Is train travel really that expensive?

[-]

IntravenusDiMilo_Tap@reddit

It's £18 from Glasgow to Crewe if you book a week in advance, £19 Crewe to Ludlow. Use 'split tickets' on the booking sites,

[-]

DaysyFields@reddit

Yes it's horrendous. For more than one person, hiring a car is usually cheaper unless the difference is quite short.

[-]

normanriches@reddit

Yes, and it's one of the reasons people avoid public transport.
Look at Germany or Italy, you can literally travel across the country for next to nothing.

[-]

A little detail to add to the other comments, you don't necessarily have to book months in advance to get an "advance" ticket - a few days or even on the day can be sufficient (the most annoying thing is the rules vary by region).

The best thing is just to experiment with a few dates to find out how far in advance you need to book your specific journey.

[-]

AliceMorgon@reddit

Aye. It’s criminal. You’d be better off using the coach service National Express instead. It’s much more reasonable.

[-]

sawilkie@reddit

It won't get you all the way to Ludlow though.

[-]

AliceMorgon@reddit

Local bus will.

[-]

Bose82@reddit

It’s also cramped and hideously uncomfortable.

[-]

Charming-Objective14@reddit

But you'll be taking a bus anyway when the train eventually breaks down or there's a signal failure

[-]

llynglas@reddit

My experience is exactly opposite to yours... I would strongly recommend coach travel. Especially with luggage.

[-]

AliceMorgon@reddit

I work out the price difference, divide it by the time difference, and consider that my hourly pay for taking the cheaper option.

[-]

ukslim@reddit

National Express is pretty comfortable. My last coach journey took 3 hours Warwick to Victoria, compared to the 1.5 hours it would have taken Warwick to Marylebone. But, cheaper.

[-]

Tramorak@reddit

You are getting the standard rate looking this far ahead.

Advance tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel so it is worth setting a date reminder to book when they are released.

Cheapest way will be if you can commit to a specific train, but if you are going directly from a flight, that can be a bit dangerous, but obviously I don't know the full details so you can work that out based on your itinery.

As others have mentioned, the 2 together railcard is worth having. It saves you 1/3 of prices and lasts a year. Costs £35, Can be done digitally (you will need a photo of each person involved) and will probably still save you money on the one journey. If you are planning on using the train a lot, then it is a no brainier.

Others have mentioned flights, which could be an option, but don't forget to calculate travel to and from airports and check in time etc. It is sometimes cheaper, but often outweighed by inconvenience of travel times etc.

[-]

schmaidan@reddit

Just to add, MSE usually has links for railcard discounts too: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/railcard/

[-]

MirandaPoth@reddit

That’s true, and I used one of his discount codes once, but it was more trouble than it’s worth IMO (had to use a specific app, buy tickets on that app). I wouldn’t do it again, much simpler to just buy it direct

[-]

CaterpillarLoud8071@reddit

It can be. Just like flights can be very expensive. A journey might cost £200 one way at peak time, £50 return at off-peak, or £10 for a certain train in the middle of the night when booked 2 weeks in advance.

[-]

Sensitive-Vast-4979@reddit

For me to Milan on a plane its £40 from Newcastle airport , for me to go on a train to london its £300 but since I hVe a family and friends railcard its £170

[-]

scintillatingbadger@reddit

You can buy tickets 10 weeks in advance and yes, it’s horrifically expensive. I’d recommend looking at coaches too

[-]

AndrewHinds67@reddit

It is. I recommend getting a Britrail pass.

BritRail Pass https://share.google/Dj9Yhn5Z9yzXY0K3K

[-]

Dic_Penderyn@reddit

You cant get tickets that far in advance, but a quick check on Trainline shows a single ticket for an adult from Glasgow to Ludlow at 8am on 9th December can be bought for £44.

[-]

Hour-Cup-7629@reddit

Ive just looked on The Trainline.com who will automatically split the ticket for you. For Nov 4th for instance prices vary between £26- £42. It depends on route and time. Best to book about a month before tbh.

[-]

Good_Lettuce_2690@reddit

Train travel can be ridiculously expensive here. It's an absolute joke. They all need brought back under public control.

[-]

Aromatic_Tourist4676@reddit

Yes it is very expensive. Either book well in advance or hire a car. Use the train line app:

[-]

Serious_Shopping_262@reddit

I'm a brit living in Aus. For the most part, Australia is cheaper for public transport. I remember going from Sydney to Newcastle and it cost like $15 lol, for a 2 hour ride. UK public transport has become a joke

[-]

I_will_never_reply@reddit

You're already used to driving on the best side of the road, a car hire might be better value, especially as there are 2 of you. Also, it really takes you where you want to go. From what I've seen of Australian driving videos, it's all very similar

[-]

Soukchai2012@reddit

They aren’t cheap, but £300 sounds way over. You can get cheaper by changing the day and time of day. Also definitely get a railcard. It pays for itself with 1 trip.

[-]

prustage@reddit

OP didnt say £300, they said $300 which is about £147.

[-]

prustage@reddit

£147 - OP is Australian

[-]

jake_burger@reddit

£225 you mean

[-]

loaferuk123@reddit

Australian dollaroos…

[-]

silverfish477@reddit

Which we don’t use in this country

[-]

loaferuk123@reddit

Which country is that?

[-]

jake_burger@reddit

Ah I missed that

[-]

QuirkyImage@reddit

The thing is the government want more people to use public transport rather than driving. But they make public transport too expensive and poor service. So they will never succeed.

[-]

TheBladesAurus@reddit

If you plan on using the train a lot, maybe also worth looking into a BritRail pass? https://www.britrail.com/britrail-passes/britrail-pass/

Never used one, just aware of their existence.

[-]

MerlinOfRed@reddit

Short answer - no.

I live in Edinburgh and regularly make the Edinburgh - Ludlow journey by train.

I expect to pay about £35 for it. The cheapest I remem getting itit for is £22. The most expensive was about £45. Not sure how that converts to Australian Dollars but I imagine it's cheaper than what you're quoting.

Tips: - I have a Railcard so get 1/3 off all prices. I don't know how old you are, but if there is two of you you can buy the "Two Together" one for £35 and it'll pay for itself after a journey or two. - Look for "advance" fares. An anytime ticket will be expensive, but if you're not too fussed about the time you travel then just scroll through until you find a cheap one. (I normally know I want to travel in the afternoon, then look at all the afternoon prices and choose the cheapest). - Split ticketing. The national rail website won't show this, but almost all third party apps will - it's usually it's cheaper to get multiple tickets for different legs of the jouney. For this particular journey, it sometimes splits at Oxenholme, at Crewe, at Preston, at Carlisle etc. but there is always a split that makes it cheaper - Delay repay! You'll be travelling on a combination of TfW, Avanti, and possibly Transpennine trains. All three operators offer a 25% refund if you're delayed by more than 15 minutes at your final destination, and that amount increases the longer your delay is. Split tickets don't affect delay repay and I often get a refund on the Ludlow-Edinburgh journey (but rarely on the Edinburgh-Ludlow bit).

[-]

herwiththepurplehair@reddit

FYI AUD is approx $2 to £1 at the moment (roughly)

[-]

Fickle-Salamander-65@reddit

Yes. It’s obscene. Use Tralinline as it’s easier to see cheaper tickets and good prices.

[-]

Sweaty_Sheepherder27@reddit

Don't use Trainline. They charge fees, which hardly makes it cheaper, plus they'll happily sell you a ticket for a train that won't actually run (they sell beyond the 12 week ahead engineering work window).

I suspect what you like about them is the split ticket options, which you can get with ScotRail with no fee, and ScotRail can sell tickets for the whole of Great Britain anyway.

[-]

nonsequitur__@reddit

Maybe it depends on the rail companies local to you? The journeys I regularly make are the same price on there as on national rail and often cheaper than at the station. There’s an option for Glasgow to Ludlow on there today for £33

[-]

Fickle-Salamander-65@reddit

It’s always been great for me. I’m more than happy to pay a couple of quid to see all the options in one place and have a useful website. I’ve saved tonnes by being about to figure out the mystery of U.K. trains.

[-]

Sweaty_Sheepherder27@reddit

I’m more than happy to pay a couple of quid to see all the options in one place and have a useful website.

And ScotRail uses the same front end, with no fees.

[-]

Jean_Genet@reddit

UK train travel costs a fortune unless you book it about 2-3 months in advance and knows exactly what your timings are going to be that far forward.

[-]

FeelingDegree8@reddit

Much cheaper and quicker to fly or drive those sort of distances in the UK. Public transport is great in London but pretty terrible most other places I've been to.

[-]

nonsequitur__@reddit

It takes significantly longer to drive it and Ludlow doesn’t have an airport nearby. It would also be more expensive to hire a car than buy train tix, not even factoring in fuel. If they flew to Birmingham it would cost not much less than the train ticket, but they’d then need to spend the same again on a train to Ludlow, which would take 2-2.5 hours.

[-]

FeelingDegree8@reddit

Google reckons 4 hours 40 by train. 5 hours 30 by car.

The flight takes 1 hr 10 plus 2 hr 30 = 3 hr 40. So far it's the quickest route. Flights can be had for about £30 depending on where you go so not at all expensive.

Just checked Uber and it would be £80 from Birmingham airport to Ludlow right now and the drive time is 1 hr 30 so you can save around 2 hours travel time for less than the price of the train ticket they've been quoted.

[-]

nonsequitur__@reddit

There are train tix available today for £33.

Re the car hire, it’s often worth it. But as they’d be dropping off the car at a different end point there’ll be the one-way fee which is often at least £50 and the hassle of getting from the drop off point to their actual location.

[-]

Charming-Objective14@reddit

Yes it really is not expensive, I traveled through three different countries in Europe and it cost the same price as it would cost me to travel an hour and a half to get to London.

[-]

nonsequitur__@reddit

I recommend booking in advance as soon as they become available. Book anytime tickets unless you’re 100% certain you can make that specific train. I don’t know the Aus dollar to gbp conversion, but just looked at late Nov about 6 weeks away) and there are tix for less than 40 quid.

[-]

_Hologrxphic@reddit

$300 is about £147 - which yes is about what you’d pay for the train if you bought the ticket on the day through somewhere like trainline. But that’s the most expensive way to do it.

You can get cheaper tickets by booking a specific train in advance. Once you know when you flight is, i’d have look at getting the tickets as soon as you can. You can also get the two together railcard which will save you a bit.

It’s also worth noting that the exact same journey could cost £147 if you get the 6:05pm train, but then only costs £45 if you get the 6.13pm train. So pay attention to the timings

Welcome to the confusing mess that is British public transport 👌🏻

[-]

Dr_Vonny@reddit

Days of the week can make a difference. Tuesday is often the cheapest day to use trains and the weekends are the more expensive

[-]

silverfish477@reddit

The least you could do is bother to give the cost in a currency the people you’re asking are familiar with. Is the cost 300 Australian dollars? No idea.

[-]

Kientha@reddit

Look at how much a Brit rail pass will cost you instead. No need for you to buy tickets the same way as people who live in the UK

https://www.britrail.com/

[-]

trysca@reddit

For non UK residents this is the answer

[-]

Appropriate-Draw1878@reddit

Cheaper advance fares are usually only available about three months in advance. So to get the cheapest fares you need to book in advance but not too far in advance. Some (all?) of the train apps will let you pick a route and a date and notify you as soon as those tickets go on sale.

[-]

BillWilberforce@reddit

If you book in advance for specific trains which you CAN NOT MISS and are flexible with times. It's a lot cheaper. Particularly if you use a thing called "split ticketing". Due to various anomalies in our rail pricing system. Getting a ticket from A to Z. Is often a lot more expensive than stayimg on the same train but buying a ticket from A to L and L to Z. Sometimes it takes three tickets.

Trainline. com will work out which tickets to buy altthough charges a small fee.

I can find a ticket for your journey for £41.90 each via Crewe (1 change) 4h21. No split required.

[-]

spr148@reddit

Better use the Avanti App to book the ticket - and they won't charge and getting delayed repay is much easier if there are problems.

[-]

trysca@reddit

Delay repay on train line is very easy, I do it all the time

[-]

Eastern_Bit_9279@reddit

Get the coach

[-]

MechanicFit2686@reddit

Flights generally work out cheaper than the train for a longer journey like London to Edinburgh - or it did last time I did it.

[-]

Unhappy_Clue701@reddit

Flights aren’t necessarily any quicker though, because there’s the PITA factor of getting to the airport, checking in, and getting through security and to the gate. Plus most of that in reverse when you land. OTOH, you are guaranteed a seat, and I always feel more comfortable leaving my phone/whatever on my plane seat to go for a piss than I do on a train.

[-]

ukslim@reddit

Domestic flights, leaving the airport (with hand luggage only) is generally pretty smooth and quick. No passport control, no customs or security queues. Just walk out.

You've then got onward travel to the actual city, though, which depends on the airport. Edinburgh, for example, you just hop onto a bus or tram. Other cities it's more of a hassle.

[-]

MechanicFit2686@reddit

The speed depends how close you are to the airport and when you choose to fly. It's much easier for me to drive to my nearest airport than get a train into London and then off to wherever I'm going.

[-]

andyrocks@reddit

No, that isn't the price. Trains in the UK are priced in pounds. Why would you ask us a question in dollars?

[-]

Financial_Horse_663@reddit

If you are booking it via a 3rd party from a different country, the price may be in a different currency.

[-]

ukslim@reddit

Fine, but UK readers don't know what an AU$ is. Is AU$300 equivalent to £50 or £400? I don't know, and I'm not looking it up when OP couldn't be bothered.

[-]

GoHomeCryWantToDie@reddit

For longer journeys, yes. For local trips, it's not bad at all. My weekly season ticket to get from one side of Glasgow to the other is only £19 and I can use it as many times as I like for 7 days. Glasgow to Edinburgh return is £16.80. Glasgow to Stirling is £10.80.

People moan about Scotrail but it's a pretty decent service.

[-]

Defiant_Practice5260@reddit

There's an app called trainsplit (you may need a VPN to use it or find it on your app store) that breaks down your journey to find the better options for the cheapest price. You can get one as cheap as £52, but it's not direct, the journey is 5 hours (Glasgow>Carlisle, Carlisle>Crewe, Crewe>Ludlow)

[-]

el_duderino_316@reddit

It's weird that a walk-up return ticket from Glasgoe to London (£186.90) is cheaper than a walk-up return from Nottingham to London (£229)

Our train prices are mental.

[-]

No_Contribution_7221@reddit

Use all the tricks others recommend, but getting a BritRail pass can work out nicely. It’s like the better known Interrail etc passes - you pay a set price and can travel on unlimited trains without booking for the period the pass is active.

I hopped over from abroad last month and a 2-day pass was way cheaper than booking any combination of tickets even in advance to take a long return journey from London. Plus I didn’t have to worry about getting to the station after my flight as I could just take any train.

Only available to those of us living outside the UK though.

[-]

maskapony@reddit

Just checked the prices for November (after 10am so off-peak) and the cheapest is £48.20 (99 AUD) one way. So yes suggest as others have said that you wait until closer to the time and see what's available.

[-]

coldbeers@reddit

Yep, it’s not great either.

Look at flying, it’s often a lot cheaper.

[-]

If so, upvote this comment!

Otherwise, downvote this comment!

And if it does break the rules, downvote this comment and report this post!