Published: Thursday, 5th March, 2009 7:30am

Clinging to jobs but crippled by commuting costs

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Royal Berkshire Hospital

THERE are very few advantages to being hard of hearing.

So it is fantastic to be able to report a good news story this week from the audiology department at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Not only is it officially acknowledged as a centre of excellence and a world leader in the latest technology, but its carefully thought out strategy means it can supply state-of-the-art, discreet hearing aids at a fraction of high street prices.

In a week when the economic crisis got so bad that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, came to Reading to glean some ideas for his salvation package, the news that paying for a hearing aid will not break the bank will be welcome indeed.

Unfortunately, across the town at the railway station, First Great Western has no excuse whatever for not listening.

It clearly does not want to hear the wails of protest from the thousands of commuters from this area who, every day of their working lives, are herded like cattle onto trains conveying them to and from our capital city. Not only do their days pass with the aromas of the carriage toilets lingering in their nostrils, it is now going to cost season ticket holders another £66-a-month for the privilege.

Time and time again we have heard the litany of reasons being delivered as justification for the fact that the cost of travelling by rail keeps increasing, while the service hovers around the barely adequate mark.

While the Government seems long since to have abandoned any pretence at a policy of taking cars off the roads, the rail operators seem determined to make things worse.

With jobs in all sectors of the economy disappearing on a daily basis, how ironic if those who are still gainfully employed find the cost of getting themselves to work prohibitive.