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.

I have just booked trains from Wales to Scotland , one provider quoted 635 pounds another train pal quoted 234.62 you can guess which one we chose,

The cost of getting to London massively prohibits much of the country accessing culture than is predominantly in the capital. It is shocking that it is so out of reach to so many people. Once you factor an over night in a hotel you will be looking at well over £500. Many shows and exhibitions will never tour.

I used to get coaches a lot when I was younger and a few mixed experiences. A fair few long traffic jams or coach breakdowns on the M6 so it's not always a more reliable option. Though I've seen a few major delays at Euston too.

I once worked for an employer that offered free public transport for staff, they did a survey, and in short, the outcome was that people used public transport because it was free. As much as I would love it to be free, people would use it if it was cheap. Currently it's neither cheap, fast or good so it's a bit broken really. I think the unspoken thing is that if it were very cheap there would be a capacity issue. There is definitely scope for simplification and more sensible pricing online with European fares.

Train travel is ridiculously expensive in UK. Get a rail card and as trains are often late claim some money back.

If there are 2 or more of us it is usually cheaper to get an uber than get the train for shorter journeys.

Chances are you’ll get most of it back in delay repay since the rail system is so crap in this country 😂

Not everyone can get a railcard. If you’re a single traveller over 31 and under 60 you’re stuffed. This is one thing I hope Andy Burnham suggests changing!

Are they though I use the thrain every day for back and fire to work and very rarely h have an issue but I am in Wales and it is a devolved power here so may be different else where

Look at buying two singles rather than a return

Also in Wales but are local line is not so good. With the hot weather, they were cancelling plenty and the trains here arent very regular, cause its rural. Im sure it's alright in south east Wales, where tfw put all the good trains and spend the money. Most of are local trains have broken air con.

Not the trains I've been on recently. Can't remember the last time my train was on time. I booked first class for last week which was absolutely rammed. If I travel to Bristol I have to use cross country. I've never been on one of their trains without it being rammed because someone thinks 4 carriages is plenty from Plymouth to Scotland

No, they don't tell the truth. I was sitting by the cab in a train that was stranded for 45 mins and I could hear the driver on the phone talking about the entire signalling system having gone down at the next station.

Over the tannoy, they were telling us we were late due to a late-running train in front of us.

I live in West Wales and travel to Swansea daily, very rarely have an issue . The hot weather caused issues everywhere but to be fair none of my trains were delayed. I work on the train both ways which is a great way of not having issues with travel . When we go on hold we always go by train and invariably it is in England the service /rolling stock deteriorates with a great improvement again across the Scottish border. Sorry you have a different experience

Trouble with coaches is that they often take forever to get in/out of the city centre. In the past I've done London to Exeter, Aberystwyth, and Glasgow, and a huge chunk of time was navigating just the 10km from London Victoria. Similar issues if the coach stops in Birmingham on the way.

I live in Japan now and the trains are insanely better. Not just the vehicles themselves but the stations too. I love the shinkansen bullet train. It's a great way to see the country. Local trains all have great air conditioning, and get me almost everywhere I need to go. The only issue is rush hour, which is hell.

See also - two carriages on the Blackpool to York train - on Saturday morning when York Races are on🙄

`Of course, on a random Wednesday afternoon at 2pm when the train is almost empty, they put five carriages on. Then on the same Wednesday afternoon when it's 5pm rush hour (train serves Leeds, hundreds of commuters) it goes back down to two carriages again.

Ok. Still South Wales though. I live in Mid Wales(Cambrian line). We are supposed to be getting new trains this autumn. So hoping for a better service.

Me and my partner were going to go to London for a day out and it was cheaper to fly to Dublin then get the train to London and I only live 40 miles away from central London!

The last 3 times we’ve been to London we’ve either had the train cancelled, severely delayed or so overcrowded it felt unsafe.

I'm surprised you've never had an issue with TfW. Granted I don't travel daily but several times a year I go up to Cardiff or Manchester and there's nearly always an issue. At least I get some of the fare back with Delay Repay. Must cost them a fortune. Overcrowding is a massive problem as well.

That's exactly it. A train journey I often do costs £170 and takes 5 hours. The same journey by National Express costs £35 to £40 depending on times/route but it takes over 10 hours.

I have done the ten hour trip a few times - I'm a person who quite enjoys coach travel but even I find myself getting insanely frustrated when the coach pootles all round yet another little town en route, or they are changing drivers at some grim coach service point in the middle of nowhere, and I'm thinking just get back on the motorway and actually go somewhere.

Also, you can't escape your fellow passengers as you can on the train, I've had an annoying drunk before, and a man on the phone loudly doing drug deals.

Both those things can be true at the same time. A signalling fault means there is a train that can't move in front, hence it's late-running. It may be inconvenient, but it's a lot safer to stop the trains if the signalling isn't working.

I travel a lot in Central Europe. A “super first class” ticket from Budapest to Szeged, which was about 2 1/2 hours, cost me £12. Large seat, air conditioning, table, plug/usb charging point and a free coffee.

Agreed it’s ridiculous. I live in London but often have to travel. The only railcard I can get is the Network Rail one that covers the South East, but you can’t use that before 10am. If I travel elsewhere in the country e.g. Cornwall it is full price. The only reason I’m looking forward to turning 60 is to get the Senior Railcard which at least covers more than just the South East.

What journey are you looking at? It can be expensive if you want to go at 'working day' times at short notice but if you can avoid that, it's much cheaper. Eg Leeds or York to London is that price, but you can also get an off peak flexible single for about £70, so £140 return.

However, if you can't get to London for a reasonable price, and stay there - I'd expect hotels are also expensive, go somewhere else, it's likely there's loads of places you could go for a nice few days away for sensible money. See if Jet2/Easyjet/BA have any well priced last minute city break packages or look at booking separately.

It’s shocking, yet they want people to travel by train instead of car

If they wanted to reduce pollution then it's simple, reduce train costs and this will empty the roads like years ago. It's so stupid that it's cheaper by car than train. The staffs wages should return to what the average wage in society. Not as much as doctors!

It was cheaper for me to hire a car for the day than use the train.