Re: Why are UK train tickets so pricey?
- From: "Mortimer" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:15:50 -0000
"Bob Wood" <bobwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C1U3j.28679$7k5.7537@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
the_invisible_man_@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Its often claimed that the UK has the most expensive average ticket
prices in Europe (and maybe even the world?), in terms of distance
travelled.
What are the underlying reasons for this? Surely we're not the only
country to have above inflation price rises each year? Is it the way
the privatised rail structure is set up (ROSCOs for example)? But
then again, fares were pricey under British Rail days too, weren't
they? Have British fares been historically expensive, or was there a
time when they started to become noticeably more expensive, compared
to abroad?
Or is my original assumption wrong and based on myth?
The simple answer is that other countries give higher subsidies to their
railway companies.
And maybe the difference between advance and walk-on fares is greater in
this country, because the railway companies want to know in advance how many
seats will be free/needed on any given train.
Except when I was travelling on business and the end time of a meeting was
well-known and fixed, the prospect of being tied to a specific train and no
other (or even to a specific day, if what I'm doing is dependent on good
weather) is just not viable. I'd like to see much less difference between
the two extremes, so that walk-on passengers like me aren't penalised so
much. It seems absurd to me that a friend who is coming to see me in a few
weeks can get a return ticket all the way between North Yorkshire and
Oxfordshire (as an advance purchase) for less than it costs me for a return
ticket Oxfordshire to London (off-peak walk-on). I think her fare is
actually less than cost of the fuel to drive the journey by car - which is
the way it ought to be, given the efficiency and economy of scale of
transporting many people in the same vehicle.
.
- References:
- Why are UK train tickets so pricey?
- From: the_invisible_man_
- Re: Why are UK train tickets so pricey?
- From: Bob Wood
- Why are UK train tickets so pricey?
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