The cost of train journeys

[snorri]

Trains are shoot, smelly and dirty they take you from where your not to where you don't want to be, if they run at all and they haven't put a bus replacement service on, surrounded by people you don't want to know. A ridiculously out moded, environmentally damaging form transport. They should have been abolished fifty years ago.

I'm glad you don't travel by train, you sound like one of that rare breed I wouldn't want to share a carriage with.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Just take your car. You know you want to. Far easier and comfortable then the train.

I'd disagree. It wasn't until I got rid of my car 5 years ago that I realised just how stressful driving is. I hadn't really appreciated the fact that when I get out of the car, after anything more than a short trip to the shops, how my shoulders had got tensed up. Yes, the train seem to be more expensive if you only look at the purchase cost of the the tickets compared with fuel, but I find train travel far less stressful, as you can sit and read, fall asleep, look out the window, go for a walk around any time you want to, and just generally enjoy the journey. You can't do that as a driver.

 

[User33236]

I live close to a train station, both my kids live close to train stations. If I travel to visit them on my own I use the train as it's cheap if booked in advance.

If my wife goes with me we drive. Simples.

 

[KneesUp]

I'd disagree. It wasn't until I got rid of my car 5 years ago that I realised just how stressful driving is. I hadn't really appreciated the fact that when I get out of the car, after anything more than a short trip to the shops, how my shoulders had got tensed up. Yes, the train seem to be more expensive if you only look at the purchase cost of the the tickets compared with fuel, but I find train travel far less stressful, as you can sit and read, fall asleep, look out the window, go for a walk around any time you want to, and just generally enjoy the journey. You can't do that as a driver.

As @ClichéGuevara suggests, they get shirty if you try and hitch your trailer to a train - and as we go camping in the summer (and have a small car because most of the year we don't need a large one) we also own a trailer. I would not fancy getting a frame tent, 3 beds, a camping kitchen and three bikes to Cornwall by train. That would be stressful. So we have a car.

 

[Crackle]

Trains are shoot, smelly and dirty they take you from where your not to where you don't want to be, if they run at all and they haven't put a bus replacement service on, surrounded by people you don't want to know. A ridiculously out moded, environmentally damaging form transport. They should have been abolished fifty years ago.

Top rant!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I'd disagree. It wasn't until I got rid of my car 5 years ago that I realised just how stressful driving is. I hadn't really appreciated the fact that when I get out of the car, after anything more than a short trip to the shops, how my shoulders had got tensed up. Yes, the train seem to be more expensive if you only look at the purchase cost of the the tickets compared with fuel, but I find train travel far less stressful, as you can sit and read, fall asleep, look out the window, go for a walk around any time you want to, and just generally enjoy the journey. You can't do that as a driver.

This. In spades.

Just come back from Newcastle. Went for a long weekend with tlh on a mission. Horsham - Newcastle First Class Advance Return £92 quid each. Worth every penny for the speed, the comfort, the lack of stress, the constant food, and yes I admit it, the drink. tlh is a big "why don't we use the car?" advocate. She's been converted. Five and a half hours minimum driving. Plus stops. 325 miles of hell.

And Newcastle has amazing public transport. The roads there, on the other hand, are disintegrating, covered in road works and used by sheet drivers. (Hired a car whilst I was there; C Max. Nice bit of utility kit.) Lots of cyclists in the Toon on Sunday too. Now if we can just beat Leicester tonight.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Blazed would...

Blazed would be juggling 3 6 year olds whilst wheelieing backwards blindfolded

 

[GrumpyGregry]

As @ClichéGuevara suggests, they get shirty if you try and hitch your trailer to a train - and as we go camping in the summer (and have a small car because most of the year we don't need a large one) we also own a trailer. I would not fancy getting a frame tent, 3 beds, a camping kitchen and three bikes to Cornwall by train. That would be stressful. So we have a car.

Your fundamental preference appears to be to use a car. Which is fair enough.

Yet why start a thread bemoaning other modes when it appears you aren't really prepared to make a different choice?

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Steady on, he may be a tad boastful but abusing children?

ok fair do's, juggling 36 year olds

 

[Piemaster]

Visiting my son in Leeds we factor in convenience. We get a train into Leeds station. He gets a train there (for £2 from his digs). It takes 50 minutes with no traffic to deal with for us, no parking to find.
Yup it does cost more, we could go in car and park up at his digs then get the train into the station. But its so much easier on the train.
And as part of it is going out to eat with him I can have beer with a meal too!

 

[Brandane]

I have been thinking about doing the Way of the Roses again, but west to east this time. It would involve driving to Morecambe, then getting a train back from Bridlington to collect the car. Due to my aversion to cycling in bad weather, I would be doing this at fairly short notice; so no opportunity to take advantage of booking weeks ahead. The price, for a single from Bridlington to Morecambe? SIXTY THREE of your English pounds!! (There does not appear to be any off peak option in my search for 21st March). It also involves at least 2 changes of train, and a total journey time of nearly 5 hours. Outrageous. It's less than 140 miles by road.
Given a choice between driving and public transport; for me the car wins every time. More convenient, more comfortable, doesn't smell, no loud obnoxious passengers, and is cheaper. I am one of those unusual people who still quite enjoys driving unless stuck in traffic (which is normally easily avoided anywhere north of Manchester), so it's really a no-brainer.

 

[NorthernDave]

If I'm going to London, I go by train because a) it makes sense and b) work pay.
But last week we went to a gig in Manchester an thought it might be easier to go by train. The simple answer was that it would cost a fortune (approaching £70) for open return tickets (not being sure what time it would finish), we'd then have to figure out which of the 3 Manchester stations the next train home was from and the homeward journey was potentially well over 2 hours door to door. Plus we'd have to get a taxi home from Leeds station at a cost of at least £15.
So we went in the car which cost under a tenner in diesel, plus £6 for parking. Any other costs are irrelevant as they'd be incurred regardless of that particular journey anyway.

 

[Brandane]

Any other costs are irrelevant as they'd be incurred regardless of that particular journey anyway.

This is my thinking on that matter too. If you own a car in any case, then there are fixed charges for insurance, MOT, and VED. You are paying those even if you take the train and the car is sitting at home. Servicing I do myself and the cost is negligible. Depreciation for putting some extra miles on a ten year old car with 85k miles on it already? Again negligible. The biggest cost is petrol, and even traveling solo it all works out cheaper for me to go by car rather than train. With passengers; much, much cheaper to drive.

 

[PaulSB]

I get all the arguments for and against including depreciation, RFT etc. in the cost and tend to lean to the "by having a car I'd pay this anyway" view.

What I don't get is this. The OP says the train journey is £72 total for 3 people. £24 each return. The OP says the car journey is £42. Pretty obvious to me the train per person is tremendous value. It's only that three are travelling which makes it look expensive. The discussion should be based on the journey cost not the number of people.

Booked in advance train travel is great value, last minute bookings are horrendously expensive.

 

[Brandane]

The discussion should be based on the journey cost not the number of people.

Why? If you're going to divide the cost of rail travel by the number of passengers, then the cost of the car journey should be divided likewise, as the crux of the matter is the total cost of the journey for getting the OP and his family from A to B and back. Either that, or to make a fair comparison we need to know how much it costs to run the train for ONE person!