A Londoner in GermanySusan Ranger works for a charity in London’s Barbican building. She is one of more than a million people who commute into London by rail every day. She travels from Thorpe-le-Soken in Essex to the offices of a charity in the Barbican – and pays & 4,428 for her season ticket. It is a journey of just over 70 miles, so we took her to a town the same distance outside Berlin – Jessen on the river Elbe. She left on the 0643 and, after changing trains a few stops down the line at Lutherstadt Wittenberg, stepped onto the platform at Berlin Hauptbanhof at 0756. Two minutes late – but she did not worry about that. The single ticket cost 22.10 euros (&15.20) – more than &10 cheaper than the same journey on Susan’s normal route. She rated Deutsche Bahn trains highly for comfort. “The trains are a lot quieter than in Britain,” she said. “And so smooth – you can really relax. The seats are bigger too.” Transport experts put the difference in price mainly down to different levels of public funding – and the extra pressure on the UK’s transport system because Britain is so densely populated. Anthony Smyth, chief executive of the rail watchdog Passenger Focus, says passengers will judge the cost of their journeys at home in comparison with other European countries. “The fact is, for many comparable journeys it is cheaper on the passenger. We know from our research that many passengers feel they are not getting value for money.” Richard Milton, the head of rail and the transport analyst Steer Davies Gleave, says the UK is not necessarily getting less for more. “Passengers are getting a better deal,” he says, “but I’m not sure taxpayers are.” “Germany is very good at integration – timetables match up.” “But the UK is better at providing information for passengers.”
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