Christmas Non-Service

You hit the nail on the head in your post when you said other cities see it as a service.
Unfortunately in this country the current fashion is to see everything as a business and 'business models' and Xmas Day running does not fit the current business model.

Its all about convincing people to give up whats still considered a sacred day to be working on...

I think it'll come eventually, services on Christmas Day... just got to convince the staff, dangle a big enough carrot.........

It's a contentious thing - there are some staff who have to work (hospital nurses/ doctors/ support staff, carers, emergency services, security guards, maintenance staff etc). Although some employers are generous and lay on taxis, many do not and so a low paid worker may spend a considerable amount of money on transport. Then there are people who may visit relatives in hospital etc.

I'm not so sure about flat money - I presume most will be paid handsomely for it. Personally speaking I would love to work on Christmas day and take the money but then I'm young and broke. (Of course, should the employee agree to remove such payments in return for a higher basic wage that's up to them).

To be honest I'm more surprised at the lack of service on the buses - a skeleton service, perhaps of the night routes only, would allow those who need to travel to do so. I'm presuming that the extra closure allows more time for maintenance / "upgrade" work.

And I see that at least one of the major chains is starting their Boxing Day sale at 0600!!!

Just to whose advantage is that??

It's all down to business, and always has been even in the 'good old days'. I remember taking a woman from a village to the town hospital one Sunday afternoon in the late 70s, just one week before the Sunday service was withdrawn. She was the only passenger (normally that bus ran empty for the whole journey every Sunday).

She was complaining bitterly about the Sunday services going so I asked her how often she used it - - the answer was "this is the first time in 5 years, but they should still keep running it just in case".

Yes, I do feel sorry for the hospital workers and the non-car-owners who want to visit relatives on Christmas day; but any subsidised service is done so with OUR money, so from aspect are we really that altruistic?? Discuss!!

Which is why any such service should be tailored to the needs of the people using it. Edinburgh runs buses on Christmas day and they're well used by the groups of people I specified above. Many services may be unprofitable because they are not at a convenient time, or take a long route or whatever - which means that when it's withdrawn and people complain the company can wheel out the "it's-not-making-money" argument, even when it's been set up to fail.

Public transport is, ultimately, there for the benefit of the public (in London, at least - outwith London it's there to make money for shareholders) and should be there when people need it. OK laying on a rush-hour style service for a very few people is NOT the right way to do it, but the needs of those who MUST travel at times such as Christmas Day should be considered.

I think it's a lot cheaper to lay on extra buses than to run a meaningful train service.

Most public transport operators seem to think that they can replace the carrot with a stick.

Nonsense.
I know of several staff that spent last year scraping ice from in front of their train and applying sand by hand so that they could get moving.
Plus those that spent several hours getting to and from work and those that put up passengers stranded at stations.

I have German friends some of whom work in the transport industry. At Christmas if they are required to work they are paid double time and a half + time off in lieu. If the British transport industry offered the same I'm sure there would be no difficulty in finding sufficient staff to cover all services. One of my German friends was complaining bitterly because all duties over Christmas had been filled and he lost out on all that extra money. The difference is that public transport in Germany is still seen as that, a public service. Not as a means of making a vast profit.

At risk of straying too far, but London Transport shot itself in the foot many years ago, and that's why it doesn't turn a profit over.

But, having been to Germany many a time, I have found that the employees 'work ethic' is so different to some workers in the UK... here we seem to focus too much on how much £££ can be had for the least amount of effort. Which is a shame really...

In the past, I've always welcomed working on Bank Holidays and Boxing Day. I'd work Christmas Day, simply because it would get me out of the house, and I wouldn't be subjected to having to watch The Poseidon Adventure for the 12th Xmas running, or whatever trash was on the gogglebox. Yet, in the past employments I have had, people have thought I was mad volunteering or welcoming the fact I was working on a Bank Holiday/Boxing Day... They'd say they wouldn't work if they were paid £50 an hour. I'm thinking 'you're the crazy one, not me.' The extra £££ is nice, yes, but thats not the reason I welcome BH working... I welcome it because it gives me something to do, in the absence of anyone to spend it with! I know it might sound selfish, but I'd rather work... The true meaning of Christmas is not what it was... and that is a great shame.

This thing of opening on Boxing Day at 6am for the sales... and seeing pictures of people that have queued since 9pm Xmas day... I mean... come on... can't you just forget looking for that all important bargain? Besides, you've got another 364 days to look... All this pushing and shoving too..

Thing is, retailers know how people will react... Anything to save a few quid....

On Christmas Day, after watching a few DVD's, I went out for a nice ride on my bike... and even then I noticed convenience stores open and people milling about.

Surely in most of 'continental' Europe the main Christmas celebrations happen on the evening of Christmas Eve, our Christmas Day is more like a bank holiday so are comparisons with Europe always like for like? I have seen buses running in rural Denmark on Dec 25th which I found rather strange.

Greed and jealously is one of the most unattractive facets of modern Britain.

So it's greedy to ask for extra money to work on a day when 80% or more of the country is off, but not to push and shove in the West End for that illusive 'bargain' that you can brag to your mates about, even if you don't need it, or really want it, and already have an earlier version of the item at home?

Pay 500 pounds for a TV that was nominally priced at 1000 quid the week before, and which actually cost 100 pounds to make in China, then boast that you're 'clever' enough to have 'saved' 500 pounds.

Feel good about saying how badly nurses are paid in contrast to LU T/Ops, yet never vote for a party that promises to put up taxes in order to raise NHS salaries. Bemoan LU staff wages and conditions, yet think nothing of the money paid to Premiership footballers or ticket prices charged by the clubs as they rip you off.

See a Rolls Royce in New York and say "One day I'll own one of those", see one in London and think "Flash git" and run a key down the side.

I personally couldn't give a flying **** about what service other countries provide over Christmas. Christmas Day + Boxing day = no service or very limited service. Full stop.