h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Network Rail apparently doesn't believe in people having an evening out & getting home by train...

Went to Hampton Court yesterday to see Rick Wakeman's Six Wives of Henry VIII
The concert did end a lot later than originally scheduled, so my timetable immediately went haywire. Managed to catch the last train from Hampton Court (23.24 pm), across London by tube (not helped that the Victoria line was closed all weekend for engineering works ) to arrive at Kings Cross (00.38 am) to find that the 1.00 am train we expected to catch no longer exists. One train about to depart going about half way home; the uninterested staff informing us that the station would then close until morning
Ah well, half way home seemed better than nothing...
Met up with a fellow concert goer & shared a taxi the remainder of the way () to finally arrive home about 2.30 am .

That doesn't seem excessively late to be travelling home after a night out. What's happened to rail as a public service?

it got privatised of course. What, you think trains are there for passengers to use? No! They're there for companies to make money out of.

I found the same thing with brum - I'm only 35miles away from new street yet latest train is around 11ish I think on weekdays and around 10ish on the weekends! First time I check the train website for trains back I put in the details and it came back with an 8hr train journey with a wait of 6 or 7 hrs at new street.

Bloomin ridiculous isn't it?

Not just money - though that is part of it - they close the stations at night to save staff costs.

The other problem is violence, too many drunks on the trains.

I know that's why the last train out of Cambridge is just past 11.00 pm. But I've seen plenty of unsavoury drunks etc on earlier trains. Even just one more later train would make such a difference to those wishing to leave the car at home.