Class 158 at Ruabon   Photo: El Pollock Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

I read a small item in the “Independent” newspaper recently about the charges imposed by Arriva Trains Wales for returning a wallet lost by a passenger – this statement in particular:

A man who lost his wallet was left outraged after a train company charged him £2 and 10 per cent of the cash inside to retrieve it. 

I can understand an admin fee at the company’s lost property office – but 10% of the content?

It’s not as though ATW aren’t doing well – according to the ORR annual report in October 2017:

“Arriva Trains Wales (26.3p) received the largest subsidy per passenger km this year.”

The TOCs are all getting subsidies from Government – so maybe “privatisation” has been achieved in name only.  This is what last year’s summary showed:

Source: Office of Rail and Road  11 October 2017 2016-17 Annual Statistical Release – Rail Finance

So after over 26 years of “privately run trains” on the national rail network, all of these operators still need a subsidy.

But, it seems, according to the Independent’s investigation, “Arriva Trains Wales” are not alone in charging to return lost property:

UK TRAIN COMPANIES CHARGE PASSENGERS UP TO £25 TO RETRIEVE LOST PROPERTY

Perhaps this is not so much the age of the train, and more the drain on your wallet if you leave anything behind.

-oOo-