A smart response to rising rail fares?

So rail fares are going up 13% – and if you’re a commuter, that’s bad news – or is it?

What always amazes me about similar news items carried by the mainstream press (increasing gas bills/food prices/petrol costs etc) is that they never examine the alternatives. The punter they inevitably interview for their reaction is a conventional householder with a family, and an apparently fixed income – who expresses dismay that they’ll have to cut back on some luxury in order to keep affording to live.

This response assumes two things: first, that income is fixed (see my other blog on Living4Free for a challenge to that!); and second, that current outgoings can’t be challenged.

If you’re currently a commuter, complaining about lousy rail journeys where you stand jammed into overcrowded carriages, on trains frequently running late or cancelled, paying £3,000 to £5,000 (out of after-tax income) a year for the privilege, then maybe there’s an alternative: reinvent your job.

Do you really have to go to that office in the city centre, every day?

Think hard, and there are a number of alternatives, which involve smarter working and the effective harnessing of new technologies – many of which are free, all of which are great value for what they can deliver.

Here’s a checklist to question the validity of your daily commute:

• do you spend whole days in your office when you barely see another soul?
• do you get out much to meet clients? Or is this something that rarely happens these days?
• are there days when you could actually complete all of your interactions (phone calls, email, videoconferences) from your dining table, just as effectively?
• check your diary – if you could rearrange a couple of meetings, would you need to be in the office every day?
• is there another, local office or perhaps client premises, which are easier to get to, where you could base yourself sometimes?

Many of us already own smartphones, and already have broadband at home. Increasingly, companies have IT systems that allow remote access – or are placing their systems on the cloud, facilitating access to corporate information and emails from anywhere.

Then there’s the option of holding face to face meetings remotely. Even Skype offers a basic, free video conferencing facility, but if you wanted a full, professional quality video meeting facility, these are available today for typically £1,200 a year for 10 users. Compared with the season ticket, that looks to be great value.

There’s no need to become a hermit. Pick the days you will work remotely, and plan around that. Some railway companies even make part-time commuting better value by offering further discounts: the Chiltern Railways carnet allows you to buy 12 return tickets for the price of 10 – ideal for the irregular commuter.

It’s up to you – moan about costs going up, or plan to do something constructive instead. And if your employer doesn’t get this flexible working stuff, then maybe it’s time to start thinking about working elsewhere: just like the dinosaurs, companies that fail to move with the times will ultimately become extinct!

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