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Price is also a factor. In the UK it is often faster take the train on some routes than driving it, but the price is often absurd. For the cost of a tank/half

Price is also a factor. In the UK it is often faster take the train on some routes than driving it, but the price is often absurd. For the cost of a tank/half a tank of petrol (£20-50) Vs potentially hundreds for a train ticket. E.g. London to Newcastle is about 280miles. By train I just got quotes for £320 return tickets. I could get there and back in perhaps 1.5 tanks of petrol (approx £60-70) in my hybrid, but will take about an 30mins longer by car (4 hours Vs 4.5 hours) Thanks but no thanks.

sixothree 5y ago
From my experience (not recent), Amtrak is barely competitive with flying.
- murderfs 5y ago
  Comparing it now, it looks like it's only competitive if your time is completely worthless. A nonstop flight from Seattle to SFO or SJC is $50, and is ~2 hours plus whatever time it takes to go through security. Via Amtrak, it looks like the best case scenario is $57 for a ride that takes longer than 24 hours?!
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    $50 is a depressed rate.
jdavis703 5y ago
Isn’t parking in London going to be really expensive though (I could be wrong, I’ve never driven in London)?
pasture 5y ago
What tickets were you looking at? I've had a look and booking a train for 14th Sept 18:00 (Kings X - Newcastle) with a return the next day at the same time, costs £112.60 (£74.25 with a railcard). That brings it a lot closer to the petrol price, but also gives you the advantage of not having to bother concentrating on the road and finding a place to park.
- mattlondon 5y ago
  11:27 Mon 6th £316.50 return.
  - pmyteh 5y ago
    You shouldn't be paying that. The highest price flexible tickets in standard class (£169 each way) are only needed if you're traveling in the peak, which in the morning leaving London stops at 9:06am. So you should be paying the super offpeak fare for that journey (£76.20 each way). There are also sometimes fixed-time Advance single tickets from £20 or so upwards, though nothing on Monday. That having been said, the British railway ticketing system is crazily complicated, and getting a ticket at a sane price is not at all straightforward. Fares can be restricted by route, by operating company, by class, by flexibility, by validity length, and by departure or arrival time. There are 113 different fares listed from London to Newcastle, most of which will not be available for any given departure[0]. You can also do fun(?) things by using a combination of tickets to and from intermediate stations[1], which on some journeys can save guineas. [0]: https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=KGX&dest=NCL https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=KGX&dest=NCL [1]: https://split.traintimes.org.uk https://split.traintimes.org.uk
- elicash 5y ago
  Whether you're alone or with a family has big impact on train/car price comparisons.

sixothree 5y ago

From my experience (not recent), Amtrak is barely competitive with flying.

murderfs 5y ago
Comparing it now, it looks like it's only competitive if your time is completely worthless. A nonstop flight from Seattle to SFO or SJC is $50, and is ~2 hours plus whatever time it takes to go through security. Via Amtrak, it looks like the best case scenario is $57 for a ride that takes longer than 24 hours?!
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  $50 is a depressed rate.

jdavis703 5y ago

Isn’t parking in London going to be really expensive though (I could be wrong, I’ve never driven in London)?

pasture 5y ago

What tickets were you looking at? I've had a look and booking a train for 14th Sept 18:00 (Kings X - Newcastle) with a return the next day at the same time, costs £112.60 (£74.25 with a railcard). That brings it a lot closer to the petrol price, but also gives you the advantage of not having to bother concentrating on the road and finding a place to park.

mattlondon 5y ago
11:27 Mon 6th £316.50 return.
- pmyteh 5y ago
  You shouldn't be paying that. The highest price flexible tickets in standard class (£169 each way) are only needed if you're traveling in the peak, which in the morning leaving London stops at 9:06am. So you should be paying the super offpeak fare for that journey (£76.20 each way). There are also sometimes fixed-time Advance single tickets from £20 or so upwards, though nothing on Monday. That having been said, the British railway ticketing system is crazily complicated, and getting a ticket at a sane price is not at all straightforward. Fares can be restricted by route, by operating company, by class, by flexibility, by validity length, and by departure or arrival time. There are 113 different fares listed from London to Newcastle, most of which will not be available for any given departure[0]. You can also do fun(?) things by using a combination of tickets to and from intermediate stations[1], which on some journeys can save guineas. [0]: https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=KGX&dest=NCL https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=KGX&dest=NCL [1]: https://split.traintimes.org.uk https://split.traintimes.org.uk
elicash 5y ago
Whether you're alone or with a family has big impact on train/car price comparisons.