[Gaiaakgyyyg]

You may have a point but I will say that this observation was initially made by a Londoner. this was then universally supportde by the remaining Londoners present. London has its good points of course. But public transport I do not think is one of them.

Here is another example. In Paris a ticket costs about 1 euro - for this you can go on a tram or bus for up to 1 1/2 hours or travel in one zone on the metro/RER. The cost of a comparable ticket in London cost £4. In Paris the transport was immaculately clean (as are the stations, bus stops etc). Can we really say that about our own capital? The staff were smart and well presented and helpful; London? Oh dear!!!!!!

Another French attitude which seems far better than our own is the solution to get the public to use public transport. In Paris they made all the public transport as cheap as possible to encourage the public to use it. They also made sure it was as nice an environment as possible. Here in the UK, we created bus lanes to force drivers off the road, we devised Congestion Charges to add another tax on top of an already high road tax (oh and you know they did this by 'adjusting' the traffic control systems to create even more chaos?). And our public transport is an absolute disgrace. The stock is dirty, the staff are rude ( I can speak from personal experience of one little arse at Finsbury Park), it is disorganised. And it is never their fault. You travel down a road in London or any other major city and you are overwhelmed by the plethora of road signage - the French teel you only what is necessary.

Jakob, if you have read some of my previous posts you will know I have no particular affinity for the French but I will tell you this if any French politician decided to stand for election in my constituency and promise to apply French 'values' to improve the way we do things he/she would have my vote.