£70 return to the big smoke

The start of the working year brought with it the seasonal hikes in train fares. Over the past few years a return from my local mainline station Oxenholme to London Euston on the Virgin West Coast mainline has been rising through the 60s of pounds and as of Tuesday has broken through the £70 mark for a saver return. It's a 400 km journey taking 3 hours.

This struck me as a touch steep, so I set out to compare the price with other European countries. As a benchmark I'm using travelling on a Friday afternoon and back on a Monday afternoon which is a common weekend away option and likely to avoid rush hour periods.

First off we go to France with their wonderful high speed rail network. Let's start with an unfair comparison, that of time. From Paris to Marseille it takes a little over 3 hrs but covers 750 km. The standard price outbound is £68, and return £56 as this is classed as off-peak for some reason, making a £124 total. The return costs more than what I would pay, but the single costs a similar amount or less than the saver single for my route at £68. In addition discovery fares are offered by SNCF which are designed for a stay in the destination over a Saturday night. Using these fares brings the price down to £51 out and £42 back; £93 in total. More expensive, but covering getting on for twice the distance without costing anywhere near twice as much.

Time for a fairer comparison. Paris to Limoges is exactly 400 km as with my own route and also takes around 3 hours. The train is standard, not a TGV and costs either £31.50 or £35.50 each way, for a total from £63 to £71. These are comparable to the fares I'm facing on my route to London. The Discovery fare costs either £24 or £27 for a £48 or £54 total; considerably cheaper than my fares. It should be noted that the discovery fares were available from all services whereas cheap Virgin Value fares are much harder to come by.
(Source: raileurope.co.uk)

Next to Germany. Hamburg to Fulda (on the mainline to Munich) is 418 km, takes just over three hours by high-speed ICE train and costs €78 each way (£52) for a total of €156 (£105), although a return fare is offered for the same price for the single but not available for the sample dates I used. Going by the standard fare the price is cheaper for a single but a good deal more expensive for a return.

A second German comparison, this time with standard InterCity services between Frankfurt and Plattling (on the Passau mainline), some 404 km apart and a journey time of around 3 hours 40, costing €63 (£42) each way for a €126 (£84) return price. In this instance cheap return fares were available, making the return €63 (£42) in total.
(Source: deutsche-bahn.co.uk)

Finally to Sweden. Stockholm to Alingsas (on the mainline to Gothenburg) is 410 km. By high-speed X2000 train this takes 2 hours 35 minutes and costs 900 SEK (£67) for a standard ticket or 600 SEK (£44) for an advance purchase out, and 958 SEK (£71) standard and 538 SEK (£40) advance back, making a total of 1858 SEK (£138) standard and 1138 SEK (£84) advance return. Only the advance single works out cheaper than my route to London.

When comparing the Swedish Intercity trains on the same route the story is different. The distance is the same at 410 km but now takes 4 hours 25 minutes and costs 445 SEK (£33) both outbound and back, making a total of 890 SEK (£66). For the sample dates an advance price was only available for one return train, of 378 SEK (£28). Going by the standard prices the single fares are much cheaper whereas the return fares are very similar to my route to London, but a good deal slower.
(Source: sj.se)

What conclusions to draw from all of this? The main point has to the ridiculous pricing of single fares on many routes in the UK which cost only very slightly less (and on occasion a little more) than the return price. I can't see any reason for this other than encouraging travellers to make a return on the same route. However for those having to make a one-way journey the price is something of a rip-off.

If simply sticking to a comparison of return journeys then the price I'm paying doesn't compare too unfavourably with our brothers abroad in many instances. It's tricky to know where to place the Virgin West Coast trains as the journey time is generally slower than the high speed trains on the continent but quicker than their InterCity trains. There's also the complex issue of advance and discount fares which all have differing availabilities and conditions attached.

I had been expecting to discover that I was being ripped off compared to the continent, but this isn't the case, which is something. The situation might be different if I had to commute on the horrendously priced 'Standard Open' tickets, but for general travel we seem to be doing ok.