Why I no longer travel by train

However

For travel from nr Portsmouth to Aberdeen and back in November:
Book via SouthWesternRailway: £630
Book via LNER: £290
Never mind split ticketing and all the hassle that that involves, never mind I could get a Senior Railcard to reduce the amount, and even never mind the actual cost itself, it's the sheer difference in the offering for the same seats on the same trains on the same dates that is ridiculous. This is the marketplace of out of control cowboys.



I want nothing to do with it.



This is why I have given up on train travel. I drive. Yes, all the way - and it's quicker too.

Merlin139

Why not Fly LGW - ABZ with Easyjet between £50 to £100 return.

Stopped using trains years ago as I could never get a seat, no reliability, and too expensive.

The problem is that some people have no choice but to use them!

silverwhistle

Merlin139 wrote: »

Why not Fly LGW - ABZ with Easyjet between £50 to £100 return.!

Or Southampton - Aberdeen with Flybe (Eastern Airways).



I'm from near Portsmouth too. Last time I was up that way I travelled Sou - Edinburgh and then a train onwards. My retired railway worker friend with privs took the train all the way, but even with her knowledge she couldn't come near what I paid for flying.

Owain_Moneysaver

However wrote: »

For travel from nr Portsmouth to Aberdeen and back in November:
Book via SouthWesternRailway: £630
Book via LNER: £290

First Class Anytime Return (Portsmouth Stations to Aberdeen) is £643. Offpeak Standard Return is £322.

Advance Single via Virgin West Coast is from £50 (or if you got that Senior Railcard, £33).

Apart from a few special offers, all train companies sell the same tickets at the same price.

daveyjp

The discrepancy in prices suggests this may be more of an issue of user error rather than railway cowboys.

Give your dates OP and let people who can use railway websites find you a bargain.

I've tried two random dates in November and its just over £100 return.

PasturesNew

I've been on a handful of trains in my life. Unless you live in a big city, or unless you want to only ever go to/from London, it's a ridiculous way to travel.

Any journey I've ever calculated has cost at least 2x what driving would do - and taken 2x as long. Sometimes journeys dump you at a closed station and you'd have to sit there all night if you hadn't spotted that bit ...

In a car you can toss in what you like, have your sandwiches/crisps/sweets/fags on the seat beside you, start at whatever time you like, go door to door on a whim - and have transport at the destination to do all the travel you wanted to do there...

It's a no brainer.

Where I am at the moment there're trains... trouble is, to go West, they would make me travel 2 counties East towards London, before changing trains and travelling back in the opposite direction ... taking a ridiculous amount of time to do it.

HUGELY expensive, hugely inconvenient, incredibly slow ... and no smoking.

You also can't bring home what you buy/are given - I'll typically return with a bag of tinned food or 2nd hand clothes from a turn out .... or even a bookcase once.

silverwhistle

PasturesNew wrote: »

Unless you live in a big city, or unless you want to only ever go to/from London, it's a ridiculous way to travel.

It really isn't, and your post didn't come over as aa particularly balanced argument.



I don't live in a big city and I own a car. I also use the train for some journeys, and do so for a number of reasons. When it's suitable it can be a very convenient way of traveling, I can relax, read, sleep maybe, and if I'm meeting up with friends have a drink. With my railcard it's reasonable for the journeys I do, and I don't have to worry about parking. There are times when it isn't suitable and have to use the car, but I'm able to look at the choice dispassionately .



If you've only been on a train a handful of times in your life I'm surprised you can comment on them to the degree you have.

However

daveyjp wrote: »

The discrepancy in prices suggests this may be more of an issue of user error rather than railway cowboys.

Give your dates OP and let people who can use railway websites find you a bargain.

I've tried two random dates in November and its just over £100 return.

Not user error. Out Nov 9th back Nov 12th. Prices still the same this morning. I'm not giving my exact station - too specific on a public forum - but take it from me, if you can, I'm not wrong.

If you want the lowest price, go by bus or better still by donkey if price is the be all and end all for you. I go first class because the standard class seats on the HST are, for me, truly impossibly uncomfortable for such a long distance - a physical torture I am not prepared to repeat - even though when I did it, it was on a free ticket ('loyalty' for having done sufficient trips). It may be difficult to understand by those who live by the ethos, but always going for the 'cheapest deal' is usually music to the ears of the industry because they can manipulate you so easily.

Southampton - Aberdeen with Flybe

As for flying, the last time I looked seriously for a flight from Southampton to Aberdeen (last year) the ONLY available flight was by KLM via Amsterdam with a two-day stayover each way. Insane - especially when more than one person on this forum thought that that was a good idea. As for flying from elsewhere, some idiot suggested flying from Bristol. And how do you think I would get to Bristol? And how long? Same goes for Gatwick. Friends flew from Gatwick last month - guess what? Southern Railway was on strike that day so they had to spend the previous night in a hotel. More time, more expense. That may have been their only solution, given that there's no direct train service or roads to the Canary Islands, but I have options! Called the M6.

No, the issue I was raising was the wild discrepancy in the fares for the same trip under the same circumstances.

Apart from a few special offers, all train companies sell the same tickets at the same price.

Such a sweeping statement. I've just demonstrated that's not true. But if that's what you believe, don't let the facts influence you.

agrinnall

Flybe schedule connecting flights from Aberdeen to Southampton via Manchester, I picked a random date (22nd October) and there are 5 flights that day taking between 3 and 4.5 hours and costing between £64 and £116 one way with no checked luggage - probably cheaper if you can book further ahead.

andrewf75

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've been on a handful of trains in my life. Unless you live in a big city, or unless you want to only ever go to/from London, it's a ridiculous way to travel.
.

as others have said thats a pretty ridiculous statement, despite the flaws

Agree for one off trips longer distance I prefer to drive, but commuting to work give me a train over sitting in traffic any day.

Stoke

I use the train occasionally. It's rarely a pleasant experience though.