UK’s most expensive train journeys
Rail costs for passengers in the UK are among some of the highest in Europe, with the most expensive single fare costing close to £300.
All 10 of the most expensive fares for a next-day, standard-class single in rush hour were higher than £200 when i searched on the Trainline website on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, passengers travelling in mainland Europe usually pay significantly less.
According to analysis by Euronews, Germany, Denmark and Sweden are among the cheapest Western European countries offering the most affordable tickets on the same day as the journey.
i’s analysis showed the 10 most expensive tickets in the UK were:
- Cardiff to Aberdeen £290
- Edinburgh to Exmouth £285.70
- Edinburgh to Digby & Sowton £285.70
- Edinburgh to Neath £250.30
- Edinburgh to Bridgend £250.30
- Edinburgh to Pontypridd £250.00
- London Kings Cross to Inverness £227.40
- London Euston to Aberdeen £226.20
- Manchester Piccadilly to Didcot Parkway £221
- London Kings Cross to Dundee £213.20
All prices were advertised the night before for a standard-class single ticket.
Trains in Spain, Italy and Portugal were also significantly less expensive with Latvia, Poland and Hungary being identified as offering the cheapest tickets in Europe.
i found travelling between Madrid to Barcelona costs just £53 when a standard-class single ticket is bought the night before leaving from the Spanish capital.
Passengers in the UK, though, have to pay up to double (£106) when making the equivalent trip in miles from London to Edinburgh.
In Germany, it costs just £9 to travel 120 miles from Berlin to Dresden, while for a similar journey from London to Birmingham, passengers have to spend £35.
Elsewhere, in France, a train ticket from Paris to Lyon costs £98, while an equivalent journey from Edinburgh to Bath could set you back up to £135.
Travellers can get from Paris to Bordeaux for £73, while the equivalent UK trip from Glasgow to Oxford costs £119.
Lisbon to Faro costs £23, while a similar journey from Liverpool to Durham costs £49.
And, while rail passengers have to pay over £100 for a trip from Rome to Milan, a ticket from Milan to Venice is priced at just £51 during rush hour – when an equivalent trip from London to Cardiff would cost around £56.
Crossing two borders from Amsterdam to Paris can be done for £77 while the Eurostar journey from London to Paris – which covers 30 miles less – costs £218.
In the UK, a study released by the Trades Union Congress in 2019 showed how rail fares had risen by 46 per cent over the previous 10 years while nominal weekly earnings increased by only 23 per cent.
“We’re already paying the highest ticket prices in Europe to travel on overcrowded and understaffed trains,” said TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady at the time.
In a bid to dampen the soaring prices, Labour will commit to bringing Britain’s railways back under public ownership for the first time in 30 years within weeks of coming to power, i revealed on Wednesday.
The party will include a new Railways Act in its first King’s Speech in a measure to demonstrate to voters that it will deliver on its promise to renationalise the rail system within a first term of government “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs”.
Under the plans, the legislation will set the legal framework to enable a future Labour government to allow existing rail contracts to expire and be taken under the control of a new arm’s length body, called Great British Railways
Such a move will allow the new publicly owned rail system to offer a “best-price ticket guarantee”, bringing an end to the practice of rail firms setting inflated ticket prices.
The proposals will be backed by a new consumer watchdog, called the Passenger Standards Authority.
Prices were sourced the day before for a rush-hour single ticket standard fare on Trainline or Omio and national rail operator websites for European journeys. Prices do vary from day to day and depending on when you buy your tickets.
