Record train fare

johnmc

I see that you can now get a return ticket between Newquay, in Cornwall to Kyle of Lochalsh, in the Scottish Highlands for the bargain price of £1,002.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8340561.stm

Out of interest, what's the cheapest way of completing this journey?

geordieracer

thats over a thousand miles though and is a walk up fare. You could probably split the tickets at bristol and crewe and again at edinburgh and inverness in advance to get it much cheaper.. would take me a while to find out from me ticket machine if i was at work though as all depending what connections you can and cannot get and also its 20 hours long so would more than likely have to involve the sleeper to be realistic.

Ebe_Scrooge

You could probably do a combination of flying and car hire for a fraction of that price. I came across a similar thing myself recently. Needed to get from Edinburgh to Exeter, could fly for £35 return, about an hour and 15 minutes or so flight time. The train ticket cost £120 and took almost eight hours each way. Guess which option I chose ?

OK, I was lucky in that there were airports at the 2 places I needed to go from / to, but it shows how expensive the train can be.

Anihilator

Maybe the rail expert could tell us how many people have paid that exact journey on a walk up basis in the last decade.

I'm guessing the grand total of zero.

geordieracer

Anihilator wrote: »

Maybe the rail expert could tell us how many people have paid that exact journey on a walk up basis in the last decade.

I'm guessing the grand total of zero.

Exactly.. none. Its all hypothetical but i think the story was highlighting just how expensive train fares have become - though it does work out around 75pence a mile which is still good versus the car i reckon.

You could probably do a combination of flying and car hire for a fraction of that price. I came across a similar thing myself recently. Needed to get from Edinburgh to Exeter, could fly for £35 return, about an hour and 15 minutes or so flight time. The train ticket cost £120 and took almost eight hours each way. Guess which option I chose ?

OK, I was lucky in that there were airports at the 2 places I needed to go from / to, but it shows how expensive the train can be.

thats a no brainer though isnt it cos its that bloody far!! out of interest though how far from each ariport were you and how much did it cost to/from the airport?

dazza.mk

geordieracer wrote: »

out of interest though how far from each ariport were you and how much did it cost to/from the airport?

Less the cost it would take to get to/from the railway station of course (if you want a fair comparison) :-)

geordieracer

dazza.mk wrote: »

Less the cost it would take to get to/from the railway station of course (if you want a fair comparison) :-)

I do, so you live near edinburgh airport and went to visit somewhere clsoe to exeter airport. both miles from any town centre of course(if you want a fair comparison) :-)

dzug1

johnmc wrote: »

Out of interest, what's the cheapest way of completing this journey?

The cheapest listed through fare is £59.50 advance single. Whether it's ever available is another matter

harveybobbles

johnmc wrote: »

Out of interest, what's the cheapest way of completing this journey?

Free 24 hour Renault test drive? Next cheapest would be to hire a Transit van for 24 hours from Thrifty for 34 quid.

scbk

harveybobbles wrote: »

Free 24 hour Renault test drive? Next cheapest would be to hire a Transit van for 24 hours from Thrifty for 34 quid.

+ a few hundred pounds worth of diesel

jfdi

Or I'm sure an over 60 could manage it on free bus pass (plus b n b's) if they had the time or the inclination. I wonder how long that'd take? Could be quite a nice holiday if you like buses!