Is rail travel becoming socially exclusive in the UK

[Power Lunch Club]

Today it was annouced that the rail companies have put their prices up by a whopping 6%. Will this make many consider changing their modes of transport and the fundamental question is rail travel just becoming to expensive to use for many?

BBC NEWS | UK | Latest train fare rises attacked

 

[Former Member 1]

It was made too expensive 30 years ago!

I have a friend down in Yorkshire who's lucky enough to own an old Silver Cloud III. Recently he told me it was cheaper to drive the Rolls to London and back AND spend the night in a half decent B&B than it was to get two retune tickets for him and his wife....

As for the service itself! To (just!) get to the college in time for a 9am class I'd need to be out my front door by 6:55. Plus there's the miserable walk from Central to Stow... If I finish at 5pm I won't see the house again 'till 7:30pm....

For a 9am class I generally crawl into my car at 8am and am at the front door of the college by 8:45. Time for a coffee.... No walk in the rain, warm, comfortable, goes when I want it to go...

I usually make it home well before six. And the tenner's worth of petrol I use beats the nearly £13 full train fair by some way....

 

[Brian McIntosh]

I was talking to a friend today and he had to book a train down and back to Middlesborough from Arbroath. A return trip was £170 but two singles were £17.50 each. Surely the train companies need to get their act together and make the pricing a lot more straightforward and simple. Try calling and booking a ticket and you'll see just how simple they make it. :confused1::confused1:

 

[Adventurelife]

The reasons the price is going up is that the usage is going up by record amounts. The driver is the overpopulated south east where many do not have any option but to use the train as driving to work will result in madness after a few months.

The rest of the country suffers because of this as there are lots of areas Scotland included where increased train usage would be a good thing.

Every year I have a go on a trip to Edinburgh/Glasgow/London etc thinking it will have got better. So far it has always been just the one go then I am back in the car/plane.

Maybe with the slow down and less people traveling to work they will make it more affordable but I would not hold my breath

Peter

 

[amestaper]

I was talking to a friend today and he had to book a train down and back to Middlesborough from Arbroath. A return trip was £170 but two singles were £17.50 each. Surely the train companies need to get their act together and make the pricing a lot more straightforward and simple. Try calling and booking a ticket and you'll see just how simple they make it. :confused1::confused1:

I hear ye Brian. Back in the early 1990's I used to do this journey by rail every 3 - 4 weeks with a railcard. Never cost me any more than £30 return.

2 years ago I was stranded in London, couldn't get a flight home and it cost around £90 single for me to get a train home from Kings X to Edinburgh. Needed to go to London at 24 hours notice last year and could not book a ticket cheaper than any air fare and I tried with 2 or 3 different companies.

It was so much easier to book, cheaper (and probably more dangerous) when it was run by British Rail. I used to be a good customer but got fed up with price hikes and delays. I fly everywhere now.