Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

paliparan.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 191 posts

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#71

Post by bombcar »

notahacker wrote: post #36
blibble wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt many people are paying 20%+ of net income to commute in you'd have to be on minimum wage and a reasonable distance out (in which case you might as well just work locally) 10% however I can believe

Annual season ticket to London from Peterborough, at the edge of the commuter belt with relatively affordable housing is £9,500 (including Tube) That's 20% of your after tax income if you're on more than double the median UK salary

In the US at least that would get close to the cost of a small car with insurance and gas. However I assume the equivalent in UK would be more especially considering parking and intercity fees.

Sounds like the commuter rail is pricing itself just below the cost of a car.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#72

Post by chrisseaton »

bombcar wrote: post #69
blibble wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> UK workers on average salaries will spend 14% of their income on a monthly season ticket from Luton to London (£387), or 11% from Liverpool to Manchester (£292). these figures are deliberately misleading (well... it is the TUC) they're using the average UK salary not the average London or Manchester salary, which are both quite considerably higher (London is almost 100% more)

The median should probably be used - the trains are much more likely to be used by people at the lower end of the wage scale. Charles may live in London and make ungodly income, but he’s unlikely to be found on the train.

> people at the lower end of the wage scale

I don't think anyone commutes from the Home Counties to a job at Pret. People on lower income still live in London, just in not as great housing. People on the train are people who can afford the choice of a luxury of a home in a village or the countryside instead of London.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#73

Post by bobthepanda »

dagw wrote: post #46
dustedcodes wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must be trolling. In London even during the rush hour you get a seat when you are disabled or pregnant. In Tokyo you end up pregnant when you enter the train: https://noisebreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/oshiya.jpg

Is that still a thing? I never saw any oshiya when I was there 5 years ago.

Train congestion has been falling with the decline in population.

Also, the pandemic has really sped up adoption of either wfh, partial wfh, or commuting during “shoulder” hours instead of the peak of peak, from what I’ve heard.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#74

Post by alias_neo »

imnotlost wrote: post #22
traceroute66 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> British people love to complain about the state of their railways When British people go to Switzerland or Japan its like they've died and woken up in heaven. Japanese rail in particular is pure heaven compared to the UK. Trains are always punctual. Trains are always clean. Trains are always frequent. And that's before we start talking about the amazing food stores that are attached to main Japanese stations. In th…

The Tokyo subway during rush hour is anything but heaven.

Having spent the past ~10 years living in London, I disagree.

Rush hour Tokyo trains were a dream, people are polite and queue, but they queue so that they're not in the way, the carriages are surprisingly head-roomy for 6'4 me, unlike the shit show of the central line, they're cooled properly, like the circle/district and the stations were almost universally clean and spacious unlike our tube platforms which are often cramped with tiny exits through archways blocked by people filling the platforms.

I'm not saying the London Tube is bad, but I would take Tokyo subway over it any day.

It may be controversial to say but tourists (local or from afar) are generally the worst part about central London commuting, due to the ignorance of the etiquette, especially when tourist numbers can be overwhelming in some parts.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#75

Post by Symbiote »

lol768 wrote: post #43
Mordisquitos wrote: post #33

As someone with significant experience of using the rail networks in both the UK and Spain, I strongly agree with the last point regarding the hybrid reservation model. In addition, there's one further point which I don't think he mentions: the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best p…

> the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best price). Mostly true, but not universally so - try Denton -> Manchester Piccadilly ;)

Denton to Manchester Piccadilly: http://traintimes.org.uk/denton/manchester/08:45/saturday -- the train only runs twice a week, on Saturdays.

Although going outside Northern Trains' area does indeed seem to prevent fares being calculated: http://traintimes.org.uk/denton/deal/08:45/2022-10-22

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#77

Post by Symbiote »

chrisseaton wrote: post #55
notahacker wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Annual season ticket to London from Peterborough, at the edge of the commuter belt with relatively affordable housing is £9,500 (including Tube) That's 20% of your after tax income if you're on more than double the median UK salary

Commuting from Peterborough would be absolutely insane. You can't convince me you can't find cheaper housing between London and Peterborough. That radius has got to be the majority of the UK's housing stock?

It's something people might do for a short period, or while looking for a better option.

A friend commuted from Coventry to London for a year. She moved there with her husband, but had one more year to go on her PhD -- using the labs at the university was essential, but there was also plenty of work that could be done on the train.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#78

Post by notahacker »

chrisseaton wrote: post #55
notahacker wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Annual season ticket to London from Peterborough, at the edge of the commuter belt with relatively affordable housing is £9,500 (including Tube) That's 20% of your after tax income if you're on more than double the median UK salary

Commuting from Peterborough would be absolutely insane. You can't convince me you can't find cheaper housing between London and Peterborough. That radius has got to be the majority of the UK's housing stock?

Peterborough is a commute of around an hour, was a designated New Town for precisely that reason and tops most people's list of least expensive London commuter towns to actually live in.

Sure, you can pay a mere £4k per annum for your rail ticket coming in from somewhere like Stevenage, but then you have to find a mortgage lender that will let you borrow another £100k (and won't have a more exciting locality or fancier house to show for it)

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#79

Post by nextos »

Mordisquitos wrote: post #33

As someone with significant experience of using the rail networks in both the UK and Spain, I strongly agree with the last point regarding the hybrid reservation model. In addition, there's one further point which I don't think he mentions: the fact that in the UK you can buy a ticket at any station to go to any arbitrary station A from any arbitrary station B (notwithstanding the complexity of determining the best p…

The problem is usually price and reliability.

You can commute Segovia - Madrid Chamartin on a high speed train (95 km, 27 min, 200 euro per month). Reliability and price are top notch.

A comparable commute is Cambridge - London (60 mi, 65 min, 500-600 pound per month depending on some details).

I have used both, and there is no contest, sadly.

Re: Train Travel in the UK: A Foreigner’s Perspective

#80

Post by chrisseaton »

notahacker wrote: post #78
chrisseaton wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Commuting from Peterborough would be absolutely insane. You can't convince me you can't find cheaper housing between London and Peterborough. That radius has got to be the majority of the UK's housing stock?

Peterborough is a commute of around an hour, was a designated New Town for precisely that reason and tops most people's list of least expensive London commuter towns to actually live in. Sure, you can pay a mere £4k per annum for your rail ticket coming in from somewhere like Stevenage, but then you have to find a mortgage lender that will let you borrow another £100k (and won't have a more exciting locality or fanci…

Are we talking about the same Peterborough? It's north of Birmingham?
Post reply on HN