Why are trains so exprensive!!?

Question

why does the price go up so dramatically for late bookings? surely thet should just have standard reasonable price?

Answer 1

One hopes that the extra money they charge on weekends and peak times goes towards increased numbers of carriages and services (and I say hopes).

What's interesting is I went up to Yorkshire recently and the cost for train tickets into Leeds, Bradford etc. from smaller villages outside is v. v. cheap (and they are good trains as well)!

Answer 2

Interesting... the two prior answerers and you seem to be in England / UK, and the prices DO seem steep.

I take two trains regularly here in the San Jose area of California: CalTrain for my commute (costs me $3 a day), and the Altamont Communter Express (ACE) to travel the 130 miles to Stockton to visit my brother ($25 round trip).

I HAVE price Amtrak trips, and THEY are rather pricey... sad that the train costs more than an airline flight.

Answer 3

Supply and demand,Privatisation does not help.

Answer 4

Who do you think pays for the bubbly at the shareholders meeting?

Answer 5

In all countrys you have trains that have first, buisness, and coach .

Answer 6

It is accepted, I think, that the ticketing system on Britain's railways is a nonsense. You can find some bargains, even at the last minute, however. You just have to look for them and be prepared to be flexible as to the time you want to travel. My son, for example,  paid just £3 each way from London to Manchester and return the other weekend, and he only booked a week or so in advance.

As to Robert's point (how does he know my name, btw?), yes fares are a lot more expensive here in the UK. I looked at a trip from San Francisco to New York by train a while ago and think I could get a ticket for under $100. Does that sound right?

Answer 7

Because companies need to know how many customers want to travel on that particular train, especially if it is a long distance service, they need to know how many carrages to put on (unlike EMU's they do not come in standard sets and can be lengthed to the maximum size allowed) and if that train becomes full with bookings then to place a request with Network Rail for an additional train to run 5 - 10 minutes later.

Answer 8

Trains aren't always expensive. I booked tickets from Derby to Middlesbrough and back again, but it was cheaper to buy two single tickets. The first (D-M) was £17, and the second (M-D) £10 - but I have a Railcard, so get a 1/3 off. Even without the discount, it's still good, particularly in comparison to the price of buses!

Answer 9

That's just the way of public transport m'dear.

I fully sympathise, having to pay a ridiculous amount (just over £120) for me and my girlfriend to go and visit my family widthways across England.

Makes you wonder if there isn't an organisation that isn't run by a bunch of thieving b*stards!!!

*Edit* - By the way, those prices are booking a whole week in advance!!!

Answer 10

just like everythign else, $$ rules

they charge more because they can

certainly it does not cost them any more to transport a late booking than anyone else

but they figure you are probably desperate and therefore willing to pay more.

it is criminal

but it is business as usual

Answer 11

Would you buy 4 pints of milk for £10?....... No, you'd go somewhere else, so the answer is, EASYJET!

Answer 12

Blame the government, they are the ones demanding the huge fare rises - they don't want to pay for upgrading to cope with the huge growth in rail travel in the last few years so are trying to price people away.

There are very cheap fares out there but you do have to be willing to travel on specific trains or to travel off peak.

Advance purchase fares are limited in number, they are used to try and fill seats on quieter trains. There might be 100 £10 fares, when those are gone then the next cheapest fare will apply.

There are some very cheap local fares in PTE areas (West and South Yorkshire, Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool) but these are subsidised by an extra levy on council tax in those areas. Also First Great Western has been cutting fares on their local routes in the South West, they are now undercutting the local buses by some margin :)

And also when comparing the cost of rail and air, compare like with like. A lot of people compare the cheapest (and most restricted) airfare with a peak time flexible rail ticket. If you turn up at the airport on a holiday weekend and ask for a ticket on the next flight, returning on any airline at any time I expect the fare will be in the thousands!

Answer 13

Because of the way they were privatised. It was poorly thought out, and then the TOC's (Train Operating Companies) want to please their share holders by making bigger profits!

Answer 14

In two words, lucy.  Corporate greed!