Peak/off peak trains
- Thread starter rogan
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faffing as in getting to the airport, arriving in time (granted not 2 hours but you still need to leave some time to clear security), getting into central London at the other end...
Train is just direct - get off at the station and you're in central London.... don't even know what you're waffling about re: carrying bags
except in this instance it clearly isn't - the train gets you there in 2 hours..
FWIW Heathrow express takes 15 minutes and is every 15 minutes - so adding an average of 22.5 mins to the journey - add on the time it takes you to get from the gate to the train (tis a big airport) and you're looking at an extra 30-40 mins... + your extra 45 mins - an hour or so early you need to arrive before the flight departs... + travel time to Manchester airport... you could easily accrue 1-2 hours without even counting the time the flight takes.
If you were flying to London from Edinburgh then you might well be a bit quicker by plane but Manchester - unlikely.
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All I was trying to say is that if i had the choice between paying £50 for a train journey or £66 for a plane, i would pick the plane no matter what faffing about you want to do.
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That's fine and that's your choice
I just don't personally see where the logic is in paying extra for a journey that's a bit more hassle (even if it is just a bit of walking and waiting around) and when it's actually going to take longer. Probably not much longer but still longer.Not to mention that flights are much more limited than trains in terms of available departures - there's trains from Manchester to London pretty much every hour giving you a lot more flexibility in terms of departure times.
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Then add on the extra £34 for a return ticket on the heathrow express... so now £100 vs £50
and so pay double, to take longer and faff about more when you could simply step on a train and arrive in London 2 hours later with minimal hassle
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That's fine and that's your choice
Not to mention that flights are much more limited than trains in terms of available departures - there's trains from Manchester to London pretty much every hour giving you a lot more flexibility in terms of departure times.
Obviously the plane is going to be quicker than the train. I bet you £20 (cause im poor) that i could go from door to door using the plane faster than the train. Manchester to london and probably not that much more expensive, say £30-40 more expensive.
You can attempt to prove it if you like...
find a cheaper flight + option to get into central London that works out as only £30-£40 more expensive than the train so £80-£90 max
It's not obviously going to be quicker at all. If you lived in Manchester you could usually be at Piccadilly station quicker than you could the airport. But regardless, let's say you live somewhere where it takes around half an hour to either.
The average flight time is 1 hour. Let's say you arrive half an hour early to allow check in and security clearance and that's pushing it a bit as it is. You've then got time getting off the plane and baggage reclaim so that takes you up to about 2 hours. As mentioned before you then have around 40 minutes or so for the Heathrow Express when you factor in walking time and average wait times so you're at 2 hours 40 minutes. With your original half hour travel time to the airport in the first place that's 3 hours 10 minutes.
With the train you have your half hour initial journey time then 2 hours 10 travel time straight into Euston. Total time 2 hours 40 minutes.
The average flight time is 1 hour. Let's say you arrive half an hour early to allow check in and security clearance and that's pushing it a bit as it is. You've then got time getting off the plane and baggage reclaim so that takes you up to about 2 hours. As mentioned before you then have around 40 minutes or so for the Heathrow Express when you factor in walking time and average wait times so you're at 2 hours 40 minutes. With your original half hour travel time to the airport in the first place that's 3 hours 10 minutes.
With the train you have your half hour initial journey time then 2 hours 10 travel time straight into Euston. Total time 2 hours 40 minutes.
[TW]Fox;21608399 said:
Incorrect. All trains before 9:30am are peak hours, if the train arrives at your destination after 9:30am it doesn't make any difference at all other than that you are at your destination. For a ticket to be classed as "off peak" the train must leave the station after 9:30am.
The ticket you are looking at buying is called a Saver Return ticket (peak and off peak do not apply), it grants you the ability to return on any day up to one month from start date on the ticket. A Young Person's card can not be used on this ticket because it is an already discounted ticket.
Bank holidays and weekends are classed as "off peak" all day. Normal return tickets can only be used on the date shown on the ticket (date the ticket was issued), the only exception to this is a Saver Return.
Stoner81.
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Flight i can get for £70 return non stop to heathrow. Where exactly in london is he going? I would not actually use the express because it is over priced, but if you are in a rush, but even if you use standard trains you can get to your location most likely before the train even arrives at london. That is if the train is on time which is far less likely than the plane. Train will most likely be 15-30 mins longer than the estimated time, unlike planes which will be exactly on time.
plane ticket 70
six zone travel card (depending on how long you staying and where you plan on going, you might be better off buying a weekly six zone travel card, which you might have to buy either way, depending on where you going) But if not then just buy the cheapest ticket to get to where you want to go. from heathrow to central london should cost more than £10.
plane ticket 70
six zone travel card (depending on how long you staying and where you plan on going, you might be better off buying a weekly six zone travel card, which you might have to buy either way, depending on where you going) But if not then just buy the cheapest ticket to get to where you want to go. from heathrow to central london should cost more than £10.
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Seriously there is no way you could get door to door faster by plane. You'd have to check in at least half an hour before the flight, and you've got to get to the airport (admittedly I don't know where the airport is in Manchester) first, where as the train you can just get straight on. Then landing in Heathrow you've then got to get in to central London, which would take at least 45 minutes. The fastest way would be the heathrow express to Paddington and then the tube but that is massively expensive. You could take the tube all the way there but that would take an age. The train takes you straight to Euston which is much more central and thus faster.
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Well you will probably arrive at the train station 30 mins before you have to go, then you have to hope the train is leaving on time, then you have to hope the train gets there on time. Ok so it is 2h 10min estimate, i would give it 2 hours and half, that is three hours. Then you have to exit the euston overground and get on to the tube network. I would say 20 mins maybe more if you walk slow. Depending on where hes going after that, euston might be worse off than heathrow. But in all including faffing around at airport, still be quicker by like 1 hour +
No, I'd just arrive at the train station 5 minutes before my train and get on the train. I've not had a problem with trains for a long time and the vast majority of cases I always arrive at my destination bang on time. Even Virgin Trains are pretty reliable these days. Even the Crosscountry trains I used to get direct between Basingstoke and places like Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds etc would all depart and arrive on-time and I used them regularly. Yes I occasionally had a problem, but it wasn't often enough to warrant saying that the train will inevitably have an issue.
Plane will not be quicker for such a short trip. If you were talking Glasgow then yes but in this case, no chance.
I'd go as far as to say I've spent longer total time waiting around for delayed flights than I have trains in recent years. And I've caught a lot more trains than planes.
Plane will not be quicker for such a short trip. If you were talking Glasgow then yes but in this case, no chance.
I'd go as far as to say I've spent longer total time waiting around for delayed flights than I have trains in recent years. And I've caught a lot more trains than planes.
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ive caught trains from london to southampton many times and also from romford to shipton on stour, more often than not there is some kind of issue with it. Either the train is unreliable or something wrong with the internals, over booked or dirty seats etc. I caught a train from liverpool street to shipton on stour and it took me 1 hour and half more than was actually on the ticket and that cost me £30 i think it was, might have been more. This past weekend i took a train from marlybone to banbury on the best train line i have been on yet, which goes past high wycombe and that was slow and dirty and over priced.
My general opinion of trains is that they are slow, unreliable, dirty, noisy and over priced.
My general opinion of trains is that they are slow, unreliable, dirty, noisy and over priced.
Well the train from manchester im getting is 2 hours, it takes me 10 minutes to get to the train station from my house and getting from euston to where i need to be is another 15 minutes
the plane would require an hour long bus to the airport, an hour in the airport, the flight, then getting into london from the airport, IMO the train is far less hassle
£49 for an open return isn't all that bad, it'd work out at about £30 if i knew when i was coming home but i can't be sure how long it'll take, train booked for 7am! london here i comeeeee
didnt realise how useful this railcard would be! chears guys!
the plane would require an hour long bus to the airport, an hour in the airport, the flight, then getting into london from the airport, IMO the train is far less hassle
£49 for an open return isn't all that bad, it'd work out at about £30 if i knew when i was coming home but i can't be sure how long it'll take, train booked for 7am! london here i comeeeee
didnt realise how useful this railcard would be! chears guys!
you're not very rational - in this scenario the plane is slower, more expensive and arguably noisier - personally I take a plane where it makes sense in terms of price/time and a train/car/bus where that makes sense...
A plane doesn't make sense in this situation in terms of cost or time to get there and is quite clearly much more hassle as anyone without some inherent bias against trains can see.
