[UK] Plane faster and cheaper than train

trap4

Science Friction points to this incredible Telegraph story which gives several examples of where plane travel (via Ryanair) is faster and cheaper than train travel in Britain.

One of the examples is for the journey between London and Glasgow..... via Frankfurt Hahn :eek:

Of course, terms and conditions applybut it's still quite incredible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Jim
http://eirepreneur.blogs.com

Victor

I suspect a lot of these were contrived situations. You will also note that airlines only serve a few points whereas railways serve hundreds.

Capt'n Midnight

Over long distances continental coast to coast Planes are cheaper.
UK rail is very expensive - one of the reasons is that when BR where in charge you had to specifically ask for the cheapest fare between A and B as they would not volunateer that info. Now with so many rail operators taking a cut for their parts of journeys it can be messy.

How did bus prices compare ??
Train don't really cheap apex fairs in the way planes do so for last minute journeys trains would be cheaper.

Used to have to fly in to Leeds and the Taxi drivers were telling me that from around Hull it was quicker and cheaper for a small group to take a Taxi than public transport to Gatwick or the other London Airports - and you'd be sure of getting there on time and get picked up and dropped off at your door. (one of the Drivers was telling me of when his car broke down - full AA cover - so the AA had to take his passengers to the airport )

John R

That article is complete crap, it suggests that £75 is the cheapest return by Virgin trains from London to Glasgow. This is not true, just like airlines they charge more on peak time services and more for short notice booking.

I picked a random time/date and got some fares: within 3 hours of my selected departure times the following fares were available on at least one of five seperate departures.

14 day advance return: £32
7 day advance return: £48
Off peak return (no advance):£38
First class off peak return:£59 Including free meal and drinks.

As for the time, it would very much depend on where you were leaving from but train stations are generally much better located than airports. Add to that the boarding times in airports versus train stations 30-60minutes vs 5-10minutes.


Other misleading rail fares fares quoted:

Aberdeen - Glasgow
advance air fare(via Dublin): 30.44
rail fare(anytime): 32.90 which is correct but an advance return rail fare is £22.

Quote: A one-way ticket from Stansted to Bournemouth via Barcelona costs £23 on Ryanair, compared with £31.90 on First Great Western and Virgin.

Neither Virgin or FGW operate a service that can be compared to this, FGW do not serve Bournemouth at all and Virgin only from there to Birmingham and the north of England.



I am sure a real air-rail comparison would be very informative but this article was just rail-bashing crap.

Victor

A one-way ticket from Stansted to Bournemouth via Barcelona costs £23 on Ryanair,

One has to wonder if that includes the ubiqutous taxes, landing fees, etc.

John R

quote:

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A one-way ticket from Stansted to Bournemouth via Barcelona costs £23 on Ryanair,

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One has to wonder if that includes the ubiqutous taxes, landing fees, etc.

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One would also have to wonder how many people that live near Stanstead would want to go to Bournemouth anyway?