mattie
missing in inaction
Because the economic benefit goes beyond mere gate receipts, but that would be the only income a private company would receive.
This is the way forward with rail transport
- Thread starter T & P
- Start date
Because the economic benefit goes beyond mere gate receipts, but that would be the only income a private company would receive.
Such as what - increasing property values in towns that become more easily commutable? Allowing Edinburghers and weegies to have easier access to week-ends away in Lunnun (and therefore spending less in Edinburgh/Glasgow)?
mattie
missing in inaction
Getting people to work is quite useful in most places.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
True.
My wife and I sat down a few weeks ago to work out the cost/time differences between taking the train to Berlin and flying there. Cost including cab to the airport and a standard (non-chartered) flight was £300-320 (depending on carrier, and including travel (cab and flight) and check-in/clearance times, was about 10 hours, cost of train including cab-fare was around £230-250, and (with check-ins, travel, train-change and cab times) about 14 hours. Legroom etc on the train standard class turns out to be better than a standard class non-charter air carrier too.
Me, I'm happy to take 4 hours longer when it means so much less hassle and so much more comfort.
Mes apologies - and there's me thinking that this thread was all about investing in long-distance high speed rail links............
No mention of commuting there.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
I'm just saying there's a comparison to be made - enabling people to move around benefits the economy. Rail is more sustainable than road or plane in the long run - as oil prices go up and up, the more efficient means of travel will be more attractive. Especially if we go nuclear and electric trains.
mattie
missing in inaction
So, high-speed intercity is just for holidays then? That's Eurostar's core business?
There will be many excellent consequences of a UK that is interconnected with easy, hi-speed rail links.
I think one of the biggest would be to reduce the prominance of London, and to allow other regional centres to really take off in national and international business. That, in turn, would massively relieve the housing pressures in the South East, and encourage a geographically more diverse economy.
Please, please can the silly buggers in govt do something right, at least just this once?
I think one of the biggest would be to reduce the prominance of London, and to allow other regional centres to really take off in national and international business. That, in turn, would massively relieve the housing pressures in the South East, and encourage a geographically more diverse economy.
Please, please can the silly buggers in govt do something right, at least just this once?
George & Bill
semiotically superfluous
And what, then, is the full-fare airfare from, say, London to Edinburgh?
if you want to fly today, BA will charge you between £110 and £236, depending on which flight you take.
Not bad - the Rail open single is £175. All the way up to the last train at 19:00.
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Cobbles nonsense as usual.
£126 for an open single, any train, any time. (As agricola says)
And £127 for a saver return (also a walk-up fare) which will be valid for any train unless you are arriving or leaving London in the morning rush hour. And the return valid any day for a month after.
It's £175 First class - I don't do cattle trucks.
So you only fly first class?Fares for that, please.
BMI's about £240 but they appear to have gone over to planes with real business class up at the front - there's not much point in the 300 way adjustment and 11" video screen on an hour's flight but it is very comfortable.
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
Perhaps you should have said that at the start, then.
editor
hiraethified
Yep.
By the way, I travelled to Edinburgh first class a while ago. Cost me £66 return if I recall. Delightful journey, beautiful scenery and the train dropped me off right in the heart of the city.
George & Bill
semiotically superfluous
George & Bill
semiotically superfluous
George & Bill
semiotically superfluous
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George & Bill
semiotically superfluous
Yes, it's a fantastic journey, isn't it? And it only gets better if you carry on up the coast to Aberdeen.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
There are two services on offer; the direct one that takes 2h35m (though apparently many trains arrive 5 minutes early making it a nice 2h30m) and a service stopping in 3 cities along the way. The latter takes, around 3h20m. There appear to be more services of the latter than the former at present.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
The website is a bit shite and user unfriendly I have to say. I'm not sure, but I think if you click on a service that shows the promo fare, this will be applied automatically (it'd be bonkers otherwise).
The journey times change depending on the time of the day as well. The non stop service does indeed vary from 2:35 to 2:45 + from one to another.
The journey times change depending on the time of the day as well. The non stop service does indeed vary from 2:35 to 2:45 + from one to another.
Christian Wolmar's last book, Fire and Steam, is a short history of the railways and has just come out in paperback. It's quite light, but Wolmar knows his stuff and it's a good summary. The chapter on BR is disappointingly brief but one of his other books, On the Wrong Line (2005), gives more detail.
Not the most balanced account, no, but well worth a read IMO. Philip Bagwell and Peter Lyth's Transport in Britain 1750-2000: From Canal Lock to Gridlock is also good, although it's not solely about the railways.
