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Looking at prices, the chunnel car shuttle seems to be $200 for a 50 mile trip. If a regular American car was driving this distance it would cost about $10 in g
by RandomCitizen12 2y ago
Looking at prices, the chunnel car shuttle seems to be $200 for a 50 mile trip. If a regular American car was driving this distance it would cost about $10 in gas.
I don't see this catching on for links between cities.
- pxndxx 2y agothe chunnel goes _under the sea_ for 30 miles.
- RandomCitizen12 2y agoYes. But most of the cost of the ticket will be operating expenses for the train and associated service. The cost of building under a body of water, which is large, does not make most of the ticket price difference.
- Symbiote 2y agoThe cost of the Channel Tunnel (by car) is determined by what the market will sustain: the only alternative to move a vehicle is a ferry. The train is a bit faster. A more realistic comparison is something like Villach in Austria to Edirne in Turkey, which is 1400km by road, and €259 one-way for a car plus €149 for one person (https://www.seat61.com/motorail-trains.htm https://www.seat61.com/motorail-trains.htm).
- RandomCitizen12 2y agoFor comparison, math for the Villach to Edirne trip comes up with USD 158 in gas for the average US car mileage and gas price for 1400km, versus USD 443 for the car + person tickets.
- abenga 2y agoI'd gladly pay 300 dollars not to drive 1400km. Once or twice a year, I drive 320km, and I think about twice that (to and fro) is the limit of what I am reasonably willing to drive over a couple of days.
- yurishimo 2y agoThose are rookie numbers. I used to drive 100km for dinner sometimes or to visit friends on a Saturday afternoon. This is in a major US metro.
- dzhiurgis 2y agoDriving 100km on a straight highway with driver assist is nothing. Driving 100km on a nauseating mountain serpentine can easily take 2-3x longer. But yeah, 300 dollars in Turkey is a lot of money that most people will be willing to save.
- devilbunny 2y agoDepends on the roads, obviously, but my limit is around 12 hours a day, however far that gets you. I’ve driven 680 km each way on interstates to my in-laws’ home. There on Friday, back on Sunday. Had to drive because I was bringing gifts, way too much for air travel. And to most Americans, that’s not a particularly long drive. It’s all a matter of what you’re used to. I’ve done 4800 km in eight days and didn’t do anything but local driving on three of those days. That’s a bit more than Madrid to Berlin and back. It’s a lot of driving, but it’s definitely doable even if you’re not twenty years old.
- Symbiote 2y agoMadrid to Berlin is not comparable to the same distance across the USA. The population density means the roads are much busier and have many more junctions etc.
- devilbunny 2y agoI take it you’ve not driven from Boston to Miami and back.
- Symbiote 2y agoWith the average EU consumption (6.0L/100km) and the average price (€1.59) it's €133. (Though for a journey this long people with multiple cars would probably be taking the larger one.) The train costs more, but means families can play with their children (around a table) rather than having them stuck in the back seats for hours, and probably part or all of the journey is overnight.
- b112 2y agoYes, it does. It does to recoup costs, even decades later, and it does so because the alternative is a ferry, and so they can charge this price. Also a lot of the cost is load/unload time.