[Closed] doesnt anyone use trains anymore?

It's so expensive!!! And I would suggest most folk are going the other way at this time of day.

Pleasantly surprised last week, I used the Merseyrail from Chester-Liverpool for 6,45GBP return. Put that against the car journey of 100 miles return, plus tunnel toll (1,50) and 6,00 for all day parking and it all seems a bit of a bargain.

I looked at a return ticket Southampton / Port Talbot.

I was told to consider taking the train as it meant I could work while travelling rather than driving for three hours.

I was told to book first class as this ensured i had a seat and a table so I could work.

I told them it was £399 for the ticket on trainline.com

I was told to drive

£35 for a single so true! Just thought there might be schoolkids on here as it is stopping at most local stations. Guess they get driven to school now though

Come on DS, its only 50miles round journey from Chester to Liverpool :lol:! But with parking and tolls £6.95 is a bit of a billy bargain!

I've looked into it a few times, but unless you book very early it's often cheaper to drive and for long journeys it's cheaper to hire a car and drive
Had one time I went oop norf, and on one connection works on the line meant a coach shuttle had been laid on between stations, the coach was late to the next station which meant I missed the train and they tried to tell me I couldn't get the next train as the ticket was for a specified train, even though it was their fault I missed it anyway, one HUUUGE argument later I finally managed to get on, but it's put me off em tbh, run by tossbags they are 😕

Sorry, drove from Oswestry. 😳 And all day free parking in Chester.

It depends when you go ie out of peak times. There are super saver tickets that mean I can get from Havant to Cardiff for about £17 but then equall;y in off peak times it costs £14 to get from Havant to Winchester!!!

Passenger numbers are higher than ever before, apparently.

Go on a peak time journey on a busy route you'll see what I mean.

Also, two weeks ago four of us went to Dunkirk for the day, four people and car was £19.50 return on the ferry
The day after we went into London from Essex and it was £72 for the same four people return
The pricing is madness

10 people in a carriage! That's because down south has all the carriages. It really is grim up north with those Northern Fail pacer units and standing (on one leg) room only. 😮

September/October is usually the period in the year with highest ridership; kids return to school, people settle back into work with their savings spent and their eyes on Christmas (although the highest passenger numbers of the year are seen on Maunday Thursday).

However, the unseasonal weather has lead to record numbers booking today off. Seaside hotels are running at booking levels equivalent to mid August, so everywhere is quiet as everyone enjoys the sunshine.

Work this one out

Macc to Soton 1st class 90 quid return
Macc to Basingstoke 1st class 180 quid return

Same train, shorter journey. They won't let you book the longer journey and get off early.

Go at rush-hour, on any commuter route.

You'll see.

They won't let you book the longer journey and get off early.

Armed guard?

"They won't let you book the longer journey and get off early"

I've heard this suggested before and even heard of people being refused entry to the platform despite having a reserved seat just because the station they were at was not the official start point but one slightly further down the line.

But I have asked before when on a journey from A to C, could I break the journey at B for a meeting I had to go to and was told yes I could.

They really do go out of their way to make it very difficult for the end use!

"They won't let you book the longer journey and get off early"

Had this on Scotrail too.

I often get the Glasgow-Edinburgh train with a pre-bought flexipass ticket from work. Usually I have my bike with me and get off at Croy on the way back towards Glasgow to ride home from there, as its quicker than staying on til Glasgow and riding back out.

A couple of times on nice evenings, I've got off at Falkirk to ride home for longer, only to be told that I can't get off until Glasgow. They then expect you to get back on the train.

I can't for the life of me fathom why.

Total mentalists.

I GET THE TRAIN EVERY SODDING DAY.

they are shite, pure and simple. expensive (to the extent my car may soon be cheaper), and inconvenient.

conditions on board are ropey and staff quality is decidedly questionable.

I hate trains.

Its called 'travelling short' and you have never been allowed to do it.

Prices have gone mental of late, even off peak.

What do they do then?
Frog march you back on the train?

I found out that a season ticket from my home to Leamington Spa is 25% more expensive than from Leamington Spa to home. Same journey, same number of trips, same stations. Odd, very odd.

The ones I get each morning are hysterically expensive and smell like someone's just had a shag in them.

Unless you choose to sit near the toilets which manage to infuse the smell of arse along the entire carriage.

I used to use the trains a lot. If you find the fares expensive, just hide in the bogs for the entire journey. Every local train I've ever taken has some dodgy smackhead get on and immediately do that. Therefore rendering it impossible for anyone to have a piss for the entire journey. Not good when you've had a couple of wifebeaters in the station bar while waiting for the (inevitably delayed by 30 minutes) train to actually turn up 🙄

The guards seem to just accept this and ignore it

Southeastern Trains seem to have a competition as to how few working toilets they can actually get away with on a late night service from London. Yes, I've known people to piddle in the bins because nothing else is available.

What do they do then?
Frog march you back on the train?

I suppose it wouldn't allow you to leave through the automatic barrier if it wasn't your stop. Do they fine you? Surely not.

I often 'travel short' - had no idea I wasn't allowed ! Ride to local station; pay for return ticket; change at mainline station + lock bike up; on return journey depart at mainline station and ride home - it saves the 50 min wait for the next train and it's only an hours ride. ...

I suppose it wouldn't allow you to leave through the automatic barrier if it wasn't your stop.

Sounds like imprisonment to me.

On my Surrey commuter route the carriages get stuffed enough. I get on early though so always get a seat then have to put up with old pregnant women swaying unsteadily and sighing.

I dont drive so use the train when I'm not riding in or out from work and sometimes when I'm only riding half way. I use the train a lot when I have my son with me for days out and to take him home back to his mums at the end of the weekend.

doesnt anyone use trains anymore?

not if i can help it.

they're expensive, crap, inconvenient, and packed with scumbags.

don simon - Member
Pleasantly surprised last week, I used the Merseyrail from Chester-Liverpool for 6,45GBP return. Put that against the car journey of 100 miles return, plus tunnel toll (1,50) and 6,00 for all day parking and it all seems a bit of a bargain.

POSTED 6 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

Ask for an all zones saveaway, about 4.60, unlimited travel on the buses from Hooton, and the rest of merseyside, and trains from chester to liverpool, southport, st helens, Kirby, and west Kirby, and New Brighton, also allows transport on the mersey ferries, and bikes go free, on Merseyrail, the silver and dirty yellow trains.

doesnt anyone use trains anymore?

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Nope.

I was on 2 trains yesterday. (I know, I know!)

Very good they were too.

One from Moscow to Domededovo Airport. 550 Rubles business class. Tidy.
Second was from LHR to Paddington. Fast, clean efficient for the job.

Tonight I shall be driving a car, however, as for the journey I'm going to do, a train is a non-starter in terms of time, cost and locations.

Use East Coast regularly from Huntingdon via Peterborough to York and back, cheap enough booked online in advance, yesterday cost £34.60

Reliable, fast, clean carriages including toilets and polite staff, so no complaints from me and now have a loyalty points scheme too

Quite often pay the 1st class supplement on the way back, well worth the six or seven quid extra for a nice afternoon tea and comfortable seat in the quiet carriage.

I work for an environmental body which has a work travel policy that requires you to catch the train wherever possible. And yes, it is possible most of the time. My meetings are usually in cities (London, Cardiff or Edinburgh), and I'd rather catch the train into a city than have the hassle of driving / parking etc. Plus it's normally cheaper than the cost of fuel for the same journey, and I can work on the train.

Personal travel - it depends. Long journeys, or to cities, I'll get the train. Meeting friends in the mountains, I'll drive cos there isn't really a train or bus option.

My biggest bugbear is trying to take bikes on a train - what a PITA! The train companies couldn't make any harder if they tried!

Ask for an all zones saveaway, about 4.60, unlimited travel on the buses from Hooton, and the rest of merseyside, and trains from chester to liverpool, southport, st helens, Kirby, and west Kirby, and New Brighton, also allows transport on the mersey ferries, and bikes go free, on Merseyrail, the silver and dirty yellow trains.

Chester to Liverpool is a bargain. Just remember to gave a wee before you travel as the trains don't have a toilet, although it would appear some use the doorway.

Wanted to book my son to come down to us.

Middle of South Yorkshire, to Doncaster and then straight to Kings Cross. Underground to Marylebone and then out to Buckinghamshire.

Picked a cheap train, £86 - by buying separate tickets for each piece of the journey, £40...

i used them last week. york to leuchars (near dundee) return. cost about £20 each way, in 1st class. as my journey was over 78mins (or something), i got a complementory meal (fried breakfast + toast + croissant on way up, 6 sandwiches, 2 slices of cake, crisps, cider, coke OJ on the way back).

i took my bike both ways - had to book it on, but thats fine, as its easy to do... only 'issue' is that they put the bike carriage the opposite end of the train to 1st class 🙄

i am, however, dreading the cost of york to exeter in a few weeks...

Trains - like a lottery without a prize.

Either incredibly overpriced and empty, or giveaway prices and choc a bloc (or full of mysteriously unused reserved seats). My regualr route now has a 50 minute wait for connections in both directions, how did they manage that?

There are two answers to "stopping short" one is to buy a ticket back from your ticketed destination to get you out of the barriers, the other is to take a mouthful of cup-a-soup and feign feeling unwell....

I wish they still flew Newcastle to Norwich.

Love travelling by train and choose that whenever its practical.

Sometimes the non-London lines are a bit patchy with service tho'

I travel by train a lot. Cheap . conveninet, good service. Faster than driving

It's so expensive!!! And I would suggest most folk are going the other way at this time of day.

Not if you print ur own tickets it isnt, (im not telling you how to print them so they cant spot them)

I love a train but the brand new ones Scotrail bought are pathetic, hopeless, woefully unaccommodating failures of engineering regarding the transport of the bike.

Shan.

The choo to Fort Bill next year will be re-donk-u-lous.

I travel by train most days. Getting bikes onto them is becoming more of a pain in the arse. Woman with pushchairs need to realise that there are plenty of places to put them but very few places to put bikes. And the guy who started on me today for asking the woman with the pushchair to move so that I could get my bike on the train should take his mullet back to the 80s. He didnt like it when I growled back.

I regularly use trains for work, and take my bike - never really had a problem. But I always avoid Virgin trains - they DON'T like bikes, unless you've pre-booked. I was even told by a Virgin lady (if you'll excuse the phrase) at Crewe that I couldn't get the next train cos it was one of their's, without even being asked if I had a bike reservation.
If you're doing a long journey, it's always best to book in advance - some real bargains to be had, eg Manchester to Tamworth for £6.

sbz - you have the right to the bike space for your bike.

Why the f do they put seats in the bike spaces? And why the f don't the people sitting in them move to one of the many other empty seats without having to be asked?

It's not always cheap if you don't have a choice about travelling. Cost me £85 for a trip to London for an interview, that was a bit steep. Also paid £127 to get three adults and a child to London and back, that smarted a bit.

I have perfected the art of "up'd vertical bike marching through the platform shouting 'scoosee 'scoosee".

After that, the inevitable distress of watching hybrids & tourers dangling on their rear wheel clattering sheit into mine.arg.

Still, everyone should try popping one in a box on a national bus service once in life....

If you're doing a long journey, it's always best to book in advance - some real bargains to be had, eg Manchester to Tamworth for £6.

Really? How on earth do you manage that? I do that exact journey quite a lot and always pay about £38 😡

We used to arrive at the station 5 mins early with a sheet, some rope, a set of toe straps and a 5mm allen key. Wheels off, saddle off and strapped to seat tube, bars off and strapped to top tube, wheels strapped to frame then the whole thing wrapped in a sheet. Bike? What bike? It's just luggage.

Worked every time too.