Why Are Trains So Expensive?

[bednobs]

i mde a trip (day return) from berkshire to Devon this weekend £62 return = not bad considering to drive it's about 300 ish miles (and the train is about 1 hr quicker) however, factor in there are 4 of us making the journey and suddenly you are looking at nearly £200 quid. i don't mean to be a moaner, but i'm much more likely to take the car in future

[EDDIE51]

Have you heard of 'Group Save' tickets, 1/3 rd off the normal day return price for groups of 3 to 9 adults travelling together? All the rail companies do them.

[bednobs]

well the problem was i had booked 2 tickets, then the other 2 decided to come later

[tonyav]

An option if had been £300 !.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/enthusiasts/30-cars-that-are-cheaper-than-the-train/ss-BBotCN9#image=2

[Cloverjo]

If you've got time, you could look at flying. There's a lad who found he could get home from somewhere in the UK to Berkshire by flying via Berlin.
He's on some moneysaver website. Worth looking at. Trains are ridiculously expensive here.

[Baldric]

£62 x 4 = nearly £200 quid, er ok!

[tonyav]

Here he is, Cloverjo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35424393

[bednobs]

one of the pasengers was 3 baldric, so yes, it was nearly £200

[Zacs-Master]

It's all Beeching's fault.

[DaisyNonna]

I always travel alone
Fares rise
Heating negligible
Seats uncomfortable
No room for luggage
(5'2") and cannot reach the racks
Refreshments (when available) expensive
No alternative transport

[EDDIE51]

5 of us wanted a day trip to London, it turned out to be cheaper to hire a car and drive that there and back than to pay the train fare.

[Cloverjo]

That's him, tonyav. At first I thought is it worth the flights and hassle just to save £7, but then I knew he'd explored a City he'd always wanted to go to, so I thought good on him.
I still don't know why train journeys are so expensive, though.

[tonyav]

I still don't know why train journeys are so expensive, though.

Neither do I, Cloverjo.
Seem to be ridiculously expensive imo.

[jno]

Expensive as compared to what? As bednobs has pointed out, it's quicker and someone else does the driving. It may even out as you get more people in the car, btu basically you're paying for the convenience. (I'm talking long-haul rather than commuter trains.)

There are some comparisons here on an unbiased site, and British rail shows up quite well.

http://www.seat61.com/uk-europe-train-fares-comparison.html

[Old_Geezer]

Clearly train travel is too expensive to maintain. Shove the goods on it and leave the roads free for us travellers.

[baza]

^^^^ Would that be the ones in the untaxed Transit pick ups?

[mikey4444]

Of course the rail fares are too expensive...how else would the private companies make any money ?

[Dogsbody2]

OG clearly hasn't heard of 'the final mile' concept. Trying to get that Amazon package you were waiting for down your road via the iron horse might just cause a few issues.

[ummmm]

Our flights to Malta were cheaper than our train to Blackpool.

My daughter was recently here from Ireland. Her flights were 30 euro. Less than £15 each way.

[mushroom25]

//Our flights to Malta were cheaper than our train to Blackpool. //

peeps often say their flights are cheaper than train tickets as an argument against rail travel..... whilst conveniently omitting the £50 per week cost of parking your car at the airport......

[ummmm]

Mushroom....we usually get a coach or a lift. We're an hour from both Brum and Luton.

Getting to Birmingham is reasonable by train for us. Getting to Luton isn't so we get the coach.

It cost £68 each to get to Blackpool. I'm not complaining, I knew the cost and the trip was worth it...and more (Jackthehats wedding :-))