Outrageous train prices

[toast boy]

I rarely get the train these days but I'm travelling from Newcastle to London in a few weeks and am probably going on my own so thought it might have been cheaper, however the cheapest return I could find was £104 which is robbery quite frankly. It would only cost me about £80-90 to do the journey in the comfort of my own car, how on earth is this justifiable? I thought the government wanted us to consider other methods of transport - I'd quite happily take the train but not for that kind of cost.

In comparison, while stuck in Barcelona with the volcanic ash malarkey, I was looking at train prices there and I could have gone from Barcelona to Paris for about E120 I think, and Wikipedia reckons that the cheapest ticket on the Trans Siberian Railway is about E250, why are we getting walloped with our mad prices? Out of interest I looked at the price from Penzance to Wick and the cheapest was £221, a first open return is £750 that would buy a nice week long holiday somewhere!

[iggletiggle]

I thought our train pricing wasnt too bad ... maybe a little odd though..

I have often travelled by train from Norwich to Cardiff for less than £40 return with first class seat from london to Cardiff and back..

Where as i have been charged up to £60 for a return from Norwich to London ..

The pricing system makes no sense at all to be honest..

[hondafanatic]

iggletiggle said:

The pricing system makes no sense at all to be honest..

I agree. I normally pay £25 return from Lancaster to London, but then i look for the cheap tickets when they come on sale. However, you need to be bloody quick as they sell fast.

[Podie]

What time of day are you travelling..?

I've just put in a date 3 weeks hence, with an open return,travelling out at peak time and it was £104...

Does your price for the car journey include car parking, depreciation, wear and tear, etc etc..?

[toast boy]

Podie said:

What time of day are you travelling..?

I've just put in a date 3 weeks hence, with an open return,travelling out at peak time and it was £104...

Does your price for the car journey include car parking, depreciation, wear and tear, etc etc..?

I'm travelling Friday 6th, anytime between 10am and 3pm returning Monday 9th similar times. My car journey doesn't include parking (I can park for free when I get there) and depreciation on a ratty old Saab 9-3 worth about 20p won't be much

[Neil H]

It is totally outrageous. For three people to go from London St Pancras to Nottingham and back the same day, buying tickets on the day - £350.

Three hundred and fifty titty fking pounds.

[worsy]

Sometimes tickets can be far cheaper if you split them up. Newcastle-Leeds, Leeds- London for example.

Edited by worsy on Wednesday 28th July 09:56

[Animal]

Neil H said:

It is totally outrageous. For three people to go from London St Pancras to Nottingham and back the same day, buying tickets on the day - £350.

Three hundred and fifty titty fking pounds.

Get a car and driver instead?

[thainy77]

Me and the GF ended up paying 120 for two singles from London to Norwich once. I just booked two first class returns for the same journey in 3 weeks time for 56 including tube tickets.

It's a seriously fked up pricing system.

[Podie]

Neil H said:

It is totally outrageous. For three people to go from London St Pancras to Nottingham and back the same day, buying tickets on the day - £350.

Three hundred and fifty titty fking pounds.

Therein lies the issue. Buy in advance.

I bought a ticket 4 weeks in advance to go from Rugby to Glasgow. £12.

[itsnotarace]

Train fares make no sense to me. South West trains are awful

Hungerford to London Paddington return off peak travelcard (zone 1-6) = £25.50

Swindon to London Paddington return off peak travelcard (zone 1-6) = £53.00

Both Swindon and Hungerford stations are equidistant from London Paddington (within a couple of miles at most - journey time is 3 mins different) and yet travelling from Swindon is more than double the price for exactly the same ticket.

[Podie]

toast boy said:

Podie said:

What time of day are you travelling..?

I've just put in a date 3 weeks hence, with an open return,travelling out at peak time and it was £104...

Does your price for the car journey include car parking, depreciation, wear and tear, etc etc..?

I'm travelling Friday 6th, anytime between 10am and 3pm returning Monday 9th similar times. My car journey doesn't include parking (I can park for free when I get there) and depreciation on a ratty old Saab 9-3 worth about 20p won't be much

Unfortunately, you really need to buy with 4 weeks notice to get the really good deals

Point taken about the ratty old Saab


"Super off peak" will be your best bet at around £104.

Edited by Podie on Wednesday 28th July 10:13

[Neil H]

Podie said:

Neil H said:

It is totally outrageous. For three people to go from London St Pancras to Nottingham and back the same day, buying tickets on the day - £350.

Three hundred and fifty titty fking pounds.

Therein lies the issue. Buy in advance.

I bought a ticket 4 weeks in advance to go from Rugby to Glasgow. £12.

You're stating the obvious there. That's great if you know you're travelling 4 weeks in advance, but life isn't always that simple.

There is no justification for that price whatsoever, the trains are always half-empty at that time.

Edited by Neil H on Wednesday 28th July 10:16

[V8mate]

iggletiggle said:

I thought our train pricing wasnt too bad ... maybe a little odd though..

I have often travelled by train from Norwich to Cardiff for less than £40 return with first class seat from london to Cardiff and back..

Where as i have been charged up to £60 for a return from Norwich to London ..

The pricing system makes no sense at all to be honest..

It's just route demand driving those anomalies.

[Silver993tt]

Podie said:

What time of day are you travelling..?

I've just put in a date 3 weeks hence, with an open return,travelling out at peak time and it was £104...

Does your price for the car journey include car parking, depreciation, wear and tear, etc etc..?

you can hire a car from Avis in Newcastle for a weekend in August (Fri-Mon) for £87. Just have to add fuel, no wear & tear etc. You then also have a car for the complete weekend thrown in.

[Podie]

Neil H said:

Podie said:

Neil H said:

It is totally outrageous. For three people to go from London St Pancras to Nottingham and back the same day, buying tickets on the day - £350.

Three hundred and fifty titty fking pounds.

Therein lies the issue. Buy in advance.

I bought a ticket 4 weeks in advance to go from Rugby to Glasgow. £12.

You're stating the obvious there. That's great if you know you're travelling 4 weeks in advance, but life isn't always that simple.

There is no justification for that price whatsoever, the trains are always half-empty at that time.

Edited by Neil H on Wednesday 28th July 10:16

Perhaps I am just stating the obvious, but unfortunately that is the system in place.

[snotrag]

worsy said:

Sometimes tickets can be far cheaper if you split them up. Newcastle-Leeds, Leeds- London for example.

Edited by worsy on Wednesday 28th July 09:56

Try Newcastle-york, York-Leeds, Leeds to London. Leeds London can often be had cheap, and theres a kind of invisible line between York and Leeds that costs a lot to cross for some reason.

[iggletiggle]

V8mate said:

iggletiggle said:

I thought our train pricing wasnt too bad ... maybe a little odd though..

I have often travelled by train from Norwich to Cardiff for less than £40 return with first class seat from london to Cardiff and back..

Where as i have been charged up to £60 for a return from Norwich to London ..

The pricing system makes no sense at all to be honest..

It's just route demand driving those anomalies.

Usually i would agree but SWMBO has done Colchester to Newcastle @ £55 return, Colchester to Manchester at £60 return and the best of all Colchester to Glasgow at £80 return..

its all about what time you book and how far ahead.. Open returns are always more expensive though ..

[V8mate]

iggletiggle said:

V8mate said:

iggletiggle said:

I thought our train pricing wasnt too bad ... maybe a little odd though..

I have often travelled by train from Norwich to Cardiff for less than £40 return with first class seat from london to Cardiff and back..

Where as i have been charged up to £60 for a return from Norwich to London ..

The pricing system makes no sense at all to be honest..

It's just route demand driving those anomalies.

Usually i would agree but SWMBO has done Colchester to Newcastle @ £55 return, Colchester to Manchester at £60 return and the best of all Colchester to Glasgow at £80 return..

its all about what time you book and how far ahead.. Open returns are always more expensive though ..

Yep - but the Colchester to London portion will massively outweight the element of the fare passed to the London-onwards train company.

[havoc]

The pricing system DOES confuse me - I can see the point that short-notice tickets CAN carry a premium over advance bookings, but equally running a train is 95% fixed costs, so wouldn't it make more sense to ENCOURAGE the last-minute customers, to maximise occupancy, at least on off-peak services?!?