Muswell Hill

I am amazed....i have just tried to book a train journey from Oxford to Newcastle in November, so plenty of time to book and a return is over 220 quid???..FFS...the same journey by BA from LHR to Newcastle is 79...add in the bus to LHR at 18 quid return and 10 to newcastle city centre, and 107 is a whole lot cheaper.
Plus the times by plane are more convenient and it is much quicker...

Shame as I really like rail travel

So much for Gordon Brown trying to save all the trees by forcing everyone off the plane....is it really that expensive to run a railway?????

Englishmum

So why not go by National Express coach or rent a car for the journey?

On the other hand, are you sure you've checked for the best deals? There is an excellent guide to rail travel in the UK and worldwide here:

http://www.seat61.com/UKtravel.htm

Home page: http://ww.seat61.com

AdobePinon

You know it's bad when car rental looks cheap in the UK.

BigDavyG

Deer Hunter

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article...l.cheaptickets

Cheat's guide to rail travel. May help?

Scouse Express

Nothing wrong with riding on a Coach......unless the driver has this for a family motto;

"When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, just like my Grandfather, and unlike his passengers who were screaming in sheer terror and holding onto their seats!"


Jim (Ex-National Express)

AdobePinon

Jim: like this: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/20/pil....ap/index.html

Sentosa

We traveled from Wakefield to Southampton by train when we were in U.K. over Christmas we traveled the 2nd January cost us 15 pounds each the seats were reserved and the underground tickets were included in the price. We have used GNR twice now with no problems, apart from the train from Wakefield was late getting into London due to a fault on the line so we missed our connection, but we were able to catch the next train to Southampton.I think you can only book 3 months in advance , I had the tickets sent to my sisters inthe U.K, they arrived within 2 days of me booking.

Muswell Hill

9 hour journey at least, with an hour in Birmingham to change? Thanks for the suggestion...but i think not.

Muswell Hill

The national rail enquiry line agent told me the cheapest options she had.....I could make individual calls to individual companies (virgin etc) to see if they had something cheaper, but that is too much aggro. I did find a flight from Southampton to Newcastle with "flybe" for 0.00 quid, yes zero quid and 42 quid tax for the days i want, so i will book that.

Sentosa

That's a very good deal I just checked on gner.com but you can only book up to 3 months in advance but I put in the date 10th March from Oxford to Newcastle and it is 15 pounds single fare. btw way when you book with gner you may be on a virgin train the use all the differant companies.

Ozzidoc

Did you try www.thetrainline.com ? You can often get VERY cheap fares if you book specific times.

dunroving

I think TheTrainline.com only lets you book 3 months in advance, but I bet there'll be a much cheaper ticket than 220 quid. I went from Caerphilly to Milngavie (north of Glasgow) recently, local segments included was less than 50 quid (would have cost me more in petrol to drive that far). You do have to book a few eeks ahead and may have to be flexible on times but it is possible to get cheap rail travel. Mind you with more than one person it's probably cheaper to rent a car.

I just checked oxford newcastle rtn for march and there were 15 pound single tickets available.

Muswell Hill

I have to travel 'peak times'...7am return 5pm, so the 15 quid are unavailable. The girl on the train info line told me these 15 quid fares are available for tuesday afternoon at 2pm travel or sunday at 8am but not peak travel. I am just going by what the so called experts with the train line told me....

dunroving

I think the peak time tix on Trainline.com were 100 quid. Still less than the 220 she quoted you. If I were you I'd wait until 3 months beforehand and look on TheTrainLine.com - the 220 pound tix she is quoting can't get any more expensive, surely ...