The ridiculous cost of train fares

[garlictwist]

I have a few unexpected days off work coming up and thought I might have some time in London as the weather is good there.

The train fare is coming out at over £300 return. I can fly to Spain for less than that. Then I looked at going to Devon on the train - same thing.

I understand they have their book miles in advance thing but a) I don't always know that I want to travel in advance and b) how can they justify such insane prices even at the more expensive end?

They should have put all the money they've slung into HS2 into subsidising train fares. It just makes no sense on earth for it to cost that much.

Go by coach! I've just done Bristol to London for just over £8 return. Air conditioned coach, arrived early-THAT never happens on the trains - and I had a double seat to myself because it wasn't full. No brainer for me. Where are you travelling from?

I’ve got to go to Glasgow next week, live near Birmingham

It’s £63.49 for return ticket brum Glasgow
Flights are £39 return

tjese are the prices if I booked today for 10 days time

Op we live close ish to London we can't afford to visit with the DC train fares are too expensive and so is driving in now.
Train fares in the UK are some of the most expensive in the world but the aervice and quality doesn't match

It is insane! I travel from the north to London every few weeks for the day. So can book in advance. It’s a 2 hour and 20 min train but as I want to go and return in “rush” it’s never less than £180 return. No matter how far in advance I book. Luckily it’s work who pays, I claim it back on expenses hence knowing the costs!

Plus the train is NEVER on time and is always filthy.

For reference, I am flying to and from two major European cities for holidays this year and will have change from £180 from both those journeys combined.

Its crazy. I/m currently in Australia. Wollongong to Sydney for an adult and 16 year old (90 minute journey) is AUD $20 (about.). Trains are clean, fast and reliable.

Back in the days when I commuted to London daily from Southampton (1 hour 16 minutes) it used to take me until 2 pm of working in my job to pay for it.

Just checked Birmingham to London return, going today back tomorrow and it’s £65

consdering Glasgow is 3x the mileage, it’s not priced on distance

Yes always expensive, I never feel totally comfortable either on trains. Slightly nervous. They seem to prefer to run empty, but if their travel was cheaper then they would be popular and safe.

Is an absolute joke fueled by outdated practices and by train drivers getting paid absolutely ridiculous amounts of money for doing ridiculous few amounts of hours

DH was telling me yesterday, that when British Rail was privatised, the government subsidy was £1.5 billion. Now it’s £11 billion - going to pay dividends to the shareholders!

Went for a walk in the countryside a few weeks ago and an open return on a Saturday to our location (from London) was almost £90 for two people.

Absurd!

Even with a railcard it's expensive. I live in Devon and booked a return to Reading about 2 months in advance. It cost me £72. I then ended up getting £27 in delay repay

What really gets me is my daughter who turns 18 in September no longer qualifies for the cheapest rail card so far journey to college costs so much more than her friends.
we have no post 16 provision that doesn’t involve travel and parents have to fund the bill even though all children are expected to be in some form of education!!

Sorry slight off post rant there!

On long expensive journeys I used to actively hope for delays so that it all ended up a bit cheaper! (Now tend to travel with two young children so feel a bit differently about it.)

I pay £6k a year for my train travel. The trains are dirty, frequently break down, late and unfit for use they are so old. My journey into London can be miserable. It’s a disgrace the way train customers are treated in the UK.

I find if you split the ticket, it sometimes works cheaper. I do this often. Its a pin in the bum, working it all out but it can save you quite a bit of money.i always buy well in advance too.

Get the beggar bus - I took dd1 to London for 4 days last week. Got national express from Plymouth and stayed in an air BnB studio and it cost about £400 I was really impressed. Air BnB was in Kensington too!

Agreed.

The price of coaches is really affordable and the journey is a lot more comfortable than travelling by train.

I would say in general the train is more comfortable and significantly faster than travelling by coach though.

Their salary is actually justified, tbf. Do you know that it's three strikes and you're out if they run someone over whilst driving the train? Retired from their job due to PTSD from their experiences. I couldn't do it. They deserve the pay.

The trains are only faster if they actually turn up on time, or at all.

If I book 3 months in advance I can get from the north to London for £40 . It also depends on the line, I can go to one city 30 months from me for £12 and another same distance for £28

did you look at ticket split?

I used to travel from 2 different large cities to London for £6.50 return when I was 17/18. Required several changes but worth it for that cost.
That same journey now would be well into the £300 mark. It was only 10 years ago.

National Express don't have nearly as many routes as they used to, when DS was at uni his public transport option was two buses and two trains totalling 4 hours for a journey that takes 90 mins by car so we looked into it but NE still needed a bus and two trains to make it connect to home. Good for city to city but not otherwise. When I was a teen they went from the end of our village road to London now (just looked) I'd have to get a 40 min bus to the nearest pickup then it's two hours to London vs 75 mins direct on the train from here not worth it to save a few £

Yes I would definitely go by coach rather than the train. I've never been left waiting for the coach, it's never been cancelled at the last minute and the toilets on the coach are never out of order. I cannot say that same about the train.

It's terrible and is a product of selling off the railways and greedy shareholders needing their pay out each year.

It's also very short sighted given the climate catastrophe we are facing because so often it's cheaper & more convenient/reliable to drive (even given petrol prices) if it's a short notice trip or even to fly if you are going a long distance.

The government need to prioritise making train travel cheaper & better because then more people would choose it which in itself would lower fares & be better for the environment.

Let's hope it's something that is on (Saint) Andy's list of things to solve now he's wheedled his way into power.