Cost of commuting

A lot of the rises in commuter route costs are down to a deliberate choice by the last Tory government. Commuter routes are price regulated and subsidised by the tax payer (these are expenaove routes to run) but Chris Grayling decided deliberately to shift more of the costs on to passengers and away from the tax payer. His view being it was fairer for better off SE England commuters to pay rather than all tax payers many of whom did not have access to these trains or the London job market.

Now I disagree, but that was his thinking.

Hove to London is like £5k a year. Things are a bit better now it's 2 days a week in the office. Plus I walk from the station so do not pay for the tube travel which helps. From where I am now it's £27 a day.

we could take the table seats and work out whether we should cry or laugh together

Was in Paris at Easter. Staying outside the city but on a train line. Free parking. Train in was 2Euros.

Aren’t Labour in process of nationalising the trains?

The train fare to London has increased massively - I commute and I’m just over a hour from London and my monthly ticket has gone from £450 to £780 in 2026 with the next increases in about 3 years. My salary hasn’t risen to match this. I’m exploring buying an electric car to see if it’s cheaper.

We paid over £7 to park for 4 hours near a seaside town in East Sussex (not even Brighton!)

Parking used to be reasonable, but they tripled the price. So many people in town, so it hasn't put people off.

I travel into London from the Cotswolds generally 1 day a week; 10 mile drive, £5 to park - then if I go in at peak it would be £106 return.

However, I have a network railcard which whilst not valid on morning peak, is valid after 10am, and that saves min. £18 per day (card cost is £35pa), so worth it. I buy my ticket as 2 singles. I often try and do meetings after 11am so I can get the first off peak train I can use the railcard on as that saves more.

I would also say though that luckily my company pay my travel, and for the railcard, which I can then also use personally. Otherwise cost wouldn’t be sustainable. I wfh the other days.

I pay c£60 a day to commute to London from the Midlands, I go off peak and get 1/3 off with my rail card. Thankfully only go in a couple of times a month, if they increase the office mandate, I’m out of there!

Yes going to work has become increasingly expensive: travel, clothes, lunches etc yet people who work are expected to pay more and more and ever increasing tax. Using the train to get to work is too expensive when you add in cost of parking, extra time to get there, delays, no seats etc. it’s disgusting how people hard working people are treated in this country.

An integrated Public Transport system, with realistic pricing, would make a world of difference about when / how / where people work.

Andy B is trying up here, with the BEE Network .. our buses are now in Public Control, and are integrated with the Tram Network. Bus journeys are capped at £2. Some (not all) train car parks are free (the ones near me are). There is a cost cap on the Trams as well.

I think he would like to bring the trains in as well, which may be possible once the trains move back to public ownership.

There is now a better App / Payment system.

More regions should be looking at this sort of model

London weighting is a joke.

I lived in London for a while and now live in the north east. Some of DS friends are moving there and get very excited about the London weighting.

Poor lambs.

It’s this and the money they get from the Barnett formula - payment for being party of the UK. Scotland spends £2k more per person than it raises in taxes. Not that the Scottish government will ever admit this!

Northamptonshire to St Pancras...3 years ago ..£900/month for the train, then £100/month for a car park. I spent a third of my monthly income just getting to work! Plus unreliable crowded trains. I lasted a year lol

£48 a day for us with a travel card - also from Kent. I buy an annual ticket now that costs £5386 but covers all my travel including weekends and balances out to be approximately £25 a day as I use it lots. But I get dirty old networker trains, frequent delays and poor timetabling for that money. It’s really not worth what they charge

Agree prices are extortionate, though it does come down to housing costs vs commuting costs.

We are in zone 6, live a 5 minute walk from the station, pay £15 per day to commute in to central London (still too expensive imo), but we have a mortgage of £2600pm for a bog standard 3 bed semi.

I assume in most cases, those with very high commuting costs have much nicer, bigger houses with lower mortgage/rent payments.

I suppose we all just pick our poison.

How can the price of trains be the fault of the current government? They have been over priced for years.

Its because they were privatised. Which was John Majors Tory government. Even Thatcher thought privatising the trains was a step too far.

We went to Florence this year. For a tram ticket from the airport, so right at the edge of the city, into the city centre I think was about €4 (can’t remember exactly but we said how cheap it must be to commute!)

I pay £8.10 for a return into Manchester city centre. Easily park for free near the station.
Alternative would be 2 buses at £2 per journey, so £8 return but that would take longer.
I moan about how much the price has gone up in the last few years but this thread is putting it in perspective! I live about 10 miles out, houses are reasonably affordable you can easily get a 2 bed terrace for less than £200k.

I think we go from the same station. I don't need to pay parking because I walk 30 mins to get there in the morning.

I have to just balance it in my head that we can have a four bed house here but we'd only be able to afford a 1 bed flat near my work.

That massive pay rise Angela gave the train drivers has to be paid by someone!

I think train prices are ridiculous and they need to extend the oyster to places like Milton keynes etc. but at the same time, isn’t it part of the reason housing is much more expensive in London and the London weighting to offset?

In Paris, a full metropolitan area transport card (zone 1 - zone 8) cost less than £90 a month and half is paid by the employer.

I pay £10 a day, 2 or 3 times a week i'm pretty lucky.

I have to go to London for 3 hours on a given day, and I earn £16.50 ph. So basically I earn for 2 hours after travel

Over £100 a day for us too (plus parking which ranges from £4-9 a day depending on the day), each of us go in 1-2 times a week.

If we went off peak it's £25 and trains are just as regular (and often more carriages).

Edit - we also don't like in Kent/Surrey/Sussex. So yes house prices for what we get are much better but there is a balance and that is commute cost, and also time as it's 2.5 hours door to door each way.