Train prices

My commute to work is about 20 miles each way. To get the train including the walking and waiting takes around 1 hour. It costs approx £10 per day return.
To take the car takes anything from 25 minutes to 45 minutes depending on traffic and costs about £5 a day. Rail prices would literally have to halve for me to even consider it. This is comparing using a car that does around 40mpg. The only time I use the train is to go into London as it's much quicker than a car for me where I am and you don't have to park.
 
You should see the bus prices around here, £1 to travel less than a mile, it's cheaper to travel by concorde than it is on the buses here. Why the government doesn't stop people getting raped by the monopolies I don't know.
 
dangerstat said:
I was discussing this earlier with a fellow OCUK'er saying that I've just paid over £200 for a return ticket to London from the SW (1st c). It's just crazy pricing IMO. It's outrageous!
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I live in the SW and I always travel First Class to London - and I usually pay about £45 return. If you've paid £200, more fool you.
 
£47 per week for a travel card is incredibly hefty for all of what it offers - which isn't much. A place on a heavily crowded train, astronomical waiting times for buses and half baked tube services. Ugh.
 
Energize said:
You should see the bus prices around here, £1 to travel less than a mile, it's cheaper to travel by concorde than it is on the buses here. Why the government doesn't stop people getting raped by the monopolies I don't know.
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No offence, but why would you get a bus for under a mile?
 
Weebull said:
What's with return tickets suddenly being so expensive anyway? Maybe it's just me and the Hull - London services, but I used to be able to just get a return for £30, now it's closer to £90 and I have to shop around trying to find two singles instead. Why?

EDIT: My point is not the prices, but that returns used to actually cost what 2 singles would, now there's a completely arbitrary mark-up on them. :confused:
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I went up to Hull for a wedding recently and it was cheaper to come back via Leeds. Weird eh. Are you using the Hull Trains service? I'm sure we paid about £25 each up and then £5ish over to Leeds, then £12.50 each on the way back (booking this via Ntl Express where you can get great deals to/from Leeds). That wasn't too bad overall.
 
I also think that train prices are horrendous, to see my boyfriend it costs £43.90 with a railcard without my YP railcard it would cost me almost £70 and it's obscene, I don't always book and pay the price when there are no seats for a 3 hour journey! It's unfair to be expected to pay the same fare to be stood up for hours next to the grotty toilet surely? maybe that's me being bias :(
 
dangerstat said:
Absolutely I do. And actually I think there are some great fairs off peak for advanced tickets. It is exceptionally hard to get a decent amount of work done in standard (I'm not at all posh so this isn't me having a go). 90% of the people on the trains I normally catch are business customers just wanting a quiet journey for a few hours in order to get some work done - that's why they get a 1st class ticket otherwise it's just full of single mums, stag do's, old women who want to chat about anything. I just can't understand why I can't get a decent place to do some work for 2 hours on a train for less than £200. But course I see your point about cheaper tickets for those that aren't interested in doing some work
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Regarding the powerpoint problem.

Put the battery into your laptop, helps massively ;)

Also, do some research into tickets, it really isn't that hard, and £200 for an open return is just silly.
 
[TW]Fox;14095518 said:
I live in the SW and I always travel First Class to London - and I usually pay about £45 return. If you've paid £200, more fool you.
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Seconded. Was about to say the same until I saw your reply :p

It's all about using nationalrail.co.uk and booking in advance.

I travel Plymouth <> Bristol regularly and Standard is usually ~£8 with a railcard, whereas first is £12 - £20. No-brainer really. First class gives a quiet carriage, plenty of space, seat service (sometimes), free snacks/drink, paper to read, etc.

Occassionally there've been no first class tickets available for bizarre reasons (ie - I get to the train and though it's packed, first isn't) which is annoying, but that's my only complaint really.

Split-ticketing is also much-talked about - if you're going on long journeys North/South it can be cheaper to buy two tickets, halfway each, god knows why. Moneysavingexpert.com has more info on that.
 
All train lines are actually subsidised as well. Were it not for these subsidies no company would be willing to operate any of the lines without having the ability to charge the prices they wanted to.

The west coast main line (with virgin's new pendolino trains) for example have so many off peak tickets they give them away for a £1 from London to Manchester. Even without special offers it is ridiculously cheap. I visited warwick university from London £3 each way. Only reason they do this is because that journey is effectively subsidised to run empty.
 
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It comes from the systemic problem of having multiple train operators, I don't advocate a fully nationalised system as it will undoubtedly run at a loss, but having so many different travel companies for trains and especially buses is bad for public transport. Public transport should not be about profit but instead be about an affordable more sustainable way of getting around the UK.

Our whole rail network needs a total revamp really but with the current economic climate I cannot foresee much improvements, sad really as I much prefer trains to driving cars.
 
Problem with trains is that in real life you can always know the exact train you are travelling on. Advance booking is a lottery, you might save money but you might end up with a worthless ticket and still need to buy another one if you miss the exact train you had booked.

I'm also suprised folks like the new virgin trains, compared to the old intercity ones I find them horribly cramped. That is when you can get a seat of course, Ive paid over £100 for a first class seat before and had to stand the whole way. Never again!
 
So the system should be private and yet not be about profits ???

As for not being about profits, it is simply a mechanism for efficiency in a well fucntioning market. Having multiple operators is a good thing because it brings competition into a system which wouldn't otherwise.

As for buses, London buses are the best in the world.
 
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System should be nationalised, but run properly (which never happens unless you are in Japan).
 
London is only one place in the UK, try the buses in Cardiff or Hereford - both are dire.

Well in my ideal world the system would be totally nationalised, however in the 90's trains were privatised due to heavy running costs so I doubt any government would re-nationalise. It's a tough question on how to "fix" them, for me personally the efficiency is now great, mostly on time; yet they are rather expensive.

Unfortunately in the 60's as well they also closed a lot of the lines due to increased road usage and the belief that cars/lorries would be the total future, this was in hindsight a mistake. Now we understand more the need for more fuel efficient ways of transporting people and goods, trains are better. But the infrastructure is not there nor the funding.
 
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saddler said:
Where?

Outside of London there is no choice as each line is run as a franchise. There is no competition and no incentive to reduce ticket prices
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Licenses exist for limited periods of time. The competition exists over time rather than simultaneous offerings.
 
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