Hooray! It’s the UK’s first £1,000 train fare!
By Andy Dawson
Britain has so much to be proud of. There’s Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity, erm, countless Eurovision Song Contest wins and, um, Top Gear.
Now there’s another notable achievement to add to that exhaustive list – the nation has its very first £1,000 rail fare. Well, £1,002 to be precise – a first class return from Newquay in Cornwall to Kyle of Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands, as unearthed by dogged rail service scrutiniser Barry Doe.
It’s a 1,700 mile round trip and Cross Country, the train operator who provide it, say that they are unaware of anyone stumping up for it, but its there and we should all feel deeply proud that we live in a nation that has made it possible.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrats’ transport spokesman, parped: “When you can fly half way across Europe for £30, the idea that you can end up paying £1,000 for a train journey in Britain is absolutely scandalous. Not only are passengers being encouraged off the trains and into their cars, but some considering this journey may decide they’d rather fly to Australia and back.”
Which is a bit of a kick in the teeth for the people in Kyle Of Lochlash who are looking forward to a rare visit from their posh relatives from Newquay, but there you go…
feral trolley of the week
You could save yourself a tenner and buy the 2 week unlimited all network ticket in first class for bargain rate £990.
But I wanted to stay for 15 days…..
Only a day late, hot news for BitterWallet.
You can get it for £228 single each way standard class, so Norman Baker is not comparing like with like. Which airline offers £30 trips half way across Europe in a premium class?
Also the trip takes 16.55 hours of travelling each way (plus over 10 hours waiting).
So 17 hours of journey for £228 (or £501 first class). Pro rata that is not any worse than most train fares.
@Nobby – You make out that sitting on a train for 17 hours is a good thing?!
No I don’t. The point is if you sit on a train ten times longer than someone else, then you should pay roughly ten times as much.
@Ty – Maybe, but it takes us a day to add in the funny parts.
quidco?
The irony is that when booking this it states “Please note that First Class accommodation is not available on all legs of your journey.”
How many changes are there?
The jouney takes 28 hours ! So you can hardly just turn up and buy the fare.
Takes 20 hours, 5 changes (Par, Plymouth, Birmingham New Street, Crewe, Inverness)
It’s a non-story though, no one will buy this fare. I can usually travel between Edinburgh and West Yorkshire for around £15 each way on the train.
For anyone who wants a look check out nationalexpresseastcoast.com, search for a First Class Open Return.
And you could turn up and buy this fare. You set off from Newquay at 3pm. The Crewe-Inverness section is on the Caledonian Sleeper (you’d need to pay a berth supplement for this too!)