Britain's first £1000 train fare - is it time to do something about it?

Question

The railways would be very easy to re-nationalise. Simply refuse to renew franchises as the licences expire, and give them back to BR.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov…

Additional Details

Not quite sure how many people from Newquay have an urgent need to get to Kyle of Lochalsh, but the fare does exist.

For the first 180 miles of this "First Class" fare, you get no first class carriage, and only a tea trolley service. Likewise, the final leg of the journey has no first class carriage.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

This shows how daft the transport system in the UK has become. You could fly from London to Edinburgh for less than £100.

There was a time when the train was cheap and only rich people flew, because it was so expensive. How times have changed.

I'm with you, the railways should be renationalised. Remember Labour promising to do that before the 1997 General Election?

The only party committed to renationalising the railways is the Green Party.

Source(s):

I belong to the Green Party.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Yes it is daft, and does nothing to encourage people off the roads, and yes it should be re-nationalised. But Labour did not promise this before 1997, John Prescott specifically ruled it out time after time, arguing that Branson was rich enough, and didn't need taxpayers' money to make him richer.

Answer 2

No, it would not be easy to renationalise the railways. Not only are there the franchises to consider but also the trains which don't belong to the operating companies, but to ROSCOS or rolling stock leasing companies. Then there are the open access companies - which provide services that British Rail stopped years ago - London to Sunderland and London to Wrexham for example. Then, your question presupposes that renationalisation would do away with the £1000 fare. That I doubt very much. And, anyway, the story is so much press cobblers anyway. I'm sure, given a bit of time, I could get from Newquay to Kyle of Lochalsh much cheaper anyway. For a start, there are currently £9 single tickets available on National Express East Coast from London to Edinburgh.

Answer 3

I'm afraid that this is such a "non-story", but then the media like to give industries they perceive to be unpopular a good kicking from time to time.

This fare is a first class "walk-up" fare for an open return ticket valid on any permitted route. That means that this is the fare you will be charged if you went to Newquay station and bought the ticket from the ticket office for immediate travel (although it is also available online). However, the price falls to £749 if you travel via London and gets cheaper still if you opt for the off-peak return equivalent at £561.

It's not even correct that there is no first class carriage for the first 180 miles. It's more like the first 25 miles or so from Newquay to Par where you would pick up a Cross Country service which DOES have first class seating.

I have been saying for a number of years that if folk want to avoid paying top dollar for rail fares they have to start treating them like air fares. There are limited numbers of discounted tickets available in advance, but once they're gone thats it.

However, I dispute the parallel that folk are tempted to draw between air and rail fares, as air fares can be just as expensive. The best price I can find for a flight from Newquay to Inverness (the nearest airport to the Kyle) on 18 November is £228.70, but that will still leave you on the wrong side of Scotland from the Kyle of Lochalsh. As it stands today, there are still standard class off-peak return rail fares available on any permitted route for £244.10 on the same date, though by specifying the route via London you could save yourself an extra £20 by paying only £223.70.

It's not even any quicker to fly because, while the rail journey would require an overnight stop in Inverness, the air journey would similarly require an overnight stop at London Gatwick. Even if you changed your itinerary to fly to Aberdeen instead, you would still need an overnight stop there and would end up on the same train as the person making the rail journey.

Really and honestly it pays to shop around. Yes rail fares can be expensive, but if you're going to try and make any sort of meaningful comparison you have to compare like for like. Only by doing this will you be able to see the REAL costs.

As for re-nationalisation, well that really is just so much pie-in-the-sky. Do you honestly think that a nationalised railway will result in fare prices tumbling across the network? Are you really suggesting that a rail network run by the Government will be any less interested in profit than private companies? The current franchising system may indeed be broke, but I think that a rose-tinted idea that just placing the rail network back into public ownership will cure all ills is somewhere out there in the realms of fiction and fantasy.

Source(s):

Times and prices taken from http://www.thetrainline.com and http://www.travel.kelkoo.co.uk

Answer 4

A lot of trains are filthy health hazards, and rats can be seen at most railway stations due to staff cuts. So a £1000 fare is more likely to go towards the cost of using rat poison at railway stations, train toilet disinfecting, and redundancy payouts, than it does running the train.

Answer 5

I did something about it over thirty years ago. I bought a car and haven't used public transport, apart from aircraft, since.

Answer 6

There does need to be a maximum fare set if they think we are ever going to get off bikes and cars and planes.

Answer 7

sooooooooooooooo what do you get for that much/lovely looking train attendants/good wine/pheasant under glass/what?