one of the best transport systems in the world but sounds like the rest of the country needs to catch up.

I have a small car, but rarely use it.

Also, if you're pregnant / need a seat, just ask. I think most people don't notice beyond their own phones.

No he doesnt have people just able to pick him up at a the drop of a hat. I live 2 hours away by car and work full time, same as my partner. My sister also lives 2 hours away in the opposite direction, his own sister who is frail and wouldnt be able to support anyway is 5 hours away. Thats it, thats all he has. He is a carer for my mum. Its not too much to expect that he is able to make his own way to places.

Out of interest, are there walking routes to your new station and bike paths? I ask because I drove past a 'new' station recently and couldnt work out for the life of me how people actually got to it, in fact I couldnt work out if it was a normal station or not, no pavements, on a dual carriageway

Hope one day you experience the poverty and have to use it daily in rush hours

For some trips I like to drive. It works well when there are no convenient public transport routes, or I'm travelling late/early in the day, or I want the freedom to be spontaneous and stop/visit places along the way, or when there are several of us making the same trip.

For other trips I like to take public transport. It works well when there's a high frequency service on the route I want to travel, when the costs are low, and when I want to have a drink or two before I go home. The local train service has recently changed so there's a direct route to a place on the other side of the city where I often go for nights out, and they've added a 'tap on, tap off' card payment option. I can take children with me for free.

For yet others I like to walk or cycle. These are the quickest modes of transport for short journeys, keep me fit and are fun too.

They all have their strengths and weaknesses, and I'm glad I have options..

I really like trains for long distances. You can relax and read a book and it's generally much faster. They seem to have got much more crowded lately though.
I was coming back from Blackpool in January and treated myself to a first class ticket. It was lovely.

My parents, after enjoying the decent trains in my country, got back to the UK yesterday and went home by train. Train got cancelled so they had to take a different train into London, then from London to Norwich. Train to Norwich had to slow down so much because of trespassers on the line they missed their next train to home. They didn't have anything bad to say about the conditions of the trains or the other passengers though.

@soupyspoon yes you can walk and cycle, it’s a refurb of a really old town centre based station

When you grow up in a country that has virtually no public transport, what the UK has seems amazing. London's public transport is great, and cheap. Friday and Saturday night trains always have a few drunks but so what. I'm just glad young people are getting home safely.

Every time I drive, I remember why I hate it and rarely do it!

Yup. I wouldn't use public transport again if you paid me.

Driving allllllll the way. Cheaper, safer, faster, cleaner - all things that should apply to public transport but don't!!!

Driving's great till you can't find a parking space. Or you're stuck in a traffic jam and can't just abandon your car to find an alternative as you could if you were on a bus, or totally avoid the jams as you would if you were on a train.

London transport is pretty great. Much better than it used to be.

I reserve my ire for commuting service’s trains; these are really disgusting dirty and scruffy. They actually stink due to the lack of cleaning and poor ventilation. It costs a packet to use and interior is an eyesore. Nothing about these trains has changed for 30 years except the service has got worse and worse. Commuting into central London by car is just not tenable, but when I do use a car, it’s so much more comfortable.

It isn't too bad where I am. The buses are usually very clean and run on time 95% of the time. They do take ages to get anywhere though and it's rotten if you're stuck with a serial farter.

I find that a lot of people who complain about the UK don't actually know what it's like in other countries. Obviously Switzerland is great, but people are shocked when I tell them how much chaos I've endured almost every time I pass through Germany. Or how antiquated some of the trains still used in France are. I have a game that I play in Belgian railway stations: how long does it take to spot a train which hasn’t been graffitied.

I live in central London, and rarely drive now - too many roads closed off to be pedestrian friendly, a nightmare to find parking, let alone pay for it, congestion charge, even at the reduced residents rate...
Not overkeen on the tube, but buses are OK.