Rip-off train tickets
Discussion
jamesson said:
I helped a member of the public get a train ticket from Gatwick Airport to Preston. He only wanted a single, which was bad enough at £79, but an anytime return was a flabbergasting £428.
That's £428, in case you thought you'd read it wrong.
How is that possible?
Did you buy the ticket for him;)That's £428, in case you thought you'd read it wrong.
How is that possible?
Heathrow to Paddington - approx 14 miles. About £1.21/mile. Bargain!!!Bowler said:
jesta1865 said:
Then one Saturday I got to st pan-crass to find the train was cancelled ….. then had an almighty row with the 'train manager' as I was on the wrong time train. she wanted me to pay full fare or get off, and I pointed out that the reason i was on 'her' train at the wrong time was because her company had cancelled mine. She finally backed down when I started asking for the telephone numbers of her superiors to ask what she should do. changed her tune very quickly.
That’s because many of the Train Operators incentivize their staff to make on-board ticket sales: Like 50% of all revenue above £1k……If you want annoying prices, let's talk car parking season tickets at Grantham.
Until recently, there were two car park operators - National Express and Grantham Estates. G.E. had a new carpark, identical to the N.E. one next door but only charge a fraction of the cost (£5/day vs £10/day). Oddly enough, the G.E. car park was always busy and the N.E. one not.
Obviously N.E. didn't like that ... as they've bought the other car park from G.E.! End result is that when our season ticket expires in June we will have to renew it at N.E. prices - which will be nearly double at over £1000!!
Until recently, there were two car park operators - National Express and Grantham Estates. G.E. had a new carpark, identical to the N.E. one next door but only charge a fraction of the cost (£5/day vs £10/day). Oddly enough, the G.E. car park was always busy and the N.E. one not.
Obviously N.E. didn't like that ... as they've bought the other car park from G.E.! End result is that when our season ticket expires in June we will have to renew it at N.E. prices - which will be nearly double at over £1000!!
I find rail tickets, particullarly SWT are overpriced by about 75%. In other words the tickets are 4 times what they should be for what you receive in service. This is based on overcrowded trains, very slow trains, dirty trains, dirty stations, unmanned stations, long interconnect times, bad timetables etc. A few weeks ago I tried getting from Gatwick to Woking. It took more than 1 1/2 hours and cost nearly £14! The jouurney should take no more than 30 mins and cost no more than £4 based on the distance and service involved.
Edited by Silver993tt on Wednesday 18th March 22:50
Dr KT said:
Hi All,
How on earth do people expect us to stop using our cars when the cost of train ticket is so high?
Stafford to London, return, for me and the mum in law, they wanted £120 each.How on earth do people expect us to stop using our cars when the cost of train ticket is so high?
I left the station in shock. A bit of research on the interweb and I found I could buy a family rail card, £25, take the MIL, the wife AND our daughter, for £101 all in, so we did.
Now somebody please explain to me how the holy f
king hell they can justify such stupidity, bks and gobshyte when running a business?Silver993tt said:
imp123 said:
Its not like your forced to travel on the train you have options and this particular option is in your opinion to expensive.
The train company is a company out to make profit and it sells its goods at a price it thinks it can get away with rather than one to make everyone happy, seems like a reasonable business practice to me.
That's fine in a normal competitive environment... The train company is a company out to make profit and it sells its goods at a price it thinks it can get away with rather than one to make everyone happy, seems like a reasonable business practice to me.
Silver993tt said:
I find rail tickets, particullarly SWT are overpriced by about 75%. In other words the tickets are 4 times what they should be for what you receive in service. This is based on overcrowded trains, very slow trains, dirty trains, dirty stations, unmanned stations, long interconnect times, bad timetables etc. A few weeks ago I tried getting from Gatwick to Woking. It took more than 1 1/2 hours and cost nearly £14! The jouurney should take no more than 30 mins and cost no more than £4 based on the distance and service involved.
Just out of interest, not looking to pick a fight!! but how do you calculate the value of the trip to be £4 or less???Edited by Silver993tt on Wednesday 18th March 22:50
f
k, I would imagine by your scale that some train companies owe me money ;-)They've just built a new train station near to where I live.
Its Notts Parkway.
What a bloody misnomer that name is.
When the initial incentive prices disappear, it will cost around £3.50 for a train ticket into Nottingham which is about 9 miles away. That's not bad actually and just a bit more than the park and ride so should be a great money spinner for them.
Only they have welshed on the deal to provide transport from local villages to the train station and its about 2 miles away so not walkable. So I'd have to take the car. To park the car will cost £12
I'm at a complete loss as to who exactly they are trying to market this new train station at.
It was sold to us on the grounds it would reduce traffic. Well who in their right mind is going to pay more than £15 for the last 9 miles of their journey when they can drive into the city and pay £3 to park all day.
I've had a couple of rants now so its all off my chest and I can go to bed.
Night Night.
Its Notts Parkway.
What a bloody misnomer that name is.
When the initial incentive prices disappear, it will cost around £3.50 for a train ticket into Nottingham which is about 9 miles away. That's not bad actually and just a bit more than the park and ride so should be a great money spinner for them.
Only they have welshed on the deal to provide transport from local villages to the train station and its about 2 miles away so not walkable. So I'd have to take the car. To park the car will cost £12
I'm at a complete loss as to who exactly they are trying to market this new train station at.
It was sold to us on the grounds it would reduce traffic. Well who in their right mind is going to pay more than £15 for the last 9 miles of their journey when they can drive into the city and pay £3 to park all day.
I've had a couple of rants now so its all off my chest and I can go to bed.
Night Night.
We flew from Manchester to Heathrow at the end of February, not sure how much that part cost, but I was in charge of sorting out the train back in the evening. I think we booked with about 3 week notice, and booked from Euston to Wilmslow on the Virgin Service and then Wilmslow to Manchester Airport, all in for £9 each. That was leaving London at 20 to 9 at night, an hour earlier and it would have cost £45 each.
speedchick said:
Stuff
Yep.I had to go down to London on the train to collect my Alfa a couple of months ago.
Booked online a few days in advance and paid £12 for Manchester-Euston.
If I had been prepared to travel in an evening, it would have cost less than a tenner.
But the same month, I had to pay for a collegue to go to the Court of Appeal at short notice. That cost £270 for the return ticket.
Pricing is determined by holding to ransom those desperate to travel at peak times or at short notice, rather than by any correlation between the cost of the service plus profit.
For what it's worth, the train was clean, comfortable and on time. The food was good and not too expensive.
But amazingly, even at £12 a ticket, the train was almost empty.
Pat H said:
speedchick said:
Stuff
Yep.I had to go down to London on the train to collect my Alfa a couple of months ago.
Booked online a few days in advance and paid £12 for Manchester-Euston.
If I had been prepared to travel in an evening, it would have cost less than a tenner.
But the same month, I had to pay for a collegue to go to the Court of Appeal at short notice. That cost £270 for the return ticket.
Pricing is determined by holding to ransom those desperate to travel at peak times or at short notice, rather than by any correlation between the cost of the service plus profit.
For what it's worth, the train was clean, comfortable and on time. The food was good and not too expensive.
But amazingly, even at £12 a ticket, the train was almost empty.
I've had many experiences where the train was buttock-clenchingly expensive - mainly when I've had to travel at short notice. If you book way in advance (and get lucky, it seems) then there can be some quite good deals to be had. Some of the 1st class deals are nice.
steve_amv8 said:
If you want annoying prices, let's talk car parking season tickets at Grantham.
Until recently, there were two car park operators - National Express and Grantham Estates. G.E. had a new carpark, identical to the N.E. one next door but only charge a fraction of the cost (£5/day vs £10/day). Oddly enough, the G.E. car park was always busy and the N.E. one not.
Obviously N.E. didn't like that ... as they've bought the other car park from G.E.! End result is that when our season ticket expires in June we will have to renew it at N.E. prices - which will be nearly double at over £1000!!
Yep, good old Grantham. I'll be using the carpark in April as I need to get a train to Scotland and back in a day. I also live 15 odd miles from there so its the easiest way to get an East Coast train.Until recently, there were two car park operators - National Express and Grantham Estates. G.E. had a new carpark, identical to the N.E. one next door but only charge a fraction of the cost (£5/day vs £10/day). Oddly enough, the G.E. car park was always busy and the N.E. one not.
Obviously N.E. didn't like that ... as they've bought the other car park from G.E.! End result is that when our season ticket expires in June we will have to renew it at N.E. prices - which will be nearly double at over £1000!!
Talking of infuriating rail practices, I have just been in my local station this morning to book two single tickets to London. If it wasn't for the nice chap in the office I would have been livid. He told me that you aren't allowed to book an advance ticket (which is an off-peak cheapo) in an office at peak time. WTF!!
So I wasn't supposed to be able to book these tickets for next Weds as it was about 7am today. Even though the ticket I wanted had nothing to do with the time of day (9am Weds) I was booking it! What on earth is that all about!
Anyway, I must praise him though because he said as it wasn't 'busy' (the station was completely empty) he would book it for me. What a relief. The one time I want to use this country's sorry excuse for public trasnport I'm being told to come back later. I can imagine what would have happened if I had to talk to a jobsworth rail idiot!
The prices I paid were £21.50 each, but if I booked them for the earlier train it would have been nearer £50.00 each!!
Add to the fact that when you do get a train they are smelly, dirty, the tickets are locked down by no end of draconian rules and they struggle to run on time, it makes paying such high amounts of money even more stupid!!
As long as public transport is like this I will never give my car up. I can't even get to work without my car as there is no bus or train service to the site I work at.
steve_amv8 said:
If you want annoying prices, let's talk car parking season tickets at Grantham.
Until recently, there were two car park operators - National Express and Grantham Estates. G.E. had a new carpark, identical to the N.E. one next door but only charge a fraction of the cost (£5/day vs £10/day). Oddly enough, the G.E. car park was always busy and the N.E. one not.
Obviously N.E. didn't like that ... as they've bought the other car park from G.E.! End result is that when our season ticket expires in June we will have to renew it at N.E. prices - which will be nearly double at over £1000!!
Wouldn't that count as anti-competitive behavior. Like Tesco buying up all the local shops and doubling the prices?Until recently, there were two car park operators - National Express and Grantham Estates. G.E. had a new carpark, identical to the N.E. one next door but only charge a fraction of the cost (£5/day vs £10/day). Oddly enough, the G.E. car park was always busy and the N.E. one not.
Obviously N.E. didn't like that ... as they've bought the other car park from G.E.! End result is that when our season ticket expires in June we will have to renew it at N.E. prices - which will be nearly double at over £1000!!
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