Public transport - next time i'll take the car!

[habbers]

I needed to go to London yesterday on business from Northampton.

I had to take a briefcase, small flight case around the size of a breezeblock and my rucksack c/w laptop and bits. None of which are particularly heavy but a bit cumbersome.

Needed to be in London at 16:00hrs and return after 11:30hrs, could be finished at 02:00hrs if unlucky

Options – take the car. The easy option comfortable and drive right to and from the venue.
Train and cab combo. Underground or bus not really an option as I am loaded with stuff and i do not want to risk getting the laptop or the expensive projector lens in the flight case knicked.

Car should have cost say £ 20.00 fuel (140 miles), £ 13.00 parking and £ 8.00 congestion charge Total £ 41.00.

I chose the train as the car has not been well with gearbox problems.
Train single fare £ 18.50 (not sure which train I may catch back) taxi to venue £ 8.00 taxi back from venue £ 8.00, train back £ 18.50 and a cab home £ 8.00 so a total of £ 61.00.

So £ 20.00 more than using my own car!

And the best bit. The train back did not stop at Northampton, none do until the 05:24hrs (departing Euston) train. I had to disembark at MK and get a coach the last 20 miles. The coach drove virtually past my door on the way to Northampton railway station. I asked the driver if he could drop me at a bus stop but he stated he was not allowed and had to take me to the station.

What a joke the system is. It is grossly expensive and inflexible and only really suits the train operators rather than the passengers if you travel out of usual hours. No I do not expect a door to door service from public transport but it was just not practical or cost effective - IMHO.

Next time I will take the car. I could have hired one and taken it for £ 5.00 more than the train cost and travelled back when I wanted.

[Kieran]

Yes, it's very irritating, isn't it?

Since my alternator packed in, I've used the train and shoe leather.

So. To get to work for 9AM, I usually jump in the car at about 08:00 ish.

If i'm using public transport....

Head out the house at about 07:45 to have a steady walk to the train station. There aren't any buses on my route there.

Get on 8:15 train (£4.20 return to nottingham). 40 minutes.

Walk from notthingham train station along the canal to work - about 35 minutes There is a bus service, but I would have to walk halfway across nottingham city centre to the bus station first.

This means I get to work about 9:30/9:40ish. 40 minutes late, but our office works on flexi time to some degree, so that's okay.

Now... To get there for 9AM, I would have to add taxi costs too - £3.80 to the station using local taxi firm, and then get a 'black cab' from Nottingham train station to work. A veritable snip at £5.80. /grr This would mean near enough £14 just to get to work, without any taxi journeys on the way back!! Madness!

Other interesting factor. Needed to go to london recently. Used Midland Mainline and parked at the station. Last minute thing and I was advised against taking the car - I'm not used to London or it's traffic.

Train journey took about 2 hours, and was smooth and comfortable. Free tea and coffee too. When I got to london, I used the underground. Again, as busy and cramped as always, but hassle-free. All in all, a nice alternative to the car, BUT.....

The train tickets (on normal ECONOMY class) cost £47.00 each way, and the underground ticket was about £6. So £100 for a trip to london - Even with a VR-4, averaging about 25mpg i'd only use about £55 in petrol if that!

Glad the company picked up the tab for that one!! :rolleyes4 /grr

[bernmc]

I think you boys are forgetting that your cars cost a lot more than just the petrol. Ball park figure is around a quid a mile, so it's more expensive than you think. Can't compete on convenience though. When I was enjoying myself with a duff gearbox and VMTP, I had to leave my house at 6am, walk to station, catch two trains and a bus to get to work, same in reverse to get home, arriving at about 9pm :o

[The Vee]

Don't like getting involved in public transport debates too much for obvious reasons. While I agree there are problems, and the car is generally more convenient, I have to say, that there are deals out there to be had. I went to Scotland the other day on GNER and with a little planning my ticket was £25.00 return. Then once there only about £8.00 return from Edinburgh to Glasgow on a very quick and new train. They even run every 20mins or summit.
Then last week, I went to London for the day. No planning, no after the peak, got a day return which includes all zones in London for £36.00 on the WAGN service. Only takes an hour to get there and unlimited travel all day in and around London. So easy to get round on tubes and trains in the Capital. Much as I love my car, I couldn't touch either of these trips by road. As somebody pointed out, when I get out the train, I don't need to park it, fuel it, maintain it, tax it, insure it or even buy it in the first place. No, I don't get staff discount(a constant complaint!!) and I still use my car most of the time, but someone has to fly the flag occasionally!!

[Kieran]

In fairness, I must admit that I've no issues with the train service per-se.... They've all been on time, I've found a seat and there haven't been any delays. The thing that Irks me is that to make it cheaper than jumping in Ariadne, I have to walk for a total of almost 1 hour each way (at least on a 'Visible' cost basis - I know what you're saying about tax, etc, but I'd have to pay them anyway).

I think the point I'm making is that Public transport still has some catching up to do if it is to rival the car as a means of getting from A to B, though having been forced to use it, it's not been the nightmare I was expecting.

However, if I were still living at home in Jacksdale, then things would be much worse.... Dr. Beeching had a curious lack of foresight....

[The Vee]

Sure, I agree it's a long way from perfect and yes Dr. beeching was way too harsh. But he did what he did at a time when cars were taking the railways by the scruff of their neck. Don't get me wrong I still think Beeching did huge amounts of damage, but in fairness, empty trains cannot be justified. I agree Public transport can never really rival the car, but can provide a good alternative (dependent, on where you live, true)

[Wodjno]

Not a train lover myself.. But on thinking about a trip with missus and kids to se the London Eye, looked at train prices.. :inquisiti

£42 inc tubes and buses.. /yes Couldn't do it that cheap in the VR4 and thats just getting to London and back .. Without tubes, buses and parking .. /Hmmm

[strapping young lad]

its always a matter of convenience though.

door to door

my trip to work on average is 15-20 mins, traffic dependent.

if i took the train, i would have to catch one from the next village up (5-10mins away) then catch a train down to warrington, then another back up to newton, then either walk the last 20 mins to work or taxi.

my mate lives in parbold which is near wigan
to get from newton to parbold (via wigan station) he has to travel into manchester piccadilly then back out to wigan (wigan is 10 mins up the road)

madness

oh and that last journey took 2hrs

[WildCards]

Leicester to London is pretty easy, took the kids to the London Eye myself in the summer. Went on a Sunday which helped. M1 to Wembley (£30 return in fuel), parking (FREE on Sundays, woohoo!) Tube into London £7ish each x2 (Kids were free).

Tube was relatively empty, everything was easy, hassle free.

A great day.

[Roadrunner]

There are no trains where I live - only region in Europe without a train station - nearest station is 35 miles from my house. But! the powers that be are talking about reinstating a rail service from the Borders to Edinburgh (in 2009! at the earliest) - can't wait, 10 minutes drive to the station, wait for the train, 56 minutes journey time, 10 minutes walk at the other end. So, probably an hour and a half each way. For a journey that takes me 50 minutes by car. Decisions, decisions ... ;)

[I-S]

I agree with bern... I recently added up everything I have spent on the car (tax, insurance, servicing, parts, petrol, etc) and total cost was 42p/mile, and that's for a mere GLS. Petrol accounted for around 12p of that. Insurance is the killer for me, but my maintenance is much less than VR4.

[Roadrunner]

I agree with bern... I recently added up everything I have spent on the car (tax, insurance, servicing, parts, petrol, etc) and total cost was 42p/mile, and that's for a mere GLS. Petrol accounted for around 12p of that. Insurance is the killer for me, but my maintenance is much less than VR4.
But you can still take four people in a car for the price of one. If I wanted to take the family from home to Glasgow and back (180 miles round trip), it would cost over £160 and take 2½ hours each way by public transport, compared with 1¼ hours and less than £40 in petrol by car. No contesto ... and I don't have folks coughing and sneezing on me either :p

[WildCards]

...and I don't have folks coughing and sneezing on me either :p

You can't argue with having your own personal space. Not much worse than some sweaty Rab C Nesbitt being too close when you can't move away from him.

[I-S]

Of course H7, and I am no fan of public transport. I was just making the point that there's more to the cost of motoring, especially with a VR4, than just petrol.