Train rip off

[posthuman]

Or nationalise it, and cut out the overheads like leasing all the trains from banks etc etc.

[secondtimelucky]

We're getting the train from Manchester a couple of my friends had a nightmare coach journey last time and have been put off for life, we've paid £94 but to be honest I'm happy to have paid extra to not be squashed on a national express.

Prices are crazy though same journey as we're on but at 8.15am is £438!!!!!!!!

[Chimps in Balaclavas]

I agree with splitting the journey up with more tickets, you'd be amazed on the amount you'd save if you spent the time to do the research. The rail compnanies aren't soft and will try to milk you for every penny, it's down us to do the math and get it cheaper.

[LondonTom]

I agree with splitting the journey up with more tickets, you'd be amazed on the amount you'd save if you spent the time to do the research. The rail compnanies aren't soft and will try to milk you for every penny, it's down us to do the math and get it cheaper.

[Chimps in Balaclavas]

it's down us

[paulo999]

It would be interesting to compare the total cost of government debt funded total ownership, vs. private company leasing.

I'd expect - although I don't have the numbers - that government debt would work out cheaper.

Edited May 30, 2013 by paulo999

[mikeb]

Like me, you may not really like it, but the bottom line is that the selling price of just about anything is primarily a function of what the customer is prepared to pay for it. Time, effort or money spent doing your homework before deciding what to buy and who to buy it from is generally speaking always a good investment I'm in no way convinced that it would be in any way that different with a nationalised rail network. It may well make life a bit easier although it would still need to make a reasonable attempt to "pay it's way" but with several added layers of bureaucracy to pay for as well. Everything in life needs to be paid for by someone somehow, there's no such thing as a free lunch and all that ... unless you're a Banker or similar parasite of course

I also think that you need to bear in mind what is no doubt the primary reason for cheap tickets being available in the first place - to fill seats that would most likely be empty otherwise. Why would any business (be it privately or state owned) try to or indeed want to sell something at below the 'normal' (and in some way justifiable) price when they know they will be able to sell almost everything they have available without too much in the way of any difficulty ? It seriously pisses me off that short notice travel or travel at very popular times is so ridiculously expensive but it's not difficult to understand why and realise that it's a sad fact of life that isn't ever going to change no matter how much you whine about it !

I don't drive so always use the train when I have to go just about anywhere of any significant distance and I've used trainline.com pretty much since they first started out. Yes it's a right old PITA planning your travel in the minutest of detail so far in advance in order to track down the best price but it's not difficult just time consuming. In fact it's easier now than it's ever been with other companies jumping on the bandwagon and/or apparently providing 'tools' to help you do it and so on, not that I tend to use any such 'tools' or too many other websites. But it does always mean that you have to get your act together well in advance and stick to it of course rather than be a bit disorganised or whatever. Sometimes you just need to be lucky of course but it does always get somewhat complicated if you have to juggle with accommodation as well. It's no good getting somewhere cheap-as-chips if you're going to end up being ripped off by some hotel or other for being there at the 'wrong' time and all that !

I aim to get my travel costs down to around 10p/mile (that's per equivalent direct road mile rather than rail mile) and generally get somewhere close to that in most cases without too much difficulty or significant nuisance factor. I consider that a pretty d@mn good deal and other than cycling/walking or traveling in a car filled to capacity, it's kinda difficult to see how it could be done any cheaper. I dislike coaches in general but in any case I find that they're generally more expensive, not to mention usually very much slower and less convenient into the bargain. It is however getting more and more difficult to get the lowest prices with the way trainline and/or train companies various release tickets. The initial tickets made available are not always the cheapest. Splitting journeys isn't always the best option. Going the scenic route isn't always the best option either ! The lowest available fares have generally been going up significantly every year, much more so than ticket prices in general. I presume that's simply because train companies or ticket agents various are finding that they can still fill trains at the higher prices with sites like trainline being much more widely known about and regularly used these days. Regrettably, I have to shamefully admit that I mutter and swear every time I see a Ad for trainline et al anywhere simply because I just know that it's ultimately going to result in increasing MY travel costs !

You really do need to investigate all the available permutations now in order to find the best deal and just hope that there isn't some major event going on around the time you want to travel. I ended up being screwed senseless last summer (relative to normal) for a series of journeys that I make each and every year simply because I always have to travel via London and the poxy Olympics were on. In fact almost always having to travel via London to just about anywhere I want to go usually makes things bl**dy difficult however the really weird thing recently is that booking straight through (rather than splitting the journey at London and elsewhere) is working out significantly cheaper and it includes all the relevant tube fares as well. It never used to be like that. If you needed to travel with more than 1 train company or via any major city or popular destination (and London in particular) then it always used to be very much cheaper to look for multiple tickets and alternative routes. My usual peak summer journeys this year are actually coming out cheaper than they have done for several years including those via Cambridge where you normally do get seriously ripped off no matter how hard you try to avoid it !

Providing that your travel plans can be somewhat flexible, do sufficient homework and all that or pay the price for convenience and/or being lazy, disorganised or whatever

Edited May 30, 2013 by mikeb

[posthuman]

It would be interesting to compare the total cost of government debt funded total ownership, vs. private company leasing.

I'd expect - although I don't have the numbers - that government debt would work out cheaper.

[Glastonlocal]

They are not accepting railcards for journeys to CLC from Wednesday to Friday, but if you split the journey you'll be able to use a railcard for most of the journey. But its not surprising that all the advance fares have sold already.

They also tend to make people wait on a different platfrom at Paddington if they are going to Castle Cary/glasto and only let people on the train as normal if they have tickets to elsewhere on the line.

[James Bolivar]

I was looking at going on the tuesday afternoon,it was only £14.50 from padington one way.

Its out of order that they double the price the next day.

[jkeogh]

might be worth having a look at a group save ticket, these are usually available for groups of 4+ and of course if you can avoid peak time it can be cheaper

I know that London --> Frome / Westbury usually sets me back about £50

if you call First Great Western on the group line -> 08457 413 777

they may be able to offer the standard 4 travel for the price of 2 deal (this isn't always available but may be worthwhile being flexible with your travel times if possible)

Edited May 30, 2013 by jkeogh