UK Train Fare are strange....

[Talyn]

So, I've been looking at train journeys to go visit the parents down in Cornwall. Here's the results of my train search for fares -

Wolverhamton to Camborne (Single) - £40
Camborne to Wolverhampton (Single) - £105

OR

Wolverhampton to Camborne (Return) - £117

The question is, how is it that I can travel from North to South for £40, but South to North for just under triple the price? How is that justified?

Surely the single journeys should be £40 both way, which then nullifies the return price anyway. Or, both jorneys should be £105, which then allows the return price to becom e reasonable!

That don't make things easy these train people!!!!

 

[old.Tohtori]

Might be that the north->south is a long range train?

Short range train rides usually cost more, atleast in some cases.

So in essence, you're just hitchiking north-> south, but you're actually travelling south->north

 

[Raven]

Because the entire system is daft. Are both trains provided by the same train company?

 

[soze]

Is the whole journey one operator? If you change from a First train to a Virgin train for example that would explain it. Outbound is company one's pricing Inbound is company two's. Another thing could be time of your return you pay more for peak hours.

 

[Calaen]

It's clear to me, being able to travel up North is a privilege!!

 

[Mophead]

£105 will likely be the standard price for a single ticket for that trip.

Converting any single to a return adds very little in the way of price, for any trip, hence the £117.

The £40 fair you've found will probably be a special offer for that particular train.

If so, the difference is, with the £105/£117 tickets, you can travel on any train (valid route) on the day of purchase, and then if you have the return, travel back on any train (valid route), within a month. The £40 fair will only be valid for a specific train (not route) - date and time - if you got on another one, you'd probably be charged again - at the standard fair - £105.

EDIT: On a seperate /rant - our systems shite comparted to other European countries. The Swiss seem to have the best I've encountered. Something like 3000 swiss francs buys you a 2 year public transport travel card that allows you to go on any train/bus/boat in the country.

 

[dysfunction]

They make it complicated so you can't work out how to get the cheapest fair...

Sometimes you get a cheaper price by buying two single tickets rather than a return...

Its just mad...

 

[Bahumat]

They make it complicated so you can't work out how to get the cheapest fair...

Sometimes you get a cheaper price by buying two single tickets rather than a return...

Its just mad...

yup, exactly right.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Its just mad...

That's pretty much the view i've gotten from the UK in general in the past few years

UK...it's just mad.

 

[rynnor]

The question is, how is it that I can travel from North to South for £40, but South to North for just under triple the price? How is that justified?

If you buy advance tickets theres a certain number at a low price - when those run out you get a higher price etc. - just book early n try different trains to find one with cheap space left.

 

[Ch3tan]

Yeah have a look on trainline.co.uk and the like, see if you can't find a cheaper deal.

Always book tickets weeks in advance if you can, that will always save you moohlah.

 

[Syri]

I gave up trying to understand the pricing on our trains long ago...
I actually spoke to someone at one of the booking offices. They didn't fully understand why they do it even. Apparently they decide that there will be so many seats on the train at price A, so many at price B, and so on, no real reason WHY they do that, they just... do.
Would be so much easier to have a flat fare system, and I dare say it'd get more people actually leaving their cars at home and using the trains, which is what the government want. Having such variable fares is just going to keep people away.

 

[leviathane]

this is what happens when you don't invest in your public transport sector but instead sell it off to private companies.

 

[Mophead]

Would be so much easier to have a flat fare system, and I dare say it'd get more people actually leaving their cars at home and using the trains, which is what the government want. Having such variable fares is just going to keep people away.

There is a flat fare system. The national fares are noted on the main national rail website. However, individual operators are entitled to offer discounts on their services as they see fit. This is where the complication comes in, because, as far as I am aware, the operators are in no way obliged to make this information accessible to each other, or a central body of any kind - so you effectively have to hunt around different websites or whatever looking for the discounts.

this is what happens when you don't invest in your public transport sector but instead sell it off to private companies.

I've had a few casual chats with a couple of people associated with the rail system regarding this. I was surprised to find that a lot of other european countries actually have privatised rail system, but theres work better than ours. The core reason is because ours was the first government to try it out, so the others got the benefit of learning from our (substantial) mistakes.

Theres also a legacy siutation with regards to the track as well - a few decades back, when other countries were looking at their public transport infrastucture, they decided there was a need to upgrade the lines. Apparently British visionaries didn't see this as necessary at the time, so its only recently that lines (e.g the west coast one, and our side of the channel tunnel) have been upgraded to the standard that other european countries have had for decades. Unfortunately, I think the privatisation fiasco probably compounded this.

 

[Tom]

this is what happens when you don't invest in your public transport sector but instead sell it off to private companies.

Private companies built the rail network in the first place.

OP, I'd look at coaches if I were you. You can probably get a coach for a tenner.

 

[MYstIC G]

Cheap Train Tickets: how to find hidden fares...

 

[Sparx]

cheapest way is to buy your route in stages, for example a ticket from london to glasgow would have cost me £165 return but when i bought from london to carlisle and carlisle to glasgow and same back it cost £60 return. If you work it out right you dont even have to leave your seat

 

[TdC]

heh, many moons ago I went to a barrybeer. the train ticket from Gatwick to Blackfriars was more than my return flight ticket.

 

[Lazarus]

south --> North route means you are going uphill so it uses more fuel

i thought everyone knew that :|

 

[Talyn]

Off hand, I couldn't tell what the operators were, I was using the National Rail website, and the trainline website.

I also just found that travelling on a Friday is a bad idea, I've been advised to go Mon-Thu as Friday is classed as on-peak weekend travel.

I'll go have a look at maybe buying tickets to split the journey, (like Sparx mentioned) maybe that'll save a couple of quid. The folks did say they'd pay for the tickets, but they're both retired and I don't want to be robbing them of thier pensions!

Cheers for the advice all...

 

[Talyn]

OP, I'd look at coaches if I were you. You can probably get a coach for a tenner.

I did a coach a few years ago, I don't remember the price off hand, I do remember it being a 12 hour journey though.

Even with a PSP, I never want to do 12 hours on a coach again...

 

[tris-]

So, I've been looking at train journeys to go visit the parents down in Cornwall. Here's the results of my train search for fares -

Wolverhamton to Camborne (Single) - £40
Camborne to Wolverhampton (Single) - £105

OR

Wolverhampton to Camborne (Return) - £117

The question is, how is it that I can travel from North to South for £40, but South to North for just under triple the price? How is that justified?

Surely the single journeys should be £40 both way, which then nullifies the return price anyway. Or, both jorneys should be £105, which then allows the return price to becom e reasonable!

That don't make things easy these train people!!!!

got the same problem. for my next journey it is £16 for me to go from south to north, and £32.50 to go north to south.

 

[Bugz]

Are we talking advance fairs or standard?

 

[Talyn]

I dunno, I just went to the websites and put in when and where i'm travelling.

I'm planning on going down just before xmas, 10th till like 17th or something like that...

 

[kirennia]

I dunno, I just went to the websites and put in when and where i'm travelling.

I'm planning on going down just before xmas, 10th till like 17th or something like that...

The 17th/18th is just before the final weekend of christmas. Try reversing the dates AND times just to check whether it's the times that are the problem.

 

[Mabs]

will just add this to the general conversation

Rail staff are to travel to a conference by coach because trains are too expensive.

A Network Rail (NR) senior executive decided on coach travel after it was found that taking 200 of the company's staff from Reading in Berkshire to Coventry by rail could cost as much £27,000.

Instead, the staff will travel at a cost of £12 a head by coach, with overall spending being £2,400.

The Sun newspaper said it had seen a memo from an NR senior executive which said: "If we all book our own travel and most of us use trains, it'll cost £27,000 on travel alone."

He added that they would instead take "spacious" buses, costing £12 a head.

An NR spokesman said: "The cost would have been £27,000 if everyone had opted for open return tickets.

"We are a rail company. We like to use trains. At present we are asking people throughout the business to cut costs and when we travel we always look to see just how much journeys cost and if there is a cheaper option.

"Our staff do not get free travel or discounts."

 

[Talyn]

will just add this to the general conversation

<snipped>

Well, after reading that, I've had a look at NatExpress (points at Tom) and here's the comparsion -

Rail - return ticket £117 (is the best I could find as per my OP) - journey time 6/7 hours.

Coach - return ticket £78 - 10 hour journey (give or take 30 mins)

Difference of £40 for maybe 4 hours extra travel. Decisions decisions!

 

[mooSe_]

Well, after reading that, I've had a look at NatExpress (points at Tom) and here's the comparsion -

Rail - return ticket £117 (is the best I could find as per my OP) - journey time 6/7 hours.

Coach - return ticket £78 - 10 hour journey (give or take 30 mins)

Difference of £40 for maybe 4 hours extra travel. Decisions decisions!

That would be an easy decision in favour of trains for me, I hate long road journeys, coaches being the worst kind. That's mainly due to growing up with very bad motion/travel sickness (which doesn't happen on trains but pretty much every other form of transport) which I have only in the last few years become less susceptible to.

But seriously, 10 hours on a coach uke:

 

[Zenith.UK]

It's little wonder that I've sworn never to use rail again.
Those prices are daylight robbery!

For less money, I could drive to my destination, have a Travelodge room for the night and drive back the following day. Govt policy is supposed to try and get people onto public transport, but if it's more expensive than using your car, what's the point?

I also don't give a crap about the green argument.

Put it another way, I think nothing of driving 150-200 miles a day with work. Doing the 400mile stretch to visit my folks is a bit harder but still do-able. In August, I drove to my folks and back 3 times (2400miles) in 10 days because of a family emergency.

 

[Ch3tan]

Well, after reading that, I've had a look at NatExpress (points at Tom) and here's the comparsion -

Rail - return ticket £117 (is the best I could find as per my OP) - journey time 6/7 hours.

Coach - return ticket £78 - 10 hour journey (give or take 30 mins)

Difference of £40 for maybe 4 hours extra travel. Decisions decisions!

And national express are quite expensive when it comes to coaches.