Rail Travel
 

On another web site, some one was complaing about rail travel, the cost of fares, and the variations in prices, compared with coach travel. Perhaps Graham Jones could make enquiries.
I posted this.
I don't travel by train or bus, but what gets me about trains, is how can a carriage attached to a train, all going to the same destination have so many different prices, can the idiots not calculate cost of running the dammed things, divide by number of seats available, add a reasonable profit margin & make that the cost of of a seat fair for every one. I know some people have travel cards, wife has one, and she gets a reduced fare, but somebody makes that up to full fare surely.
Retlaw

Re: Rail Travel
 

Groove understands that if you book a train ticket well in advance, especially on cross-country routes, you get a cheaper ticket than just turning up and getting a ticket on the day of travel. Groove does'nt know the reasoning behind this, as a train seat is a train seat regardless of when that seat is paid for.

Re: Rail Travel
 

A few years ago- 4/5 i think, enquired about train tickets to Norwich, about 6 months in advance, the price i was quoted was MORE than i had just paid a few days earlier fer flights to Malaga. so seems yeh can only get cheap uns early if yer going to places like London, which i did the year before that.:rolleyes:

Re: Rail Travel
 

i used to travel every weekend and pre-booked through virgin saved me hundreds, if we want cheap and relliable railways its back to national railways, yes nationalise its better than subsidising private shareholding companies where billions have been frittered away and made a lot people rich instead of investing back in the railways

Re: Rail Travel
 

we do a lot of traveling by train and for me it's always cheaper to buy an annual railcard, i save a fortune

Re: Rail Travel
 

The simple answer to Retlaw's question is that the train operators use differential pricing in order to get bums on seats during the relatively quiet periods of late morning/afternoon/late evening.

I'll give you a little tip, however. If you want to save money travelling from Accy to the south, then don't start your train journey from Accy - get on the bus to Manchester & go from Piccadilly. The overall travel time is slightly longer, but three trains an hour run from Manchester as against one from Preston (usually 3/4 full when it gets in). You'll get much lower prices starting from Manchester (check the websites); you'll also get a better seat.

The same goes for coaches - don't set off on one of the 3 daily coaches from Accy to London. Go to Manchester and get on it there. You'll save lots of money and in this instance the overall journey is actually quicker.

Re: Rail Travel
 

from Manchester to London for me and Reece return with a railcard it's £59.50 + £7.15 return to Manchester (£66.65)

from Preston to London for me and Reece return with a railcard it's £63.15 + £4.25 return to Preston (£67.40)

all the way to Manchester to save 75p? i'll stick to Preston thanx Teabag, it's nearer

and before anyone asks, it's cheaper to get two tickets than get one straight through

Re: Rail Travel
 

Well, I don't have any kids to drag around with me. However, I travel far more regularly between London & Accy than you do and I have been doing so for the last 33 years so I suggest you check your numbers again. On top of which, I prefer to travel in a little bit of peace with a good seat rather than board the cattle trucks from Preston with hoards of little brats such as your own running up and down the aisles ruining the journey for everyone.

Re: Rail Travel
 

those prices where checked 5 minutes before i posted so stop being an arrogant wazzock and get YOUR facts right

and teabag, my son is 15, hardly a little brat who runs up and down the train, you really haven't a clue about the amount of traveling i do so until you do i suggest you shut your yap Mr

Re: Rail Travel
 

15? Even worse! No doubt some little plonker with his earphones on listening to some rap rubbish at full volume driving the rest of the carriage insane. We don't get that nonsense going in and out of Manchester, thank god.

Re: Rail Travel
 

you really should stay down south you know...permanantly

Re: Rail Travel
 

Who says I'm down south?

I could now be at the bottom of your street for all you know.

Re: Rail Travel
 

bring it on twinkle toes, would you like my phone number?

Re: Rail Travel
 

Innit good when you know everything.:rolleyes:

The £4.25 price to Preston is single, not return. Whilst true in some instances it's not cheaper to buy two tickets for this journey. Blackburn to London return for 1 adult, one child with a Friends and Family Railcard is £63.55, somewhat less expensive than flashy's (incorrect) price of £67.40.
Who's the wazzock now? 1 - 0 to Tealeaf methinks.:D

Re: Rail Travel
 

Try again

Re: Rail Travel
 

Back to the thread, sort of anyway, its much the same with air travel.
If you read this, but change Airlines with Train Companies, I think you might get the point.
If airlines sold paint
By Alan H. Hess. Originally published in Travel Weekly, October 1998. ==============================================
** Buying paint from a hardware store **

Customer: Hi, how much is your interior flat latex paint in Bone White? Clerk: We have a medium quality, which is $16 a gallon, and premium, which is $22 a gallon. How many gallons would you like?
Customer: I'll take five gallons of the medium quality, please.
Clerk: That will be $80 plus tax. ==============================================
** Buying paint from an airline **

Customer: Hi, how much is your paint?
Clerk: Well, sir, that all depends.
Customer: Depends on what?
Clerk: Actually a lot of things.
Customer: How about giving me an average price?
Clerk: Wow, that's too hard a question. The lowest price is $9 a gallon, and we have 150 different prices up to $200 a gallon.
Customer: What's the difference in the paint?
Clerk: Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint.
Customer: Well, then, I'd like some of that $9 paint.
Clerk: Well, first I need to ask you a few questions. When do you intend to use it?
Customer: I want to paint tomorrow, on my day off.
Clerk: Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.
Customer: What? When would I have to paint in order to get the $9 version?
Clerk: That would be in three weeks, but you will also have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.
Customer: You've got to be kidding!
Clerk: Sir, we don't kid around here. Of course, I'll have to check to see if we have any of that paint available before I can sell it to you.
Customer: What do you mean check to see if you can sell it to me? You have shelves full of that stuff; I can see it right there.
Clerk: Just because you can see it doesn't mean that we have it. It may be the same paint, but we sell only a certain number of gallons on any given week. Oh, and by the way, the price just went to $12.
Customer: You mean the price went up while we were talking?
Clerk: Yes, sir. You see, we change prices and rules thousands of times a day, and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. Unless you want the same thing to happen again, I would suggest that you get on with your purchase. How many gallons do you want?
Customer: I don't know exactly. Maybe five gallons. Maybe I should buy six gallons just to make sure I have enough.
Clerk: Oh, no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy the paint and then don't use it, you will be liable for penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.
Customer: What?
Clerk: That's right. We can sell you enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall, and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will violation of our tariffs.
Customer: But what does it mater to your whether I use all the paint? I already paid for it!
Clerk: Sir, there's no point in getting upset; that's just the way it is. We make plans upon the idea that you will use all the paint, and when you don't, it just causes us all kinds of problems.
Customer: This is crazy! I suppose something terrible will happen if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night!
Clerk: Yes, sir, it will.
Customer: Well, that does it! I'm going somewhere else to buy my paint. Clerk: That won't do you any good, sir. We all have the same rules.