Cost of commuting

I agree with you on principle but look at the chaos it caused a few weeks ago when the bus drivers went on strike , it was a nightmare for me and a lot of my workmates to get to work.
It the trams and trains all go under the same umbrella they could bring Manchester to a stand still.

Wow, where are you based?

I am an hour from London - monthly season ticket is £1170 on the day return is £148. It's day light robbery

The cost of commuting is just another way of fleecing middle class earners imo….

May I be the first to volunteer for increased taxes to pay for your daily commute. To the job that you applied for from the house that you bought.

As I said upthread - part of t is due to a deliberate decision made by the last government to shift more of the costs of commuter routes on to passengers rather than the tax payer.

Your username is apt 🤭

How do you get mostly free travel on the train?

Either we pay for it through taxation or directly. We end up paying somehow.

Travel in this country is only going to keep going up while services go down.

But you are right, prices are shocking, I'm just grateful i only work 2days in the office and im lucky enough to have mostly free travel on the train.

I pay €39 per month to travel anywhere in Germany on all public transport except for intercity trains. Actual cost of this ticket is €58 but my employer covers part of it. Regional express trains are good, it would only be long distance commuters who'd need to look at other options. The most anyone would pay is €400 per month for unlimited travel on all trains in Germany.

I'm in Brussels and my previous employer paid for an annual pass and paid train fares for those living outside the city. My dd, who is a student, pays 12 euros a year for Brussels public transport, same for Wallonia buses, but she's moved to Flanders where an annual pass is 200 euros a year. We thought this was expensive! My current employer has a mobility plan of 800 euros a month which as I am entitled to a company car, I can use towards the cost of that, or buy tickets, or buy/rent a bike. As I live within 10km of the office I can also put it towards rent/mortgage. It's bloody marvellous. I don't have the car as they offer purely electric and we live in an apartment and would be reliant on street charging. Too much of a pain.

I would assume not a lot of people are commuting to the office 5 days a week anymore - probably more 1 to 3 days per week.

No
same country as mentioned above I think.
It’s €365 for a ‘county’ travel pass - mine is about 3hrs travel one side to the other so it covers a vast area. Or €1300 ish for an annual ticket that includes unlimited travel in whole country.

I however live in a dead zone for public transport so rarely use it locally. But if I do take the train (about 20mins drive from my house), I can park for FREE at station. Then it’s €9 for a ticket for a 2hr journey to main city if I pre book.

If dh travels for work, his work always pays his commute fees

everyone told us to move out of london we can get a bigger house for our money etc etc -and commute in! We didn't, bought in zone 2, a small 2 bed flat - we've 2 kids so its getting tight! but we both pay 0 for the commute cus we can cycle to work and we have no car costs - id rather the small flat than a bigger house tbh ! I cant believe the train costs for commuters - its insane

Most train lines do tickets where you travel 8 times a month now. The cost was going up by above inflation well before COVID. COVID has meant we just have a worse service. Fewer trains, shorter carriages.

I think a lot of people on this thread don't understand that everyone wfh has two big consequences for the cost of transport:

first up there are way fewer passengers, but the transport providers are still expected to run the same number of services etc. Dont underestimate how much passenger volumes are still way down compared to pre covid. Fewer passengers mean we dont get to enjoy the same economies of scale so yes we will all pay more.

Secondly, by far the cheapest way to pay for commuter tickets is usually season passes - these reduce the per-day cost a huge amount, but you need to be doing the commute 5 days a week to get the benefit. As soon as you drop to 2 or 3 you end up buying dat tickets which are the most expensive.

East Anglia to London, commute in roughly twice a week. I have a flexi season ticket so £400 for 8 journeys a month. Mostly I can make this work but some months I need to be in more so the cost of an extra ticket adds up (£50 a day). I have to travel on peak time trains as I start at 9am and buses round here in the early mornings are a figment of the imagination so I mostly end up driving to the station. They’ve recently put the parking up to £16 a day and I expect another rise in the new year. I know it’s designed to discourage people from driving but there’s not much alternative at 6am plus in all honesty it feels safer as a lone woman on the dark mornings.

I got a large pay rise with this role and am settled in my home so I accept that as someone said upthread, it’s a case of pick your poison. But with the costs of tube and daily London living on top of just getting there it does feel extortionate. If there is any type of full return to office or even an increase to three days then I’ll have to consider things again.

👋 waves to fellow Manc , i agree the trams are great value for money esp if you can use them off peak . Unfortunately they don't go where I need them hence the £800 annual bus pass , which tbf considering I get a minimum of four buses per week day and could go anywhere in Manchester isn't bad

My line was renationalised a year or so ago and it’s continued to get more expensive. Hasn’t got any more reliable either. UK tracks and central infrastructure have been been state-owned for ages. I’m pretty sure privately owned/state owned makes no difference.

These costs are insane. I can't believe what some of you have to pay just to get to work. You're being fleeced. Is anywhere in the world more expensive for rail travel than the UK?

I'm in Sydney and the costs are about $50 for a week of travel, basically anywhere in the city. And because a lot of our roads are tolled (don't get me started on that!), public transport is a necessity. People moan about it, but I think it's brilliant.

I am lucky as can catch a bus to work so £6 round trip and £30 a week. I have only done this since the bus fares were capped and it makes a big difference to the cost of the commute.

Are you defending the high cost of travel here? We have the most expensive rail costs in Europe (and some of the most expensive child care in the world). University costs are crippling whereas some European countries it’s free (and in Denmark they pay you to go!). The fact is everything here is very expensive and we get cut no slack. We shouldn’t be defending it.

Combination of privatised travel and too many people who 'can only work in London', which isn't always the case but that's the path they've found themselves following in life.

Means that public transport is oversubscribed and they can charge what they like.

This thread is eye opening! Surely you should all be asking your employers for a bigger contribution to travel and if they refuse look at jobs nearer to where you live? These costs are beyond reasonable.. understandable though given we’ve just come out of a long period of Tory government and a general sentiment of underfunding public services in favour of private. In many eu countries where fares are lower / subsidised, people and employers are paying higher tax and this is what money is being spent on.

£4k a year season ticket from Hampshire to London plus £9.20 a day parking.

I think some of the high fees are tickets bought on the day. Advance tickets are much cheaper. I’m in three days now so whilst it may be cheaper to keep buying individual tickets I opted for a season.

Train travel in this country is so expensive but that was factored in when we decided to move. I have a 2 hour commute but go home to a bigger house then I would otherwise be able to afford in the country.

Don’t forget…. trains fares are expected to rise 5.8% next year 😩