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Britons 'priced off railways' by Europe's most expensive fares
Jonathan Prynn and Nick Goodway19 Aug 2009
Britain has the most expensive train journeys in the world with fares more than twice the European average.
A 125-mile train trip such as London to Liverpool costs £54.39 second class compared with £40.41 in Germany, the second most expensive country for rail travel, according to research by investment bank UBS.
The findings come the day after it emerged that up to half of rail tickets will fall by 0.4 per cent in the new year because they are linked to the Retail Prices Index.
However, transport campaigners said the slight dip in peak-time fares were insignificant and passengers will still be priced off the railways.
Cat Hobbs of the Campaign for Better Transport said: "It's completely outrageous. We've done research that shows that if rail fares were reduced to the European average, train use would increase by 17 per cent.
"There are lots of people who want to travel on the trains, who realise it's a greener option who just can't afford it."
The research shows that British fares are far more expensive than those in many comparable European countries. For a similar journey from Paris the average is £30.11, while from Rome it is £18.94.
Overall, British train operators charge 3.4 times the global average, according to UBS.
However, the research also found that London has temporarily shed its reputation as one of the world's most expensive cities to live in or visit.
London dropped from the world's second most expensive city in 2006 to 21st this spring after a 25 per cent fall in the value of the pound against other major currencies. However, the strengthening of sterling since then means London has now climbed back up to fifth place.
UBS also looked at how long it takes a Londoner to earn enough to buy certain global "consumer commodities."
The average London worker makes enough in 13 minutes to buy a Big Mac. A New Yorker takes one minute longer, a Parisian needs to work for 20 minutes but an employee in the Polish capital Warsaw would have to work for just over half an hour. But that is nothing compared with Nairobi where the Big Mac requires two hours and 38 minutes of labour.
To pay for an iPod Nano a Londoner needs to work for 11 hours compared with nine hours for counterparts in Zurich or New York.
In Paris and Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, it takes 15 hours while in Mumbai a worker would have to put in nearly 20 nine-hour days (177 hours) or a month's wages to afford an iPod Nano.
Reader views (16)
Isn't the 'Campaign for Better Transport' funded by rail companies and rail unions, which might affect the objectivity of some of the comments made?
From the dirty diesel trains I've seen, and the carcinogenic smoke they belch out in stations, I wouldn't say rail is a particularly green form of travel.
- Jools, London, 24/08/2009 16:55
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The poor state of the railway reflects the total disconnection between politicians and the public. The dogma of 'The British way' is best when clearly it isn't continues apace. A surreal industry exists of consultations and endless proposals for improvement but what do we get ? Tart up jobs of trains and stations [on the chaeap] and endless CCTV surveilance !
- Notabanker, london, 24/08/2009 10:17
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Public transport will never work in england, its not seen as a service for the people. Profit is the name of the game and until they adopt a european way of thinking we will have more and more cars on the roads with the resulting traffic jams.
- Barbus, Liverpool, 20/08/2009 00:14
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Come on people. In any scenario, you consider a few theories, research the facts, test them, and after narrowing it all down, make your speech.
Here is mine:
Not to sound too obvious, but it really is all about oil. Period.
a) Just before the war in Iraq, BP gave TB £3m (it was in the press, no conspiracy).
b) We went to war. Surprise!
c) Our troops put a lot of time into defending Basra and other locations with an oil connection.
d) Oil companies are hurting/concerned due to the gradual arrival of 'peak oil', where cost of extraction is getting higher and prices are falling.
e) Because current businesses are structured such that growth is essential, companies that have yet to create a new product category to sustain themselves, (IE, horses to cars / oil to renewables etc), they will do anything to maintain shareholder income. Anything.
So, as per the US a few decades ago, any transport system that uses less fuel will be managed such that it is constantly in a state of consumer unfriendly chaos (UK trains today), while the automobile is cleverly 'managed' such that it continues to sup fuel aplenty. I will give just one example: In Oxford (UK), in September 2009, a 20MPH speed limit is being introduced citywide. Driving at such a speed is not only very difficult, but the fuel consumption* and pollution levels will be significantly more than at 30MPH or so - and not, it really isn't anything to do with saving lives.
*55MPH is optimum for max fuel efficiency, as the Americans
- Oflife, London, 19/08/2009 23:57
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who cares what they cost if you live in Paris you just laugh it's so hilarious!
The trains to bristol have been given new interiors, seats etc but in essence are still dirty, smelly old diesels which go about 40% slower than proper high speed trains in proper countries. And now 20% ticket prices.
Nothing would give me more pleasure than driving a JCB into Swindon or Bristol starion straight through the ticket office and the barriers
UK PASSENGERS ? CUSTOMERS? NO VICTIMS OF CRINE U ARE BEING ROBBED
- Jules, Paris, France, 19/08/2009 22:10
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I never go on a train as I always have my family with me, therefore it would be 3 fares. Thank god I don't work in London and have to commute every day. It is obscene that in order to earn money, to get to work you have to pay for your travel out of money which you have already paid tax on, but if you are self employed and have a vehicle which you use for your business, your travel to and from work is deductible (and road tax etc)and as is your pleasure/holiday fuel costs, the system is wrong.
- Jim Allan, Lake District, 19/08/2009 21:26
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I had to go from London to Newcastle two weeks ago. I knew the dates I was travelling, over two months before I travelled. I searched on National Express East Coast's website for a cheap return ticket and I was extremely flexible (I could have taken any train from 19:00 to 15:00 the next day). Despite being willing to book the journey ten weeks before the journey, and despite being willing to take one of many trains, the cheapest return I could get was over £100! I even searched for two singles. In the end, I decided to drive as it was half the price for me to use the car.
- Ross, London, UK, 19/08/2009 16:24
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Lower fares mean higher taxes. The UK had chronic underinvestment in rail for decades under public ownership, now it is catchup time and someone has to pay. Most people don't want more taxes to subsidise middle class commuters and businesspeople who are London based (most rail users are). Lower fares would mean MORE overcrowding, and less money to pay for more capacity. The truth is that at off peak times it is very cheap to travel, an advance one way fare London to Liverpool can start at £8. You wont get that in Europe.
UBS can hardly be expected to understand the transport market in any detail, being investment bankers not transport sector professionals.
- Libertyscott, London, 19/08/2009 16:22
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Unlike any other European country, our trains are dirty, toilets do not work, delays and risk of attacks are very regular. We also pay for the priviledge. Try complaining to a train company such as South Eastern and you will find that they have a standard answer to everything. For this we pay a lot of money. In fact when South Eastern increase their fares next year there will be too many people who have no choice but to travel by car as it actually works out cheaper! So much for the Green Policy by Labour.
- Jk, Kent, 19/08/2009 16:05
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No cheap weekend returns to the seaside any-more.
Oh for the days of our old Nationalized Railways.
Thank you Margaret Thatcher for selling them so cheap.
And shame on you Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, for not taking them back as cheaply as they were sold off for.
- Mickinlondon, london., 19/08/2009 15:51
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Referring to the last 4 paragraphs, I have always held (for more than 40 years) that this type of measure is the only valid one, based upon average take-home pay.
It all goes wrong when examples like iPodNano are used.
For a real cost of living comparison, stick to essentials:
Utilitarian shoes
Utilitarian soap
Utilitarian coat etc.
The cost of the daily average calorie intake to sustain life;
The cost of travelling 10 miles to work (back to the headline),
all equated to hours needed to work to attain comparable results.
- Bugs Man, Wolverhampton, 19/08/2009 15:49
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You cannot compare rail fares in the UK to Europe when the scope of subsidies is not even stated. In many European countries, both national and local Government contributes to railway use, which in turn allows lower fares and greater patronage.
Maybe there should be a report to establish what's so good about living in the South East, as there is nothing beneficial that appeals to me !
- Tom Watson, Leicester, 19/08/2009 15:43
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I couldn't agree more in respect of the cost of train fares. The management, i.e.my wife, wishes to travel to London with three of her friends, at the end of October returning early November. It is cheaper for me to drive them 50+ miles and back to Newcastle, catch the plane to Stanstead, and hire a car for the duration of their stay, than it is to travel by train. Surely that can't be right, can it?
- Alan, carlisle uk, 19/08/2009 15:27
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We were told fares would come down as a result of competition following privatisation. No one believed them. We were right. Bonuses to directors are so huge there is nothing left, despite their sucking up more in subsidy than British Rail ever did.
- Neil, London, London UK, 19/08/2009 15:14
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"We've done research that shows that if rail fares were reduced to the European average, train use would increase by 17 per cent. " The Campaign for Better Transport is missing the point entirely - the train system (especiallty in the S.East) is saturated and policy makers are trying to price us off trains (so that they can concentrate on pricing us off the roads too).
- Paul, London, 19/08/2009 15:08
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Gorden Bruun does not care he has a car with a driver.
- Peteo, London, 19/08/2009 15:01
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