Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 06:15 21 Apr 2025
 
- Gatwick worst airport in UK for flight delays
- A death every three minutes: Why India's roads are among the world's deadliest
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 10/05/25 - BRTA Westbury
10/05/25 - Model Railsay Show, Calne
13/05/25 - Melksham TUG / AGM
14/05/25 - West Wiltshire RUG

On this day
21st Apr (1958)
Battery Multiple Unit enters public service (link)

Train RunningCancelled
05:37 Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach
23:30 Cardiff Central to Bristol Temple Meads
Short Run
05:40 Penzance to Cardiff Central
05:47 Exeter St Davids to Cardiff Central
05:53 Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central
05:53 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
05:58 Westbury to Cardiff Central
06:01 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
06:03 Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach
06:28 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
06:28 Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central
06:28 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
06:31 Severn Beach to Weston-Super-Mare
06:40 Penzance to Cardiff Central
06:44 Exeter St Davids to Cardiff Central
06:57 Cardiff Central to Bristol Temple Meads
06:59 Westbury to Cardiff Central
07:01 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
07:10 Penzance to London Paddington
07:20 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
07:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
07:40 Penzance to Cardiff Central
08:00 Cardiff Central to Plymouth
08:19 Taunton to Cardiff Central
08:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
08:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
09:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance
09:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
09:28 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
09:29 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
10:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton
10:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
10:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
10:50 Penzance to Cardiff Central
10:52 Plymouth to Cardiff Central
11:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance
11:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
12:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton
12:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
12:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
13:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance
13:11 Taunton to Cardiff Central
13:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
13:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
14:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance
14:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
14:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
14:49 Plymouth to Cardiff Central
14:59 Cardiff Central to Taunton
15:15 Taunton to Cardiff Central
15:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
15:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
16:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton
16:24 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
16:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
16:31 Barnstaple to Axminster
16:50 Penzance to Cardiff Central
17:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton
17:10 Taunton to Cardiff Central
17:24 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
17:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
18:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance
18:10 Taunton to Cardiff Central
18:24 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
18:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
19:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance
19:15 Taunton to Cardiff Central
19:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
etc
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
April 21, 2025, 06:24:00 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[157] Fortuitous connections ... and an App which fails to offer the...
[93] RNLI station celebrates 10 years of saving lives - Portishead,...
[56] Salisbury Station, 2025 edition
[53] Eyesight rules for motorists unsafe, says coroner
[48] FOSS and FOSW validity - some quirks
[47] St Erth station - facilities, footbridge, improvements, incide...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Journey costs - comparing ticket types  (Read 4572 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 43860



View Profile WWW Email
« on: April 12, 2009, 07:10:58 »

I keep reading "us commuters pay much more that you occasional travellers" and, yes, that is true - but I thought I would try and put that into the different context of per journey costings.  I'm particularly looking at threads like the "seat reservation" one that's running at the moment here

Some prices:

126.00 - Anytime return
** 106.00 - 2 x Advance single (today's availability for peak travel for 21st May)
83.80 - BritRail point to point ticket (not available to UK (United Kingdom) residents)
81.50 - Anytime, but using only trains that call at Didcot
* 45.00 - Offpeak return
** 38.00 -  2 x Advance single (today's availability for reasonable times on 21st May)
33.24 - Travel anytime (per return journey, 1 month season ticket)
29.00 - Annual season tickets, using only trains that call at Didcot
24.94 - Britrail England, 15 days in 2 months (not available to UK residents)
** 17.00 - 2 x Advance single (today's availability for way out times on 21st May)

Tickets marked as follows:
* - you are restricted as to which trains you may use
** - you must choose your train when booking, weeks / months ahead

The fares above are standard class, Chippenham to London Paddington. Season ticket calculation is as follows - 731.20 - 30 day (Month) - 22 return journeys = 33.24 per return journey.  You may argue me down to 20 return journeys which puts the per journey cost up to 36.56.  Annual season ticket - 7616 pounds,  which works out as 33 pounds per day (5 day week, 30 non-commuting weekdays) or 34 pounds per day (40 non-commuting weekdays).

The BritRail point to point ticket is priced at $123 (US) and at today's exchange rate of 1.4676.  Although you book and pay in advance and select a train, you are free to vary the day and time you travel without notice ("flexible so you can change your itinerary")

The "only trains that call at Didcot" daily fare is based on Chippenham to Didcot return, plus Didcot to Paddington any time day return 36 + 45.50 ; any ticket office can sell you both tickets, but I don't think a ticket machine can issue tickets from stations other than the one they're located at (exception - collecting prebooked tickets).

Britrail England - 15 days in 2 months at $549 = 374.08 pounds.  So that's unlimited train travel in the UK for 24.94 per day, which could be used by someone who's staying with friends in Chippenham and wants to commute to London for 3 weeks at peak times.   And if he / she happened to use one of the days to travel from Bath to Northallerton and back, that would be just 24.94 too; see here for previous discussion on the fare for that journey.

Annual season - Chippenham to Didcot 2732 + Didcot - Paddington 3996.  Used for 230 round trips. You must always use trains that call at Didcot, and consider if you can accept that limitation before you buy!

« Last Edit: April 12, 2009, 08:26:01 by grahame » Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
Tim
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 2738


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2009, 17:03:42 »

One comment that I would make on the Britrail fare is that although it is valid on any train, I bet that most users of it are tourists who most of the time will not be getting up as early as commuters so although the ticket is valid peak time it will often be used off-peak.  Pricing it somewhere between peak and off-peak fares therefore seems sensible.  For every American who uses it as a discounted peak-time ticket there will be another who is paying over the odds for travel off-peak.

Logged
inspector_blakey
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3574



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2009, 17:12:30 »

Whilst of course it is true that commuters pay more in absolute terms than other passengers, in fact monthly and annual seasons give substantial discounts "per mile" or "per journey" compared to most walk-up tickets, and are also valid without restriction.

This is part of the commuting problem that the railways have always faced: season ticket holders pay much less per mile than many other passengers, but travel in the peak and therefore require a large amount of extra stock that spends much of the rest of the day either parked up or running virtually empty but still costing money! Barry Doe in RAIL has written several interesting articles on exactly that issue.

It is another strange fact that season ticket holders generally believe they get worse value from the railway than walk-up ticket holders, despite benefiting from huge per-journey discounts compared to the latter.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page