"Cheap" rail tickets

moonrakerz

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article5425815.ece

Barneysmom

Passengers catching early morning Virgin West Coast trains between London Euston and Glasgow will have to pay £252 for a standard-class return, up from £102.90. Those travelling before 9am from London to Lan-caster will pay £238, up from £69.30.

Are they kidding us? I don't use the train thank goodness, but blimey they are taking the mick?
You'd be better off driving.

I think there will be a lot of empty trains running up and down the country now?

andyrules

Hmmm, seem to think the MP who suggested people should 'get on their bikes' (ie be prepared to move/commute) was part of the government that privatised the rail... :rolleyes:

See what a mess we're in now.

bunking_off

Hmm...not to belittle the increase, but journos do have a habit of exaggerating things. The issue is one of "easements" : there's set times when off-peak tickets aren't valid, but there's always been exemptions for e.g. Scotland, Wales, north of Preston etc. They still exist...for example you can travel to Lancaster off-peak on the 1630 departure, which is a peak hour train for any destinations such as Wigan and Preston which don't have the easement. However evidently they have been further restricted for the morning peak...some would say fair enough given they never existed for travelling north to south in the morning so it was an iniquitous system that they should apply for south to north.

Taking the Lancaster example, though, the journo exaggeration can be demonstrated. £69.30 is the off-peak return fare, formerly known as Saver. The easement on the early trains has been removed, so the Times is quoting the full open standard fare of £238. But only a mug would pay that. Assuming the return leg is at an off-peak time (ie not leaving Lancaster before 9 in the morning...which it must be because otherwise the £69.30 wouldn't have been applicable in the first place), the return fare would be either £92.75 or £116.25:

Outbound Advance : either £56.50 or £79 depending on your luck
Return off-peak (formerly called Saver Half Return) : £36.25.

Don't get me wrong, a ridiculous increase, but hardly the £238 that the Times is quoting...note that none of this needs skills such as split ticketing, it's what Virgin's website will throw out as a matter of course.

BruceyBonus

Barneysmom wrote: »

Passengers catching early morning Virgin West Coast trains between London Euston and Glasgow will have to pay £252 for a standard-class return, up from £102.90.

An advance ticket, two singles, both during rush hour, costs approx £74.50.

MylesBetter

Virgin trains WEB site does not now have on it for purchase, value advance fares. They are only advertising the Off-Peak and Anytime fares.

Has VIRGIN Trains stopped offering value advance fares?

If they have I will look at using the National Express for advance purchase value.

bunking_off

You don't get "value" advance fares any more (either standard or 1st). They disappeared at the same time that Savers became Off-peak fares.

There are, however, "Advance" tickets both for standard and 1st. Depending on the train, they'll equate to the pricing of the old Advance A/B/C or Value Advance A/B/C, but they're just badged as "advance".

Looking at Lancaster-London next week on Virgin's site, for example, I can see plenty of Advances at standard £25 or £31.50, 1st £60.50 or £78.50.

MylesBetter

Cheers Bunking_Off.

From Liverpool their is definately a lot less on offer than from Lancaster.

I cannot believe they have all gone and maybe the WEB team have not put them all on. If the advance fares are reduced in number then I will revert to using the National Express to London to save money.

TimothyEBaldwin

And someone in the comments was comparing Easyjet flights to peak time trains, but the flights in question are time during railway off-peak time!