Train Today - a real life experience
Discussion
Have work night out tonight in Londonshire - had a good (??) idea - i'll get train into work so i can have a beer.
Usual car journey = set off at 7am ish from South of Guildford, work for 8:45-9:00 - 57 miles....cost = 5 quid in the Euro Box - warm, happy and having laughed at Wogan/Moyles for entire journey.
Train journey = set off (walking) at 06:20 - get to train station at 06:35. Pay £30!!! for a return ticket to Waterloo...........
06:40 train cancelled......brilliant
07:01 train late - board train at 07:10.....no seats - standing for 1 hour cramped with lots of other peasants (i'm assuming peasants as must not be able to afford a car - why else would anyone put themselves through this torture daily).
Get to Waterloo sometime after 8am - i'm genuinely feeling too ill to look at the time on my watch so can't be sure.
Walk for ten minutes in a crowded sewer with many people, all standing on my feet.
Board tube A - standing again, cramped get out two stops later
Walk through sewer for another ten minutes - board tube B - standing again, cramped -
7 or 8 (i forget due to the motion sickness) evil stops later i get out - and then have another 10 minute walk to escape from sewer. Cost of journey another 2 quid.
So in total it cost me over 6 times as much, took longer and was a million times more unpleasant.
I will kill myself if i have to do that again - tonight i shall be getting a taxi back from London, and i'll never get the peasant wagon again.
Carry on.......
Usual car journey = set off at 7am ish from South of Guildford, work for 8:45-9:00 - 57 miles....cost = 5 quid in the Euro Box - warm, happy and having laughed at Wogan/Moyles for entire journey.
Train journey = set off (walking) at 06:20 - get to train station at 06:35. Pay £30!!! for a return ticket to Waterloo...........
06:40 train cancelled......brilliant
07:01 train late - board train at 07:10.....no seats - standing for 1 hour cramped with lots of other peasants (i'm assuming peasants as must not be able to afford a car - why else would anyone put themselves through this torture daily).
Get to Waterloo sometime after 8am - i'm genuinely feeling too ill to look at the time on my watch so can't be sure.
Walk for ten minutes in a crowded sewer with many people, all standing on my feet.
Board tube A - standing again, cramped get out two stops later
Walk through sewer for another ten minutes - board tube B - standing again, cramped -
7 or 8 (i forget due to the motion sickness) evil stops later i get out - and then have another 10 minute walk to escape from sewer. Cost of journey another 2 quid.
So in total it cost me over 6 times as much, took longer and was a million times more unpleasant.
I will kill myself if i have to do that again - tonight i shall be getting a taxi back from London, and i'll never get the peasant wagon again.
Carry on.......
Correct Change said:
I travel by train, 7.40am from a rural station, 40 minutes into Carlisle. In 3 months it's yet to be late in the morning once. Always get a table seat.
It costs me £21.80 per week for unlimited use.
It's cheaper than driving, assuming I could drive, that is.
I've never been to Carlisle - but I suspect it's slightly different to London...It costs me £21.80 per week for unlimited use.
It's cheaper than driving, assuming I could drive, that is.
RacerMDR said:
i often stay in hotels - 60 quid a night is very reasonable in this context! - but i have to get back tonight as i'm expecting delivery 1st thing tomorrow.
Bummer.I, too, am sick of 'public transport' being less comfortable, less convenient, and more expensive than driving. Where's our 'viable alternative' to encourage us to drive less!?!
A single bus fare from my village to my local town costs considerably more than driving my 2.5tonne Landcruiser there and back again - and included in the price per mile I used to calculate this is: Fuel, insurance, servicing, and tax. Unbelievable.
Puggit said:
Correct Change said:
I travel by train, 7.40am from a rural station, 40 minutes into Carlisle. In 3 months it's yet to be late in the morning once. Always get a table seat.
It costs me £21.80 per week for unlimited use.
It's cheaper than driving, assuming I could drive, that is.
I've never been to Carlisle - but I suspect it's slightly different to London...It costs me £21.80 per week for unlimited use.
It's cheaper than driving, assuming I could drive, that is.
Of course you're not taking into account the cost of insurance, depreciation, maintenance, parking, tax etc.
Given the choice between car and train to work I'd rather travel by train, even despite the conditions. Admittedly this is mainly because I can have a few beers after work but I also get less stressed on the train than I do being in traffic, and I'd rather read a book on the way to work than listen to the radio.
Also, as I don't actually drive to work I find that when I actually do drive somewhere it's a lot more enjoyable.
Having said all that, I normally cycle to work anyway
Given the choice between car and train to work I'd rather travel by train, even despite the conditions. Admittedly this is mainly because I can have a few beers after work but I also get less stressed on the train than I do being in traffic, and I'd rather read a book on the way to work than listen to the radio.
Also, as I don't actually drive to work I find that when I actually do drive somewhere it's a lot more enjoyable.
Having said all that, I normally cycle to work anyway
I'd have similar (c 10-15ish miles shorter) journey to RacerMDR - costs c£29 via train/tube.
Another office I go to is round the M25 and about 80-90% the distance of the journey into London - this costs about £10-11.
Bloody thieves.
Unsuprisingly I prefer the low cost/high convenience of my motorbike instead
Another office I go to is round the M25 and about 80-90% the distance of the journey into London - this costs about £10-11.
Bloody thieves.
Unsuprisingly I prefer the low cost/high convenience of my motorbike instead
On the other hand though, my journey from Tonbridge in Kent to the City took and hour door-to-door including about 15 minutes of walking. The train was comfortable and on time and I got to read the paper.
No way could I drive to the City that quickly and by the time I'd paid the congestion charge and parking fees and it would cost loads more too. Reading the paper might prove tricky too.
No way could I drive to the City that quickly and by the time I'd paid the congestion charge and parking fees and it would cost loads more too. Reading the paper might prove tricky too.
I've done the sums. See my previous post. Applies to train journeys also - and I get a discount!So you have a crap rail link. If I were to drive it would take me around 2 hours, and I'd have to pay both the congestion charge and 10 hours worth of parking.
I get the train (which costs £41.50 for a week of unlimited travel), which is 5 minutes walk from my flat, I can choose from around 6-7 trains an hour, I get a seat and it takes 45 minutes to the office.
Horses for courses and all that.
ETA: You should probably be grateful that not every 'peasant' who was on that train each took their car into London, as I imagine your journey would become slightly less utopian with a few thousand more cars heading the same way as you.
I get the train (which costs £41.50 for a week of unlimited travel), which is 5 minutes walk from my flat, I can choose from around 6-7 trains an hour, I get a seat and it takes 45 minutes to the office.
Horses for courses and all that.
ETA: You should probably be grateful that not every 'peasant' who was on that train each took their car into London, as I imagine your journey would become slightly less utopian with a few thousand more cars heading the same way as you.
Edited by Neil_H on Thursday 30th October 10:16
You cant always be certain the journey by car is going to be on-time! I've been using trains into London for almost nine years. Its not hell on earth. There are days when you get big delays but for me anyway, they are definitely infrequent. Is it fair to slate an entire service on the basis of one journey?
Commuting from Sevenoaks to Euston.
£1,800 p.a. unlimited use of trains, tubes and buses in London. One and a half hours door to door.
Always get a seat on the train in the morning, 99% of the time in the evening. Got pretty reliable over the last few years.
Been doing it for 10 years.
Seems pretty good to me.
£1,800 p.a. unlimited use of trains, tubes and buses in London. One and a half hours door to door.
Always get a seat on the train in the morning, 99% of the time in the evening. Got pretty reliable over the last few years.
Been doing it for 10 years.
Seems pretty good to me.
RacerMDR said:
5 quid in the Euro Box
£30!!! for a return ticket to Waterloo...
Whilst I primarily agree with you about the horrors of the daily London commute you do appear to have omitted both the congestion charge and London parking charges which would alter the 6:1 cost ratio above somewhat.£30!!! for a return ticket to Waterloo...
I also assume your 57 mile car journey is for the round trip? If not, where can I buy one of these cars that does 100+ miles in stop/start commuting traffic for a fiver?
Edited by OzzyR1 on Thursday 30th October 10:26
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