Great Western Coffee Shop

I'm trying to compare equivalent fares from different parts of the country.  It's certainly not easy to compare off-peak fares as some routes have peak fares only and in the north of England an off-peak single ticket is indeed very rare.  Then the range of advance tickets available in some parts of the country is poorer than in other areas.  So I think the only way of comparing them is to look at non-PTE subsided routes that don't involve London travel.  London travel is usually expensive wherever you start from - the difference being in the South East London is a local fare opposed to a long distance fare.

I've started looking at peak return journeys of around 11 miles each way (for some reason it's easier to find than 10 miles) and picking journeys at random for three areas has made the South East surpringly the cheapest (obviously avoiding London as I said):
* North West: Northwich to Knutsford: ^5.30
* Yorkshire: Marsden to Greenfield: ^5.70
* South East: Rye to Hastings: ^4.90

Can anyone throw in some South, South West, South Wales fares or any other area you'd like to add?

Bristol Temple Meads to St Andrew's Road (10 miles approx) ^3.00 SDR
Bristol Temple Meads to Bath Spa (11 miles approx) ^6.80 SDR
Melksham to Dilton Marsh (11 miles approx) ^3.50 SDR

Pontypridd to Cardiff Central  ( 10 Miles Approx)   ^5.10 SDR

What times that train again?  ;D ;)

I wasn't expecting that big-a-difference in the South West.  We have big differences in the North but it's always given the excuse that one's a PTE fare and one's a standard fare.

The train service to St Andrew's Road is on the Severn Beach Line which receives subsidies from Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council. Bristol to Bath is a very popular journey so I guess FGW can maximise revenue with a relatively high pence per mile fares structure.



 ;D ;D ;D

To be fair, northwesterntrains was asking about fares and not service provision. But for the record that fare would be applicable on the 0641 to Dilton Marsh, returning on the 1822, waiting an hour at Westbury and arriving Melksham 1947.

South Hants, Fareham to:

Portsmouth Stations ^4.80 (10 miles)
Eastleigh ^5.20 (10 miles)
Southampton Central ^6.20  (14 miles)

Paul

Another couple around 11 miles distance:

Plymouth to Calstock ^6.80
Plymouth to Ivybridge ^5.10

Should point out that all the SDRs I've quoted also have a CDR available, except the Severn Beach Line which only has a SDS or SDR for journeys wholly on the line.

But still very competitive when compared to the X39 bus service. Haven't used it in a while but I was certainly charged GBP3.90 single from Bath to Keynsham on the 339 (Sunday equivalent of the X39 service) two or three years ago and I doubt it's got cheaper. I would guess that the return Bristol-Bath bus fare is probably not too dissimilar to the peak rail fare, and that the off-peak rail fare actually works out cheaper! Does anyone have the actual numbers for the bus fares to hand?

Bristol to Bath -  Peak day return bus fare ^7.50. Off Peak day return (after 9am Mon-Fri) ^6.85.

I think for the southwest we should compare CDR fares as on many routes off-peak is very early and big differences in fares-

i.e. Penmere to Truro (about 11 miles) ^4.10 SDR, ^3.40 CDR
St Ives to Penzance (9ish miles) ^5.50 SDR, ^3.40 CDR
Camborne to Truro (14ish miles) ^5.40 SDR, ^3.90 CDR
then you look at Par Newquay (20 miles) ^7.80 SDR but ^3.90 CDR!
or Penzance Exeter (131 miles) ^15.60 CDR but ^41.00 SOR! (but cheaper to split at Ply in peak time)

How about Worcester to Bristol? Only ^10 return! Many miles.

Worcester Shrub Hill to Bristol Temple Meads 66 miles 30 chain or 67 miles 41 chain via Gloucester.
Add an extra 52 chains for Worcester Foregate Street.

Even more miles per pound if you go WOS-BRI via Hereford and Newport!

Pangbourne to Didcot  (12 miles approx) 6.40 SDR

BPW to Weymouth.