Travel rant...

TheStub

TheStub

Active Member
#1
Thread starter #1
Right. I live in Scunthorpe, but I am from Llanelli. So, I want to go home quite regularly to do the normal things - visit friends and family, breath in Welsh air, catch Devils games.

Now, it is a 6+ hour drive, once you factor in the fuel stops. 350 miles, in my car it is a tank down, tank back, give or take the visiting. 45 litre tank, probably not short of £100 on petrol plus whatever the wear and tear on the car is.

Now, going by train takes 6.5 hours. But is £110 per person!!! I mean, what the hell?? That is double (with girlfriend in car) what it costs to drive. DOUBLE!!!

If it came in at the same cost, I would be hoping around to see my parents more often - 6 hours behind the wheel is a bit of a put off, so seem to not make it home as often as I would like.

Stupid bloody train companies - when will they learn that people will drive if it is cheaper too. With fuel cost where they have been, it is still cheaper. We should nationalise it, and have done with it. At least then, when the service is crap, we can blame the government and idiots aren't getting rich off us.
 
TheStub

TheStub

Active Member
#3
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National Express is 9 hours, and costs the same as driving - if I get the cheapest ticket.

Then I have to get from Swansea to Llanelli (well Llangennech) and that is another hour on a bus - or a 25 quid taxi.

What gets me, the environmental lobby and the government harp on about using public transport. I actually WANT to use public transport. But, coaches take hours longer and cost the same as driving, and trains are comfortable and equal in time - but cost an arm and a leg.

I could afford to go by train, if I really was pushed to - but the car makes me the master of my journey. For less money.
 
TheStub

TheStub

Active Member
#4
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The really stupid one - I live an hours and a bit from Nottingham. In the car.

It is 2 and a half hours by train, and cost 27 quid return each.

The coach takes the same time (2.5 hours), but again probably comes in the same as driving. Half a tank of fuel - 35 quid(ish)

Am I unreasonable in wanting public transport to actually work??
 
I

Iceraider

Member
#5
#5
it's insane when you think you could fly to Florida in the same time and for a similar price as it would cost you to get the train to watch the Devils! That just crazy!

One thing worth bearing in mind with National Express is they often do really cheap last minute fares if they have seats not booked. They are a lot cheaper but not ideal if you are planning a weekend in advance.
 
TheStub

TheStub

Active Member
#6
Thread starter #6
To be honest, it was more of a rant than looking to solve things. I regularly check the prices to get home. Once I did it for 13 quid each way - but they don't do those tickets any more. Plus - you had to book months in advance.

One day, someone will realise that trains and buses are a public service, and they should be quick, clean, frequent and cheap. Like the Europeans have.

The train companies may actually make money then.

I would love to go to the hockey by train, either now or back when I was in Wales. It must be nice to drink at the rink. But, the last train home is always so early that it would mean leaving before the end of the match - and once home there are no buses to get me from the station to my house (again too late). So taxi, or stay sober and drive.

I only drink at the playoffs, as I don't have to go home until the Monday :lol:
 
Cookies_naughtyboy

Cookies_naughtyboy

New Member
#7
#7
it used to be £18 return to get from Wolverhampton to Cardiff and now it is £33, it has gone up so much and thats just the bus price, i use a lot of public transport and the prices are just rediculous.

it takes 4 and half hours by the bus and 2 and half by the train and i think a train was £55 the last time i priced it, but in a car my dad can do it in just over 2 hours and it will cost £40 in petrol,

so i save like £5 by the time i pay for a bus home from station to travel an extra 2 hours, i would rather pay the £5 to get there quicker.
 
Finny

Finny

Well-Known Member
#8
#8
National Express are the scum of the earth and I will never use them again.

Stub - what site do you use for booking your train tickets? Some sites offer cheaper tickets that others don't show, whilst reward sites can give you cashback.

I remember when we booked trains to London last year, some websites would only give us prices for Standard Return.
Where as another site let us book two singles in First Class which were cheaper than what we had originally be quoted.

But yes - Public Transport is rubbish and a ripoff compared to the rest of europe.
 
TheStub

TheStub

Active Member
#9
Thread starter #9
NationalRail, theTravelLine, MegaTrain, the regional operators websites.

I've played about with them all.

I'm not looking to book at the moment, but it annoys me. I'm coming down in May to see my parents etc, but the train is way too expensive.

Mind you, even if it wasn't my parents live in a little village with poor bus links etc - and most my friends live in equally small, isolate villages (try getting to Kidwelly or Pontaberem by bus :lol:) - so car is probably required anyway. But I have been know to borrow cars.

My sister has a soft top :D
 
MikeRichards18

MikeRichards18

Member
#10
#10
man...to live in england and be welsh...that must suck :lol:
6 hours is a long trip and i understand wanting to use public transport but damn, from what you've said its a lot of money!
 
TheStub

TheStub

Active Member
#11
Thread starter #11
You're telling me - took three months to slow my speech down enough so they could actually understand me. Still, if I spend any time home/talking to a Welsh friend I am back up to speed and have to bring myself back down to the 'English' speed.

Strange people. Around here they call roundabouts 'circles'.

It would be nice to get the train. Less stress. But I am car bound until they sort out charging reasonable prices for them.

Mind you, at the moment it is passenger seat all the way - can't drive with a cast on my right leg :lol:
 
TheStub

TheStub

Active Member
#13
Thread starter #13
That is what girlfriends are for (at the moment anyway :lol:)

It is an alright drive really - quite straight forward. Used to do it every other weekend - when I first moved up I didn't miss a Devils home game :lol:

Now I own my house, and have a life and commitments up here - I don't get home some much.

When the cast is off, that is going to change. I am going to go back to keeping a bag packed, and if it looks like being a nice weekend I am going to get in the car and head home, and to the beach :lol:
 
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