Is train travel in the UK expensive? Or am I missing something? Serious question

ChicagoBlue said:
I used to fly into London, tube to Euston, get on a train to Mcr and it was all relatively straightforward and not particularly expensive.

Now, train fares are for a specific train, and the closer to departure it gets, the more the ticket prices seem to increase.

Walk up fares are outrageous for an Inter City Euston to Piccadilly! Literally cheaper to rent a car!!
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It's often cheaper to fly. The problem is unless you are going somewhere near the airport you are flying to you will get stung by having to catch a train to reach your final destination. Catch 22.
 
I wouldn't mind it being expensive if it was actually good. It's expensive in Japan, but for your money, you actually get a clean, comfortable train that arrives on time most of the time. In the UK, you get crammed on a shitty two-carriage train because you're also having to share it with the people on the previously cancelled train. And that's if you're lucky.

Honestly, every time I fly out of Manchester, I have to book a hotel the night before my flight because the trains are so unreliable that you can't trust them to not make you miss your flight.
 
oldius said:
I am convinced that the operators make it as complex as possible to enhance profits.
I cannot grasp what is difficult about one on peak price, and one off peak price.

I recently travelled to Barnsley.
At every point on every different leg of the journey there were different prices.
The screen was full of options.
I thought the cost was reasonable though.
One train (of three changes) was late, so the connection was missed, and I was an hour late.

My wife recently tried to book a ticket to London from Liverpool and it was £180.
Fancy a trip for a family of four?
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The boardroom bonus needs a wee legup
 
Train operating companies are, in many cases, just mini monopolies. It makes me laugh when an announcement comes over the tannoy saying something like, "thank you for choosing to travel with (insert company name)" when the train service is only provided by that operator and there is no other choice (except perhaps the bus).
 
Once again, it's a political choice. In the European mainland, trains are heavily subsidised by the state, so fares are low.

In the UK, people say: 'Why should I pay for that, when I don't use trains?'

This attitude of narrow accountancy is one of many things that fucks this country. And, sorry, although she's been dead for some time now, I blame Thatcher. She inculcated the attitude.

See also, 'The government should be run like a household, never spending more than it earns.' Economic illiteracy in spades.
 
BrianW said:
Once again, it's a political choice. In the European mainland, trains are heavily subsidised by the state, so fares are low.

In the UK, people say: 'Why should I pay for that, when I don't use trains?'

This attitude of narrow accountancy is one of many things that fucks this country. And, sorry, although she's been dead for some time now, I blame Thatcher. She inculcated the attitude.

See also, 'The government should be run like a household, never spending more than it earns.' Economic illiteracy in spades.
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What we should do is take it back into government ownership and charge a fair price. A price that still allows investment.
 
Know someone going to Poland who was looking to get from Warsaw to Krakow. It's about a 2.5hr journey and you can get return tickets from less than £2.

A single tram in Manchester is more than that. And whilst their wages are lower, these days it's not by much for equivalent roles
 
We travelled to Cornwall in the summer from Stockport on train because the wife didn't want to drive.
£450 for family of 3 adults 2 kids
3 out of 4 trains we used our seats was taken which 2 were happy to move seats,
The last train from Birmingham a older woman refused to move despite the wife showing her our seat number,me and father in law ended up standing till she got off.missus was fuming.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
Nearly £30 a day now for me to London.
Was around £20-22 before pandemic.
I live 25 miles away
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I live a little bit further out than you, up in Essex. If I want to be in the office it cost me £50 now, it was about £35 when I moved here five years ago - fortunately nobody forces me to go in, it's at my discretion. But they wonder why people don't want to go to the office any more. I actually used to enjoy it when I worked in Manchester and I lived a 5-minute walk away. I was in every day and would stay late there most days, I'm always more productive and happy in an office environment. WFH mixes and confuses a lot of boundaries which I think makes us less happy without us realising, even though the flexibility is a godsend to parents, the disabled etc.

What makes it worse is that if I don't take something to eat with me or I get dragged by colleagues to get lunch or coffee somewhere, you're rarely spending less than another £15-20 on top of that.
 
city5189 said:
We travelled to Cornwall in the summer from Stockport on train because the wife didn't want to drive.
£450 for family of 3 adults 2 kids
3 out of 4 trains we used our seats was taken which 2 were happy to move seats,
The last train from Birmingham an older woman refused to move despite the wife showing her our seat number,me and father in law ended up standing till she got off.missus was fuming.
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Yes, sadly seat “reservations” are completely unenforceable as I have had confirmed by the rail companies.
 
BrianW said:
Once again, it's a political choice. In the European mainland, trains are heavily subsidised by the state, so fares are low.

In the UK, people say: 'Why should I pay for that, when I don't use trains?'

This attitude of narrow accountancy is one of many things that fucks this country. And, sorry, although she's been dead for some time now, I blame Thatcher. She inculcated the attitude.

See also, 'The government should be run like a household, never spending more than it earns.' Economic illiteracy in spades.
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I think you’ll find European trains are often subsidised by us as well seeing how many UK operators are foreign.
EG Avanti are 30% owned by Trenitalia, others are owned by Dutch, German French rail companies.
 
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SkyBlueFlux said:
I live a little bit further out than you, up in Essex. If I want to be in the office it cost me £50 now, it was about £35 when I moved here five years ago - fortunately nobody forces me to go in, it's at my discretion. But they wonder why people don't want to go to the office any more. I actually used to enjoy it when I worked in Manchester and I lived a 5-minute walk away. I was in every day and would stay late there most days, I'm always more productive and happy in an office environment. WFH mixes and confuses a lot of boundaries which I think makes us less happy without us realising, even though the flexibility is a godsend to parents, the disabled etc.

What makes it worse is that if I don't take something to eat with me or I get dragged by colleagues to get lunch or coffee somewhere, you're rarely spending less than another £15-20 on top of that.
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Yep the cost is just to much.

To be honest, I love wfh so much, take kids to school, come back peaceful house, get loads more work done. Feel less pressured and more relaxed.

The thought of my company being stricter and force everyone back feels me with dread.

I go in a couple days a week, which I enjoy.
 
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