The unexpected news that the trains in parts of Surrey have been upgraded by Govia Thameslink Rail must have created a great deal of envy in Japan. After all it was only ten months ago that Chris Grayling told MPs: “I have already told the Japanese transport minister that, although he has good trains on the suburban network in Tokyo, our trains from are better and that he should buy some for his network.” However the commuters in Surrey are not very happy as they are now being forced to pay a 12% increase in the cost of their season tickets that cover the route affected. The 12-carriage Class 700 Thameslink trains have been introduced to 17 services on the Southern route between Littlehampton and London Bridge via the west coast and Hove, and between Horsham and London Bridge. A spokesman for the rail firm said the trains are 50 per cent longer, offering 1,300 more seats a day : “GTR is modernising the network with new trains, upgraded infrastructure and new ways of working to create faster, more frequent journeys across the network. “This will help address the huge growth in passenger numbers which have doubled in just 12 years on services into London. “As part of this we are introducing new longer Thameslink trains and more frequent services at these stations from May to create quicker, seamless journeys across central London, with a new interchange at Farringdon for Crossrail and the Elizabeth line.

The cost of extra infrastructure is clearly high and the money has to come from somewhere, however in businesses where footfall doubles in 12 years, one would assume that the increased numbers would go a long way to covering all of the costs. Clearly extra passengers makes extra demand on the system such as the need for longer trains but in most settings, the greater the number of customers, the lower the cost of running the business. Any investment in trains will surely be counterbalanced by future fares? As the chart above shows our fares are already the highest in Europe, but there was no comparison to Japaneses fares so perhaps they pay even more for the trains which Mr Grayling believes are less comfortable than ours!