Another interesting quote on fares

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Dan Panes, spokesman for First Great Western, said: ^Train fares remain tremendously good value and we are seeing an increase in passenger numbers. Between Bristol and London the fare is the equivalent of 16p per mile.^

from http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/story-17731824-detail/story.html?

At 118 miles , that's a fare of just under 19 pounds, Dan ... only available tomorrow as an advanced fare on the 22:35 as far as I can see, getting into Paddington at 00:34 on Thursday.  Also, there's a 38.70 day return, superoffpeak, Bristol to London Waterloo via Salisbury; choice of 7 services to London and about the same number back.

I'm slightly surprised that it's this particular fare level - enjoyed by only a tiny minority - that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are choosing to benchmark against.

[thetrout]

At 16p per mile it does seem somewhat accurate when you look at the Super Off Peak Day return.

Roughly ^19 each way. Super Off Peak ^38.70

Then consider that the ticket is valid only via Salisbury so is much further than Bristol - Paddington via Didcot Parkway. Then very inaccurate.

Very misleading I feel. Perhaps could even be classed as False Advertising?!

[EBrown]

Removed.

[swrural]

At 16p per mile it does seem somewhat accurate when you look at the Super Off Peak Day return.

Roughly ^19 each way. Super Off Peak ^38.70

Then consider that the ticket is valid only via Salisbury so is much further than Bristol - Paddington via Didcot Parkway. Then very inaccurate.

Very misleading I feel. Perhaps could even be classed as False Advertising?!

One could argue 'on the contrary, very noble' if he is advertising tickets only available, realistically, via the competition!

[ellendune]

Just as supermarkets are required additionally to quote prices per unit weight or volume, should TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s be required to show fares per mile?

[swrural]

My wife heard Simon Calder on the Beeb this morning (the rail traveller's Martin Lewis).

He took ^100 into a booking office and said 'where can I go for this?'.  No advance (or 'advanced') fares nonsense, just walk on.  Why should people have the inconvenience of spending hours on the computer planning journeys?

In England he could travel 100 miles (so forget your 16p!!).  In Scotland he could go 300 (interesting, how?). In France he could could go from Paris to Marseilles, 700 miles.  In Italy he had a problem finding an internal trip that expensive but eventually got Milan to Palermo (!!!!!) including the ferry.

If fares are reasonably priced, all the complication of special deals become unnecessary.

By the way, the advance fare deals of 16p per mile do not stack up against the car if more than one person is travelling in the car.  Also do not forget the door to door convenience and lack of extra cost of doing so.

[old original]

walk into Penzance ticket office and you can get all the way to london AND back for ^101  about 600 miles = 16.8p - not far off.

[devon_metro]

walk into Penzance ticket office and you can get all the way to london AND back for ^101  about 600 miles = 16.8p - not far off.

650 miles if you go via Bristol Temple Meads!

[grahame]

... should TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s be required to show fares per mile?

It certainly makes for a useful comparison if you're wondering where to "railhead".  Here are the (anytime single) fares from the Berks and Hants line into London Paddington.   I've added Westbury -> Waterloo for people travelling to the South Bank - slower, but may save the tube.

Taunton 109.50 / 156 miles - 70.2 p/mile
Castle Cary 93.50 / 125 miles - 74.8 p/mile
Westbury 37.60 (via Salisbury) 76.00 (via Newbury) 87.50 (any Route) / 110 miles
   34.18 p/mile (via Salisbury), 69.1 p/mile (via Newbury), 79.5 p/mile (any route)
Pewsey 51.50 / 93 miles - 55.4 p/mile
Bedwyn 30.50 / 75 miles - 40.7 p/mile
Newbury 27.00 / 62 miles - 43.5 p/mile
Reading 21.50 / 42 miles - 51.2 p/mile

[TonyK]

Just as supermarkets are required additionally to quote prices per unit weight or volume, should TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s be required to show fares per mile?

I took a train from Lyon to Avignon in the late 1970s. The distance in kilometres was printed on the ticket, but IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly), SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) left the maths to me.

Bristol TM^‡(resolve) to Severn Beach and back, around 27 miles for ^3.00, is just over 11p per mile.

[swrural]

walk into Penzance ticket office and you can get all the way to london AND back for ^101  about 600 miles = 16.8p - not far off.

650 miles if you go via Bristol Temple Meads!

What - walk on and return when you like, no restrictions?  If so please confirm and I will write to Calder.  Mind you, this begs the question - are walk on fares in huge variance around the country?  I genuinely thought that walk on fares were standard wherever you went on NR^» (Network Rail - home page).  As you can tell, walk on fares are a non-issue for me to date, as I would assume that I could not afford rail travel, even though we have a SRC each.  (I hope that one is on the list of abbs.)

[EBrown]

That's the SSR. Which has a restriction of: 2X

So valid from 0640 from PNZ.

[swrural]

EBrown, I'm sorry SSR was in the list, but not 2X.  What does that last mean please, (is it two months, two days?) and what does a single ticket cost?  That was the comparison being made by Calder (say I don't want to return but am on a round trip, for instance).

If a SSR is cheaper than a return, what is the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) doing selling singles, when one could get returns cheaper?

[Southern Stag]

An SSR is a Super Off Peak return. Valid outward on the day of travel printed any time after 06:40, return with in a month, not valid Mondays-Fridays leaving London Paddington before 10:03 or between 15:10 and 19:01. A Super Off Peak single with the same restrictions is ^58.50. 2X is the restriction code, it gives details on what trains the ticket is valid on.

[swrural]

Thanks SS.  So neither fare conforms to the conditions set by Calder.  These are, remember, one walks into a station and says ticket to Z.  Clerk sells you ticket, you walk onto platform and get train to Z.  FTN gets to Severn beach for ^3 but one has to buy a return apparently.  How about just going to Severn Beach?  In fact I just looked it up and it's ^2.

Before I write to Mr Calder, does anyone know whether straightforward single tickets are not priced at a standard walk on fare price?  Judging from examples on this thread, there seems to be no standard price?