Uber Almost As Expensive From Newcastle To London As Train At Peak Hrs

[Borg Refinery]

It is now almost as cheap to hire a private car for two people travelling between London and Newcastle as it is to take the train in peak hours, much to the disbelief of many.

Lee Williscroft-Ferris said he had been quoted an eye-watering £786 for two return tickets between the two cities, which are primarily served by government-backed rail operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER).

The fare would be over £1,000 had he travelled first class.

Number crunchers have revealed that the same fare would have been £220 had he chosen to fly to and from Heathrow on British Airways, while driving would have set him back just £54.


Even an Uber right competes on price.

A one-way trip from the Toon to the Big Smoke would cost around £564, which is only a snip over what it would cost for two people travelling in first class during peak times.

It's almost as cheap to UBER between Newcastle and London as it is to take the train during peak hours

Two return fares were advertised for £786.80 in standard and £1,049.20 in first class - almost the same price as a return journey in an Uber.

www.thelondoneconomic.com

Train prices in the UK have just reached ridiculous levels. Aren't they the most expensive in Western Europe?

It needs to be renationalised by default ie allow the franchise contracts to expire then take them into public ownership, there also should be a big reduction in rail fares.

 

[Peter]

Hardly anyone travels first class on trains but UK trains are the most expensive in Europe.
The low cost train companies from spain are starting to make an appearance and they have a few trains on the main line to london that goes through my town.

HS2 should in theory make train travel less expensive as it's going to free up space on the rest of the system but it isn't going to be open until the 2030's.
The problem with having the oldest train system in the world is that we have to constantly upgrade from outdated tech rather than having a shiny new system like China.

 

[craig]

That sounds like competition.

 

[Peter]

Many train operators in the UK are going bust and being taken back into public ownership.
Train usage here is huge with commuting still a popular choice.
I wouldn't dream of trying to visit London by car as I cab be in Central London in 45 mins by train and then use the tube or bus service.

 

[Borg Refinery]

That sounds like competition.

Yeah there's great competition to run most of the routes from London to Surrey, where there is only one route.

 

[Peter]

Yeah there's great competition to run most of the routes from London to Surrey, where there is only one route.

The problem is all the most profitable routes are commuter routes into London.
We have some of the most well used trains in the world but they have to help subsidise less used routes.

If the system was well run it could generate vast incomes for train operators to then spend on new trains.

The Elizabeth line in London has just opened and become the most popular line on one of the world's most used underground systems.

When you spend money well people will use the service.