Frigging hell! The price of train tickets to London!!

[Hellotoallmyfans]

Why have train tickets become so expensive? (I don't use public transport usually so not very aware of fluctuating prices)

Every couple of years or so I book for us to go to London as a family (2 adults, 3 dcs) to go see a show and take in some sights - the theatre tickets were £600(!) but I was expecting that as I know that's what it costs for decent seats, ditto the hotel which is £500 for two rooms for one night. But what I wasn't expecting was to then have to pay another £340 on top for train tickets from Manchester to get there! Last time we went, before covid, the train was £90 for a family ticket! There doesn't seem to be any options for family tickets and all the websites I've looked at are showing the same price.

I don't know what I'm looking for here, just having a moan really! Or maybe the name of a secret website that does cheap train tickets?

Everything is so bloody expensive isn't it? I guess I will have to suck it up and pay as I've booked the theatre tickets now which I'm sure will non-refundable. It's just gutting that I am looking at close to a grand just to get there and stay for one night. We could literally have flights/hotel for a week in Europe for that! Not taking into account the theatre tickets and the £££+ we will probably end up spending on food/drink and other attractions (wanted to maybe do a boat ride and some museums).

It's going to be at least £2k+ spent on one night in London! I don't know if it's even worth it? Grrr.

@Iamthewombat
It’s not a military operation! It’s just going online to book a several weeks in advance rathe than several days. The UK is a country with terrible and expensive public transport and a big carbon footprint for its size. That is because the public do not care about or vote for political parties which want to do something about it. That’s the reality so we have to adapt to it. Book early!

^ the time you expend on it is that same! Book early!

Also railcards - we'd have to get one each wouldn't we

No. The only restriction is that you have to travel all together. But you need just the one railcard.

I used to meet a friend in London three or four times a year. We lived at opposite ends of the country so we paid roughly £35 each return, pre-booked on Trainline, including a day's travel on the Tube. We'd go to an exhibition and treat ourselves to a nice lunch. The whole day cost us about £80. Then overnight the rail prices doubled and we never did it again. It was cheaper to drive to see each other!

We live in the north west. My daughter went to london this week. We took her to crewe which makes it a bit cheaper. She also traveled on london northwestern line which is slower but about half the price. She bought on the day for £35 return. You are restricted on which trains you can get but there seem a few.

Splitmyfare.co.uk says you can do 2 adults/3 children for "only" £250. But that means taking specific trains without flexibility.

[quote Cam77]@Iamthewombat
It’s not a military operation! It’s just going online to book a several weeks in advance rathe than several days. The UK is a country with terrible and expensive public transport and a big carbon footprint for its size. That is because the public do not care about or vote for political parties which want to do something about it. That’s the reality so we have to adapt to it. Book early![/quote]
It is, for the reasons I described.

Maybe you didn’t read the full thread but several posters have described their experiences of ‘booking early’: uncertainty over when the cheaper tickets will be made available because COVID, meaning that it’s not necessarily 8-9 weeks before the date of travel any more, the fact that if you book outside the magic timeframe, before or after, you’ll pay full price (so it’s not the earlier the better), the fact that far fewer advance tickets appear to be available, and those that are, are more expensive than they used to be. Could the OP bank on getting five advance tickets from Manchester to London and vice versa on the same trains, even if she looked on the websites at precisely the right moment? Maybe not.

I don’t dispute that our public transport isn’t fit for purpose but I don’t like the fact that travelling anywhere more than 20 miles away for a reasonable price requires lots of planning. By definition, the cheaper fares are going to be limited, otherwise the rail franchises wouldn’t make any money. They need at least some people to buy the full price walk-on tickets. So if everybody was super-organised and knew exactly when to book, a significant group of people would still miss out. So we can’t say, “let’s all book early, problem solved!”

Last time we went, before covid, the train was £90 for a family ticket!
I don't know when you're planning on going but I've just found family tickets (covering 2+3,no railcard needed) for Manchester - London at £111.80, travelling there and back this weekend. Took me all of two minutes on National Rail Enquiries.

YANBU. That line is particularly expensive, but yes, train tickets in this country take the piss. It was (far) cheaper for us to all fly to Edinburgh from London a few years ago. Usually cheaper tickets come out something like three weeks in advance but it's a gamble and I like to book more in advance than that. Driving is definitely cheaper, especially if you can leave your car somewhere outside the congestion charge and get transport in.

Check the two together railcard as well. It might save you more than a friend's and family railcard.

@SmokeyDevil

Drive if you can, or go by bus. Train prices have been stupid for ages, the same distance up here by train as by bus is double the price. Why anyone would get the train I have no idea, takes you the same time. Probably why the train is constantly looking empty.

A bus which can match the train times? Must be a pretty quick bus. Most bus routes here (even the "express" ones) take three times as long.

I mean if you're happy to pay that much for seats (you can get "decent" ones for less) and 250 per room when you can get a perfectly good Premier Inn for under 100 even on a Saturday then you can't be that worried about money.

If you are then get a megabus, national express, or as others have said drive to the outskirts and get the tube in. Yes that is very expensive for a one day trip but if you get expensive tickets, an expensive hotel.and choose the quickest and most convenient form of transport...which is unsurprisingly also the most expensive....what did you expect, really?

Bus vs train journey time depends on the length of journey and time of day. I used to commute from Oxford to London by bus. In the morning it was pretty quick if I got an early one before rush hour had got into full swing. But the way home always took ages because you couldn’t avoid traffic then. It was really cheap though, like £5 each way. Some longer coach journeys also have quite long stops.

Also railcards - we'd have to get one each wouldn't we so I doubt we'd end up saving anything as we don't usually travel on trains.
No, a family railcard can have two named adults so as long as you aren't trying to travel simultaneously on separate trains, you only need one.

@SquirryTheSquirrel

It's not just London. DH and I are up North - we were looking at going to an attraction about 35 miles away by train. We'd been previously by car and the parking was quite expensive - £12 for the day. I looked at train tickets and it was over £20 each for an adult day return ( we don't qualify for any discounts/rail cards). Even an advance ticket would have been £14 each.

I prefer to use public transport for environmental reasons, but the rail network is pricing itself out of the market.

If both of you are travelling together then you could use a Two Together card.

DdraigGoch Yes, that was suggested upthread - I'm going to look into it. Also the senior card for DH only.

Haven’t read the full thread but Megabus is showing £35-70 for 4 people Manchester -London depending on the time of travel.

That’s for this Saturday so likely to be cheaper for advance dates.

It really does show up what a load of bull 'go green' 'climate emergency' and all the rest of the crap spouted by Ms Thunberg and world leaders really is.

If the planet was really in such danger, than public transport would be cheaper, no new runways would be built and no world leaders would be flying into Scotland for a Climate Emergency meeting (the irony) which could just as easily be done through the medium of skype.

It does seem that leaders are only prepared to be 'green' when it means somehow putting money in their pockets.

It amazes me that we are all prepared to believe that a natural progression is somehow an emergency. After all, if the planet didn't heat up and cool down, we would still be connected to Europe and dinosaurs would roam the earth.

So, alas there will be no cheaper train fares.

Do remember that, next time swivel eyed 'environmentalists' start yelling about a climate emergency and how we must all pay more for energy through green taxes!

Book early isnt always a guarantee of cheap prices. I'm searching the same trip, same dates every day "tickets unavailable this far ahead". The day they come up? £220 return for 2 adults Newcastle to London.

@SailYourShips public transport is miles cheaper in Europe is. And in my home country,
Singapore,only 25% of people have cars as you need to bid for a permit for a car but public transport is cheap- highest subway fare is the equivalent of £1... Rail transport in the UK is expensive due to many reasons- mainly that the Infrastructure is old and needs a lot of maintenance. We were the first country to pioneer rail transport, this is the price I guess..

@Cam77 it was more the thought of taking a one year old on trains and the underground plus wearing a mask that put me off. The savings were an added bonus though.

Forgive me if this has been mentioned already - but have you looked at split ticketing?

Where did you see the prices? I was looking for train tickets recently and the prices quoted on the National Rail website were significantly higher than when I then went onto the Avanti site.

Also agree that a Family & Friends railcard will bring it down a lot.

We have to go for a family wedding next year. Before we spend a penny on outfits, food or drink, it's already cost us over £700 in train tickets plus a hotel room for 2 nights (4 of us in one room). London is crazy.

Book way in advance and it's cheaper