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£292 return railway fare London-Newcastle WTF


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Old 03-01-2017, 18:21
Pamthehound
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Just reading the increase in railway fares in England. Why do you English put up with such a blatant overcharging for overcrowded trains. I just cant get my head around it. Here in NI a Belfast -return to Dublin is £42 and even that is exorbitant to the point that many here keep with their cars if travelling to Dublin or afar.

When are the ordinary Englander going to say enough is enough and boycott the railway companies. After all Boycotting is named after us Irish avoiding a Capt Boycott who was an absentee landlord who overcharged and was unpopular in Co Mayo.


I just dont get the mentality of customers opening their wallets in full knowledge they are being fleeced to the core.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:27
SaddlerSteve
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A quick check online and you can reduce that journey to £212 by buying 2 singles.

Buying in advance and checking other routes I reckon that could be even cheaper.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:30
solarflare
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A quick check online and you can reduce that journey to £212 by buying 2 singles.
£212 still sounds fairly insane to me, to be honest.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:31
Joey_J
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My search for a single return comes up with £182

where are you getting £292??

not that £182 is great, its still a fleecing
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:33
stud u like
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It is quicker and cheaper to fly.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:33
Inspiration
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London Kings Cross -> Newcastle
Departing 08:45 on Sunday 12th March 2017

£28.00 advance single

£20.00 if you depart at 9pm.

Book in advance. Try to work your plans around the cheapest days/times.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:34
SaddlerSteve
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£212 still sounds fairly insane to me, to be honest.
Like I said though, that was just a quick check online a few seconds after reading the thread. Yes it is expensive.

But rhe point being that if people just go to a website and ask for a return then they're going to get the most expensive but if you spend a bit of time looking around or planning in advance you can get these things cheaper.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:39
Jakobjoe
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who can afford train travel.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:40
skp20040
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If I booked the cheapest online going this Saturday coming back Sunday it would be £117 . If I booked way in advance going 20th March coming back 21st March it would be at the cheapest £64 return . Tickets all cheapest standard singles for London Newcastle via Trainline. It is more expensive to buy open anytime returns.

You could fly cheaper a lot of the time but can get cheaper tickets if you book in advance. The thing is do people want to subsidise cheap public travel if so they need to lobby their MP's more and more.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:48
jra
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Just reading the increase in railway fares in England. Why do you English put up with such a blatant overcharging for overcrowded trains. I just cant get my head around it. Here in NI a Belfast -return to Dublin is £42 and even that is exorbitant to the point that many here keep with their cars if travelling to Dublin or afar.

When are the ordinary Englander going to say enough is enough and boycott the railway companies. After all Boycotting is named after us Irish avoiding a Capt Boycott who was an absentee landlord who overcharged and was unpopular in Co Mayo.


I just dont get the mentality of customers opening their wallets in full knowledge they are being fleeced to the core.
You can get a single for £65 tomorrow, provided you travel off peak.

Book for March, it goes down to £28/£36.

And that is without split ticketing.

The only people that pay the fares you mention are business travellers IMO. Anybody else will normally pay a lot less. Don't get me wrong. Rail fares are expensive in the UK, but you can save a lot of money if you know how to work the system.

The guide below is useful.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tra...-train-tickets

Another useful tip is making use of easements in some circumstances.

http://data.atoc.org/routeing-guide

ETA. On Wed 8th March, a single from London - Newcastle departing 10am is £20. Found on www.redspottedhanky.com .
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:51
Grafenwalder
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London Kings Cross -> Newcastle
Departing 08:45 on Sunday 12th March 2017

£28.00 advance single

£20.00 if you depart at 9pm.

Book in advance. Try to work your plans around the cheapest days/times.
Actually the op hasn't used a very good comparison. Belfast to Dublin is only 104 miles and that's by road, by rail it's undoubtedly less. London to Newcastle is 276 miles.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:51
ags_rule
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It's also worth noting that, if booked 3 weeks in advance, a train fare from Belfast to Dublin return can be gotten for as little as £10 - not £42.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:52
muggins14
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Like I said though, that was just a quick check online a few seconds after reading the thread. Yes it is expensive.

But rhe point being that if people just go to a website and ask for a return then they're going to get the most expensive but if you spend a bit of time looking around or planning in advance you can get these things cheaper.
The website I use gives you all the options - the price of returns, singles and puts a big coloured box around the cheapest option within the time-frame you choose.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:53
LakieLady
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Rail fares are crazy, unless you book in advance. If I needed to go to London tomorrow, and had to travel before 9.30, the return fare would be getting on for £60. It's only 50 miles, so that makes it 60p a mile.

I reckon it's about 250 miles from London to Newcastle, so if the price per mile was the same, the fare would be £300 return.
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Old 03-01-2017, 18:59
cobaye22
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Actually the op hasn't used a very good comparison. Belfast to Dublin is only 104 miles and that's by road, by rail it's undoubtedly less. London to Newcastle is 276 miles.
Still, the Irish train prices look cheaper to me. Mile for mile.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:00
SaddlerSteve
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Rail fares are crazy, unless you book in advance. If I needed to go to London tomorrow, and had to travel before 9.30, the return fare would be getting on for £60. It's only 50 miles, so that makes it 60p a mile.

I reckon it's about 250 miles from London to Newcastle, so if the price per mile was the same, the fare would be £300 return.
Which is exactly why the OP is quoting a price that is very similar for that journey. As everyone has said buying in advance makes it cheaper.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:04
jra
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Rail fares are crazy, unless you book in advance. If I needed to go to London tomorrow, and had to travel before 9.30, the return fare would be getting on for £60. It's only 50 miles, so that makes it 60p a mile.

I reckon it's about 250 miles from London to Newcastle, so if the price per mile was the same, the fare would be £300 return.
The reason rail fares are so expensive in the UK is the government has decided people that use trains should foot most of the bill. The other choice is the government invests/subsidizes heavily in the railways, but that will mean your average tax bill is going up, because somebody has to pay for all this. Railways are hugely expensive to maintain and run, so you can either be charged at source (rail fares) or pay more in general taxation (income tax, VAT etc.). Your choice, as the expression goes.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:12
jra
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Still, the Irish train prices look cheaper to me. Mile for mile.
Northern Ireland doesn't have a privatized railway service and is publicly owned, so you are paying less for it in terms of rail fares but more via general taxation, rather than just at source with rail fares. Along those lines anyway.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:25
wear thefoxhat
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Rail fares are crazy, unless you book in advance. If I needed to go to London tomorrow, and had to travel before 9.30, the return fare would be getting on for £60. It's only 50 miles, so that makes it 60p a mile.

I reckon it's about 250 miles from London to Newcastle, so if the price per mile was the same, the fare would be £300 return.
Then imagine if you had take your partner and a couple of kids too! Do families even travel by train anymore, surely it's only commuters, and today a report came out saying thousands are planning on leaving their jobs simply because the commute has become so expensive.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:28
SaddlerSteve
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Then imagine if you had take your partner and a couple of kids too! Do families even travel by train anymore, surely it's only commuters, and today a report came out saying thousands are planning on leaving their jobs simply because the commute has become so expensive.
There are Railcard's which give a 1/3 off fares and other benefits.

My brother and I use a Two Together railcard to travel to football matches. There's also a Friends & Family railcard with similar benefits.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:33
eggchen
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It is quicker and cheaper to fly.
My thoughts exactly. It's what I would do.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:37
cobaye22
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Northern Ireland doesn't have a privatized railway service and is publicly owned, so you are paying less for it in terms of rail fares but more via general taxation, rather than just at source with rail fares. Along those lines anyway.
GB will never ever subsidise.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:38
dearmrman
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Then imagine if you had take your partner and a couple of kids too! Do families even travel by train anymore, surely it's only commuters, and today a report came out saying thousands are planning on leaving their jobs simply because the commute has become so expensive.
With a railcard a couple can get fares around £64 return total for two...and a family around £80 return.
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:40
Glawster2002
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You can get a single for £65 tomorrow, provided you travel off peak.

Book for March, it goes down to £28/£36.

And that is without split ticketing.

The only people that pay the fares you mention are business travellers IMO. Anybody else will normally pay a lot less. Don't get me wrong. Rail fares are expensive in the UK, but you can save a lot of money if you know how to work the system.

The guide below is useful.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tra...-train-tickets

Another useful tip is making use of easements in some circumstances.

http://data.atoc.org/routeing-guide

ETA. On Wed 8th March, a single from London - Newcastle departing 10am is £20. Found on www.redspottedhanky.com .
But to me that is part of the problem, you shouldn't have to waste hours searching online to "work the system" just to get reasonable train fares.

If you go to somewhere like Holland there is the price of the ticket, from A to B, no peak fare, off peak, saver, super saver, advance saver, and all the rest of the nonsense we have to put up with. And that price is considerably cheaper than the equivalent journey in this country.

Why were the train operating companies allowed to get away with such nonsense?
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Old 03-01-2017, 19:48
muggins14
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But to me that is part of the problem, you shouldn't have to waste hours searching online to "work the system" just to get reasonable train fares.

If you go to somewhere like Holland there is the price of the ticket, from A to B, no peak fare, off peak, saver, super saver, advance saver, and all the rest of the nonsense we have to put up with. And that price is considerably cheaper than the equivalent journey in this country.

Why were the train operating companies allowed to get away with such nonsense?
bib - you mean like when they increased the prices to cover work involved in removing asbestos from trains, but didn't decrease the prices after that work was completed?

Answer is likely to be because they hold all the cards. People would never protest by boycotting the railway service in high enough numbers to really have an effect or effectively enough to be heard because, at the end of they day, they rely upon the service to get wherever they are going.
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