Very little to do with double glazing this one but I think this is a post we will all have an opinion on!
The cost of transport is rising way beyond what can be called normal and reasonable. A good friend of mine was looking to come up from London to talk about business and various other industry related matters. But upon looking for train ticket costs in first class, for a return ticket to London, the price was approaching £400! Yes some of you will say don’t travel first class, but even the standard coach tickets weren’t far off £200! How can this be?
A recent Sky News report commented that a season ticket in London might cost up to and around £5000 (I hope I’ve got that right). When they compared it to other developed EU countries, say Italy for example, the cost was a fifth of what we pay! Why is it that our trains and general transport network is so expensive?!
The Government is keen for us to start getting out of our cars and start using public transport more. Well unfortunately, unless the annual 6%+ increases stop and prices actually come down to a sensible level, this just isn’t going to happen. To put this into perspective, it would have been cheaper for my friend to have flown from a London airport to Leeds/Bradford airport, and hire a car to get to his final destination! So we have now reached a point where flying within the borders of this country is now cheaper than some train journeys! Ridiculous!
It is frustrating. Within our industry are a lot of business professionals who need to travel long distances to get to where they need to be, say meetings for example. Why would they take the train when the price of a tank of petrol is still cheaper than a return ticket on a train? They wouldn’t. And this is what is damaging our transport network. Many more people I’m sure would use it if it were more affordable. I know I would!
Anyway, that was just my rant for the day. Please leave me a comment if you agree/disagree with the above! Thanks for reading!
I do agree DGB. You need a degree in quantum physics to learn To how to purchase competitively priced tickets, it can be done, the golden rule is to ensure that you book well in advance. The second rule is that you should only try to travel North to South and vice versa, traveling East to West or West to East is not only expensive, but journey times are are nightmare!
Luckily I do have a degree in quantum physics which does allow me to understand the ticket pricing ;-)
I don’t understand why east to west and the other way round is more expensive!?
Thanks for your comment!
To be honest your friend was either looking in the wrong place or was booking for the next day or two, as long as you book 14 days in advance rail travel is not to bad, i regulary bring my Mum down from Cumbria to Kent and it is around £80 return which is far cheaper than it costs in diesel and a lot quicker as well. Its the same for airlines yes if you book weeks/months in advance you get a seat for next to nothing but if you want to fly tomorrow then you will be in for… Read more »
Hi Peter
Even if a season tickets gives you unlimited travel for £3500, so does one in Italy or Spain or other EU countries at a far less cost. That’s the thing that frustrates me.
Yes, booking in advance does help a lot, but if you run a business and you suddenly have to travel down the country in the next 3 days or so, you’re going to be stung big time!
Thanks for your comment!
I live about a 25 minute drive from London, Just on the edge of Essex. When I worked in London for a year, a season ticket was about £2500 a year, this is for a 35 minute train journey every day. When I go to my Nan’s who lives on the coast in Norfolk I can get a ticket to Norwich or further for £6.00. Its a joke how much the price varies. Especially with buses as well.