Train fares..I'm confused

[Piemaster]

Going to Manchester airport on Saturday, but thought I'd take the chance and set off a early so I can stop and see my son in Leeds on the way. So...
Hull -> Manchester airport £49.40 (every afternoon train)
and on select trains
Hull -> Leeds £9.20
Leeds -> airport £12.30
= £21.50

Can even get the first train of the day first class for £25

 

[Lonestar]

Split system? I don't know much about how the railways work up narf though and how split it is like round here.I mean I understand the reason for the variation of the fares and why it isn't more consistent like the BR days.(I fink)

 

[TVC]

I have a friend who is a barrister and so travels all over the country to take court cases. He travels by train and out of principle (and fill in the long waits at court) always finds the cheapest split fare he can - even though all costs are recovered from his clients. He can save £100 each week if he is travelling to the south coast.

 

[buggi]

What I don't understand... My petrol for the full journey to work is approx £6 a day. Half way journey on my bike and train costs me £9.90.

And the government wonders why nobody chooses public transport?

 

[Neilsmith]

i had the same thing on the way to work splitting the journey was cheaper. The cost of rail travel will never encourage most people to leave their cars behind, it's a shame.

 

[ColinJ]

I once saved £20 on a return rail journey from Hebden Bridge to Coventry by buying 3 single tickets each way rather than 1 return ticket. I caught the same trains that I would have caught with the more expensive ticket. Bonkers!

I have never been told that this is possible when asking for the cheapest tickets at the ticket office. I discovered it by checking out various combinations on the National Rail Enquiries website.

Then there are other complications ... You are not allowed to do it if the trains that you want to catch do not stop at the intermediate stations that you do not want to get off at, and do not have to get off at - BUT YOU DO NEED TO BE ABLE TO GET OFF AT THEM!

 

[NorthernDave]

What I don't understand... My petrol for the full journey to work is approx £6 a day. Half way journey on my bike and train costs me £9.90.

And the government wonders why nobody chooses public transport?

Makes no sense does it?
My commute uses £100 a month in diesel and that includes dropping Mrs ND at work in a morning and picking her up again on the way home.
Even with a discounted annual pass it would cost me alone the equivalent of over £110 a month to go by train - and that doesn't include the cost of Mrs ND getting to work.
So it makes no financial sense for us to use public transport, let alone the inconvenience of only two trains per hour, or of getting to and from the station (virtually no parking, no secure bike storage), or the virtual certainty of not getting a seat...

 

[Andy_R]

A couple of years ago a group of us did the Coast and Castles ride from Newcastle Quayside to Edinburgh. We booked train tickets to get back to Newcastle - A couple of us got (prebooked with cycle carriage) 1st class singles for £13, the others got 2nd class singles on the day for somewhere around £25

 

[vernon]

The running costs of your car can be calculated here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1633412/Calculator-True-cost-running-car.html

 

[screenman]

What I don't understand... My petrol for the full journey to work is approx £6 a day. Half way journey on my bike and train costs me £9.90.

And the government wonders why nobody chooses public transport?

The trains always look quite full though, but too expensive for me.

 

[nickyboy]

Going to Manchester airport on Saturday, but thought I'd take the chance and set off a early so I can stop and see my son in Leeds on the way. So...
Hull -> Manchester airport £49.40 (every afternoon train)
and on select trains
Hull -> Leeds £9.20
Leeds -> airport £12.30
= £21.50

Can even get the first train of the day first class for £25

It's often the case that the final leg of the journey (which is never discounted) drives the lack of discount for the rest of the journey.

In your example, the journey Hull - Manchester has Advance tickets much cheaper than the Anytime tickets. But the Manchester - Airport leg has no Advance tickets so the algorithm automatically prices you the Hull - Manchester Anytime

I have exactly this when travelling London - Manchester - Glossop. Never buy the through ticket when you've got a stretch where no Advance tickets are sold

 

[Kestevan]

Your car journey costs more than £6 though, when you add in all the other expenses car owning involves and the environmental costs of private travel by car.

The running costs of your car can be calculated here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1633412/Calculator-True-cost-running-car.html

Yeah, but most people will still need to have a car anyway. Personally Mrs Kes and I can drive to work for about £6 a day in petrol, The cost of public transport would be considerably more.. The indirect costs of owning the car (purchase, depreciation, VED, Insurance etc) wouldn't be noticeably less just cos it was sitting in the driveway at home.... as it is we tend to ride most days anyway, but that's not the point.

 

[buggi]

Your car journey costs more than £6 though, when you add in all the other expenses car owning involves and the environmental costs of private travel by car.

The difference is £40 more for the car per month when you take into account petrol, cost of car and insurance. So not worth the inconvenience, plus I need the car for more than just work so you could easily say take that cost off which would mean the train costs more.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Your car journey costs more than £6 though, when you add in all the other expenses car owning involves and the environmental costs of private travel by car.

The running costs of your car can be calculated here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1633412/Calculator-True-cost-running-car.html

Right, I used Vernon's calculator for my Clio, and came up with a per-mile cost of £0.40. According to Google Maps, it's 129 miles from Derby Midland Station to London St Pancras, which works out at £103.20 both ways. The cheapest return according to Travel Supermarket is £67.50, but if I want to get there before 10:00 it shoots up to £178.50. But the per-mile cost of my car is based on my everyday use. So an extra journey in my car would only cost me about £22 (it's about a third of a tank) plus a couple of quid for wear and tear on tyres (I'm assuming that servicing is still annual), whereas an extra train journey is and extra £67.50 at least.

And comparing environmental impact is mind-boggling, although if I read this report correctly, a small car with 2 passengers produces 5% more CO2 per passenger kilometre than a train. But I suspect the figure for the train is an average taking into account electric trains, of which there are none on the Midland Main Line.

I think it's all a bit swings and roundabouts.

 

[vernon]

Right, I used Vernon's calculator for my Clio, and came up with a per-mile cost of £0.40. According to Google Maps, it's 129 miles from Derby Midland Station to London St Pancras, which works out at £103.20 both ways. The cheapest return according to Travel Supermarket is £67.50, but if I want to get there before 10:00 it shoots up to £178.50. But the per-mile cost of my car is based on my everyday use. So an extra journey in my car would only cost me about £22 (it's about a third of a tank) plus a couple of quid for wear and tear on tyres (I'm assuming that servicing is still annual), whereas an extra train journey is and extra £67.50 at least.

And comparing environmental impact is mind-boggling, although if I read this report correctly, a small car with 2 passengers produces 5% more CO2 per passenger kilometre than a train. But I suspect the figure for the train is an average taking into account electric trains, of which there are none on the Midland Main Line.

I think it's all a bit swings and roundabouts.

Don't forget to add £11.50 congestion charge and London car parking fees to your costings...

Then look at the stress levels of train travel vs driving.

The train journey looks more attractive to me.