“Railway companies lose £240 million every year.”
Good. Fuck them.
Does this also apply to public train companies? Would you prefer everyone just drive everywhere?
No. If they were really public, it wouldn’t be measured as a loss. Like my city’s free buses aren’t losing money, they are providing a necessary service.
It’s still a fare they could have charged, calling it something different doesn’t change the fact that someone has to pay to keep the trains running. Why should the taxpayer be the one on the hook? If it’s such an important service the people who use it would be willing to pay for it.
I would have happily put that on a credit card and issued a chargeback while they were still standing there.