Since when did taking the train become a luxury?

[Gandalf]

I've been doing a bit of planning for my holiday home this summer and one of the things I was most looking forward to was sitting on a train. I know it doesn't sound much but I really like sitting on a train reading my newspapers or else looking idly out the window at the lovely rolling countryside. Britain has some pretty decent papers, some of the nicest scenery, but unfortunately a grotesquely overpriced rail service.

I just did a search for ticket prices in order to give myself an idea of what I might be spending and I was shocked to see some of the prices. A one way ticket from my parents town to london will set you back about 85 quid! That's outrageous. I was planning to use the train a fair bit as I am meeting a few old friends around the country, but I am coming to realise that doing that is going to involve giving a lot of money to these rail operators and I don't think it is fair. It's no wonder everybody drives a car when the rail services are not a convenient nor viable alternative. I could always take the coach which is cheap, but it's just not convient. A coach from Harrogate to Worthing, for instance, takes nigh on 9 hours. I don't want to do that and would much rather enjoy a nice reasonably priced railway journey at half the time.

A party should push through a nationalisation of the railways plan and give the railways back to the British people. What we have now are a bunch of rip off merchants! I can get a return train ticket to Seoul for the equivalent of about 6 pounds. In England that would cost me about 25 pounds. That's not right.

Rant over.

[Kev]

I've been doing a bit of planning for my holiday home this summer and one of the things I was most looking forward to was sitting on a train. I know it doesn't sound much but I really like sitting on a train reading my newspapers or else looking idly out the window at the lovely rolling countryside. Britain has some pretty decent papers, some of the nicest scenery, but unfortunately a grotesquely overpriced rail service.

I just did a search for ticket prices in order to give myself an idea of what I might be spending and I was shocked to see some of the prices. A one way ticket from my parents town to london will set you back about 85 quid! That's outrageous. I was planning to use the train a fair bit as I am meeting a few old friends around the country, but I am coming to realise that doing that is going to involve giving a lot of money to these rail operators and I don't think it is fair. It's no wonder everybody drives a car when the rail services are not a convenient nor viable alternative. I could always take the coach which is cheap, but it's just not convient. A coach from Harrogate to Worthing, for instance, takes nigh on 9 hours. I don't want to do that and would much rather enjoy a nice reasonably priced railway journey at half the time.

A party should push through a nationalisation of the railways plan and give the railways back to the British people. What we have now are a bunch of rip off merchants! I can get a return train ticket to Seoul for the equivalent of about 6 pounds. In England that would cost me about 25 pounds. That's not right.

Rant over.

Yes but to be fair I imagine the Seoul trains have about 1000 passengers per carriage with no toilet facilities and half the commuters wearing man nappies to save them from the dangers of shitting out of a window of a moving train.

Usually in the UK it's cheaper to buy a return ticket than a one way one. Also I believe there are search engines that hunt for better prices by getting you to use two or more different trains, i.e hop off one and onto another and you pay half the price overall.

There's always ways around things.

[Gandalf]

To be fair to the Koreans their rail network is fantastic. You can get to anywhere in the country quite easily and they also have the KTX high speed trains which mean you can get from Seoul to the south coast in just a couple of hours. The UK could do with something like that. It costs a little more to use than the regular train but still works out cheaper than UK prices. But yes, the regular trains can get busy if you don't book your seat in advance. I have never used the toilets on a train, but I think they exist.

I'm planning on spending half my holiday in the north and then finishing in the south whence looking at one way tickets London way. But I will be doing a lot more commuting by train back and forth, here and there, so will use return tickets. I had heard that if you don't book your tickets in advance and just go on the day it costs a lot more. Is that true? I quite like the traditional idea of just strolling into a station and buying a ticket there and then like I used to. I've only looked at one site which was the first one that came up when I searched, so will have to find better value. But making a holiday of things is expensive in the UK and the transportation costs are really not good. You could eat out multiple times for the amount it costs to get you from A to B. When you factor in airplane costs as well, a holiday home can end up costing thousands of pounds in transportation fees alone. It's utter madness, I tell you.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

miles,

bilbo is wrong about the trains.

If you need to change trains it is often CHEAPER to buy two single tickets than one ticket that covers both trips.
It often works out cheaper to buy two singles than a return

Use this
National Rail Enquiries - Fare Finder

harrogate to london £42.50 single
harrogate to york £6.60
york to london £22.00

They take the piss 42.50 to 28.60!! You will be restricted on the times you can travel though, if you're not too fussed you'll be making a big saving.

[Gandalf]

Thanks, Missy. That site even at 42 pounds is half the price of what I was looking at earlier. And like you show you can probably do it much cheaper still. Maybe my initial complaint about transportation costs was a little premature. That isn't so bad after all and I feel more at ease about things.

I know this isn't quite related but I don't want to start a new thread about it, but my Mum, who is chronically addicted to cigarettes has asked me to bring as many back as possible to fuel her addiction. I can't blame her really as they only cost a pound a packet out here. Am I right in that if you are from outside the EU, you can only bring in 200 cigarettes per person? That seems a bit low to me (only 10 packets), but that's what I'm reading. If I stuff my suitcase full of cigarettes are they going to steal my suitcase?

[Howlin Mad Missy]

glad to help. The thing with the train tickets - they don't tell you the cheapest deals! Even if you go to the station more often than not you have to make them give you this price, they don't offer it

they'll take them OR you pay the duty on them IF they find them. Not sure how it stands bringing stuff in from outside the EU.

[Kev]

miles,

bilbo is wrong about the trains.

If you need to change trains it is often CHEAPER to buy two single tickets than one ticket that covers both trips.
It often works out cheaper to buy two singles than a return

Use this
National Rail Enquiries - Fare Finder

harrogate to london £42.50 single
harrogate to york £6.60
york to london £22.00

They take the piss 42.50 to 28.60!! You will be restricted on the times you can travel though, if you're not too fussed you'll be making a big saving.

How was I wrong, I simply provided different information.

Plus you just linked the the search engine that I told him about and did what I said, hopped on two different trains.

[Gandalf]

That system they have is bullshit.

Harrogate to Worthing is listed as 104 pounds

Yet you break it down into 3 seperate tickets and it costs you about 36 pounds. Their system is outrageous. How are they getting away with that?

It's criminal IMO.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

That system they have is bullshit.

Harrogate to Worthing is listed as 104 pounds

Yet you break it down into 3 seperate tickets and it costs you about 36 pounds. Their system is outrageous. How are they getting away with that?

It's criminal IMO.

Because they don't tell anyone about it. Rip off innit?

[Gandalf]

That system they have is bullshit.

Harrogate to Worthing is listed as 104 pounds

Yet you break it down into 3 seperate tickets and it costs you about 36 pounds. Their system is outrageous. How are they getting away with that?

It's criminal IMO.

Because they don't tell anyone about it. Rip off innit?

Yeah, a right old farce. 1/3rd of the price and for what reason? You chose to get the tickets seperately. I'm sure loads have people have been duped by that because they just don't know, especially tourists who don't know anything about Britain and would expect the system to be fair. I'm not a tourist per se, but even I was duped into it before starting this thread complaining about the costs. Something should be done about it really as it is purposely done to con people.

[ono]

I've been doing a bit of planning for my holiday home this summer and one of the things I was most looking forward to was sitting on a train. I know it doesn't sound much but I really like sitting on a train reading my newspapers or else looking idly out the window at the lovely rolling countryside. Britain has some pretty decent papers, some of the nicest scenery, but unfortunately a grotesquely overpriced rail service.

I just did a search for ticket prices in order to give myself an idea of what I might be spending and I was shocked to see some of the prices. A one way ticket from my parents town to london will set you back about 85 quid! That's outrageous. I was planning to use the train a fair bit as I am meeting a few old friends around the country, but I am coming to realise that doing that is going to involve giving a lot of money to these rail operators and I don't think it is fair. It's no wonder everybody drives a car when the rail services are not a convenient nor viable alternative. I could always take the coach which is cheap, but it's just not convient. A coach from Harrogate to Worthing, for instance, takes nigh on 9 hours. I don't want to do that and would much rather enjoy a nice reasonably priced railway journey at half the time.

A party should push through a nationalisation of the railways plan and give the railways back to the British people. What we have now are a bunch of rip off merchants! I can get a return train ticket to Seoul for the equivalent of about 6 pounds. In England that would cost me about 25 pounds. That's not right.

Rant over.

Yes but to be fair I imagine the Seoul trains have about 1000 passengers per carriage with no toilet facilities and half the commuters wearing man nappies to save them from the dangers of shitting out of a window of a moving train.

Usually in the UK it's cheaper to buy a return ticket than a one way one. Also I believe there are search engines that hunt for better prices by getting you to use two or more different trains, i.e hop off one and onto another and you pay half the price overall.

There's always ways around things.

Did you hear that on the Ricky Gervais show?

[Kev]

I've been doing a bit of planning for my holiday home this summer and one of the things I was most looking forward to was sitting on a train. I know it doesn't sound much but I really like sitting on a train reading my newspapers or else looking idly out the window at the lovely rolling countryside. Britain has some pretty decent papers, some of the nicest scenery, but unfortunately a grotesquely overpriced rail service.

I just did a search for ticket prices in order to give myself an idea of what I might be spending and I was shocked to see some of the prices. A one way ticket from my parents town to london will set you back about 85 quid! That's outrageous. I was planning to use the train a fair bit as I am meeting a few old friends around the country, but I am coming to realise that doing that is going to involve giving a lot of money to these rail operators and I don't think it is fair. It's no wonder everybody drives a car when the rail services are not a convenient nor viable alternative. I could always take the coach which is cheap, but it's just not convient. A coach from Harrogate to Worthing, for instance, takes nigh on 9 hours. I don't want to do that and would much rather enjoy a nice reasonably priced railway journey at half the time.

A party should push through a nationalisation of the railways plan and give the railways back to the British people. What we have now are a bunch of rip off merchants! I can get a return train ticket to Seoul for the equivalent of about 6 pounds. In England that would cost me about 25 pounds. That's not right.

Rant over.

Yes but to be fair I imagine the Seoul trains have about 1000 passengers per carriage with no toilet facilities and half the commuters wearing man nappies to save them from the dangers of shitting out of a window of a moving train.

Usually in the UK it's cheaper to buy a return ticket than a one way one. Also I believe there are search engines that hunt for better prices by getting you to use two or more different trains, i.e hop off one and onto another and you pay half the price overall.

There's always ways around things.

Did you hear that on the Ricky Gervais show?

The greatest podcasts ever made. I'm still trying to get hold the last 5 episodes not been able to find them yet, very annoying.

[Gandalf]

So that is where Bilbo has been getting his stats?

I should have known! Tut, tut, tut.

[Conrad]

You probably already know this Miles but booking in advance and specifying which particular train you are catching also gets you discounts. Having a ticket which gives you flexibilty such as an open return bumps the price.

Maybe it's because they're two big transport hubs but I can get a return from Brum to London for just £12. That's pretty damn cheap but I have to book a good few weeks in advance for that..

[Gandalf]

You probably already know this Miles but booking in advance and specifying which particular train you are catching also gets you discounts. Having a ticket which gives you flexibilty such as an open return bumps the price.

Maybe it's because they're two big transport hubs but I can get a return from Brum to London for just £12. That's pretty damn cheap but I have to book a good few weeks in advance for that..

Cheers Conrad,

I must admit that I am so far out the loop and that's partly why I started this thread. I'm coming home but I have been in the UK only a few weeks or so in the past 7 years. It's like an alien country to me in some regards.

I'm just learning about Oyster cards now. They seem totally weird to me, but I guess I will just have to get informed somehow.