Train fares

neil_g said:
Watch out for clauses on the cheap tickets though, for example you often have to travel on a specific time train.

But shopping around and booking well in advance (not from the actual train company site) can save you a chunk.

Personally I've got no major beef at the moment with the trains. It's cheaper than buying diesel for a month.
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True! I had to travel once to Newcastle upon Tyne in an emergency when my wife was taken to hospital.booked through rail easy for the 10pm train(last one off the night). Arrived to collect ticket to find that I couldn't travel because the ticket was only valid @ 10.01:eek: I went to ticket desk, explained the problem and they wanted another £90....... went to pay it and realised that my wallet was still in the house and I only had approx £24 in change in various pockets...... when I then explained that I wife was taken to hospital the clerk waived the extra but did charge me an administration fee of £10.......:D
 
Moadib said:
Yike, don't say that! That will be taken as a "solution" to increase tax on non-train transport until the train is cheaper. "More tax" is always the solution, whatever the problem.
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I guess.

But we already have one of the highest rates of tax on fuel. It's preposterous that it is still cheaper to drive. We were told that tax on petrol/diesel and the congestion charges were environmental taxes. But they will only work if you provide a viable alternative. My choices are either to turn down work in London, to put prices up or to make less money. How are any of those good fro the environment or the economy?

BTW I was in France yesterday. The train to take 5 people and a car cost less than the train for one person to London. Diesel is €1.31 a litre. So if it's a 2 handed job it's cheaper for me to get to Paris by car/train than London by train. There's something wrong there.
 
The railways here are massively subsidised and the rolling stock is all rented at massive cost and for massive profit to the banks. The whole system is corrupt.

French railways are nationalised. Our entire system wants renationalising and handing over to someone that would run it properly. British rail was rubbish so it seems that it can't be someone from the uk.
 
Moadib said:
Yike, don't say that! That will be taken as a "solution" to increase tax on non-train transport until the train is cheaper. "More tax" is always the solution, whatever the problem.
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Yep, and then more people might use the train, so the train companies will say, "oh we're getting more people on now, best raise the prices again" and the train will be more expensive than driving and then the govt will say, "Oh we'd better raise car taxes again", etc, etc, ad infinitum
 
acetone said:
Train travel always look VERY expensive if there's more than one of you going, it's just not the same as sharing the car fuel bill.
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You can usually, well nearly always, get a discount when there's 3 or 4 of you traveling together. 3 of my mates and me can go Rugby- Euston for £14 odd return (off peak) instead of £28. It's worth inquiring about.
 
I went to the Photography Show on Saturday and the return train fare to B'ham International from Herts. was £18. My wife and I are flying from B'ham airport in June and I thought it would be more pleasant to travel by train to this same station. The return fare for one person to travel on a Thursday is slightly over £150!!!

We'll be driving ...
 
srichards said:
French railways are nationalised. Our entire system wants renationalising and handing over to someone that would run it properly. British rail was rubbish so it seems that it can't be someone from the uk.
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Hence my suggestion of just handing the whole system over to SNCF free of charge!


Steve.
 
Quick point on split ticketing.

I works very well and may require some juggling to get the best prices, including on one occasion I had to reverse one leg and go back 2 stations to get the next sector done.

Remember too, your intermediate ticket to station A with the next sector starting at station A where completion is station B THEN the train MUST stop at Station A.

As an example. Bath to London can save a good sum when split. Didcot Parkway offers a good split but, until recently not every HST from Bath stopped at Didcot so splits invalid.

Other option.

I worked with a guy who followed Chelsea with 3 mates to every away match. They used to buy an old car with MoT and short road fund (a month or 2).

They never registered the car and the driver's insurance allowed any vehicle.

The would get a couple of games in and then dumped the car. So £50-75 for a running car with road fund and valid MoT plus valid insurance + petrol.

Not seen him in a good while but the last one they did was £35 for a battered Skoda will all working. They went to Newcastle game and sold the car for £120 to a guy in a pub near White Hart Lane!

Def the cheapest way for 4 to travel. They never had any issues with the Police. Bit chancy though.

S
 
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Steve Smith said:
Mainly because the insurance wouldn't be valid.


Steve.
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Wrong

The insurance was valid. Passed scrutiny during the few checks they had.

Either way it was their way to get around in the cheapest way and it was some years back. Daresay the "connected" world we live in now would make it more difficult to do now.

I don't condone it and these days the value of scrap metal makes the chances of getting rock bottom price cars difficult. Seem to remember a Top Gear where Clarkson picked up a Volvo (850?) for £1, so who knows?

Steve
 
Normally for your insurance to be valid on another car, the car in question needs a valid insurance policy in its owners name. A car you buy for next to nothing and don'r register as yours will not normally have this.

There might be enough there to cover the road traffic act and to satisfy a police check but I doubt that an insurance company would pay out on any claim.

Anyway, it's still a good plan. I know of someone who saved costs on houise moving by buying a Luton bodied Transit, moving his stuff then taking it to a scrapyard.


Steve.
 
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Wolverhampton to Coventry by rail FREE with bus pass as long as its after 9.30 am.

Trevor
 
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