A survey by Holiday Which? found that flying could be cheaper than taking the train. Richard Harris tries some comparisons to see if this can be true.
TRAINS are more expensive than planes when it comes to travelling around the country according to a new report - but is this really true?
A survey conducted by Holiday Which magazine in November and December last year found that for three different long-distance journeys, airlines offered cheaper tickets and quicker journeys.
The Press found similar results yesterday, but not for probably the most popular long-distance route in the area, which is York to London King's Cross.
For this journey, the train was easily the quickest and the cheapest. Having booked yesterday and left this morning on GNER at 8am, one would be in London by 9.45am having paid a single ticket price of £88.50.
To fly one would have to catch the 6.55am flybmi plane from Leeds/Bradford arriving at Heathrow at 8.15am. But this would cost £167 for a one-way journey and passengers have to factor in the cost and time of getting to the airport - £12 on First York's shuttle bus and a 55- minute journey.
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But for people living in cities which have airports, the plane can be cheaper - and certainly faster - than the train.
We asked easyJet and GNER how much it would be to travel from Edinburgh to London at about 8.30am today on a single ticket.
Flying out at 8.30am and arriving at Gatwick at 10am, the price with easyJet, including tax, would have been £49.99.
But leaving Edinburgh train station with GNER at 8am and arriving at 12.42pm the best price on the ticket line was £97.20 - almost double the cost of flying. Even if one includes the £3.50 connection to Edinburgh airport and the £14.90 Gatwick to Victoria shuttle, the cost is still cheaper for the plane.
In comparison, National Express quoted a price of £31. But this would have meant leaving Edinburgh at 6.45am and not arriving in London until 6pm.
For an unusual route such as York to Southampton, the plane is far quicker and only works out £22 more expensive - and that includes the price of First York's shuttle service to Leeds/Bradford airport.
Travelling by GNER on a single standard ticket and leaving York at 8.34am, the price would be £113.50, arriving in Southampton at 1.14pm.
But if passengers caught First York's 7am shuttle bus they could board the 8.50am flybe.com flight to Southampton at 8.50am and arrive at 9.55am for a total cost of £135.99.
The report in Holiday Which had other examples which showed that for people wanting a return journey from Manchester to Exeter it could cost as little as £59.68 by plane, £87.30 by train and £57 by coach.
Similar results were found for return journeys between London and Glasgow and between Birmingham and Edinburgh.
Researchers also found that the cheapest advertised rail fares, which have to be booked n advance, were often unavailable and that the range of tickets was confusing. It was also discovered that sometimes it is cheaper to buy two tickets for a journey so passengers can take advantage of off-peak fares, if only part of their journey will be taken during peak times.
A spokesman for Holiday Which said: "Our research found trains are the most expensive way to get around the country - it's important to try and book early so you can take advantage of cheap deals.
"Look at prices carefully when you buy your ticket, though, as sometimes you won't necessarily be offered the lowest price; for example two singles tickets are often cheaper than a return."
RAIL
HOLIDAY Which may have claimed planes are cheaper than trains, but GNER insists the research is flawed. A spokesman for the company said the report fails to include domestic air passenger duty which adds £20 to every journey.
He said: "We carry millions of passengers every year on our lowest fares and we are very competitive with other modes of transport because we need to work hard to attract every passenger we carry."
The spokesman said for the Edinburgh to London example used by The Press, the train ticket quoted is valid on any train that day while the same flexibility with easyJet would cost £205.
In addition, GNER runs 36 trains a day between the two capital cities while easyJet has just four flights.
He said: "We think we're very competitive when you add in total cost and total journey time on the domestic routes that we run.
"Also you have to bear in mind the environmental benefits of rail in terms of emissions. It's a cleaner and greener way to travel."
He added that, for the Leeds to London route, rail travel has a 90 per cent share of the market while air travel only accounts for ten per cent.
AIR
ROGER Wiltshire, general secretary of the British Air Transport Association (BATA), said the reason why air travel is so cheap at the moment is due to greater efficiency.
He said: "It's not just efficient companies that we've got, the aircraft are more efficient than they were. Airlines are filling the aircraft up - the load factors on planes tend to be higher."
He said if trains and planes were considered across the whole day, planes on average would be fuller while at off-peak times trains tend to be quieter.
He said in turn this leads to special deals as airlines want to fill up their aircraft. These deals particularly benefit passengers who are flexible and who can book in advance, because airlines want to know well before that flights will not be half empty when they take off.
Mr Wiltshire said another factor in the low cost of flights today is the competitiveness of the market. Whereas railways often have single operators airports have different operators flying out of them. The prevalence of airports also means passengers can shop around for the very best deals.
But he did not believe air fares would drop in the future, although they could become cheaper in real terms. He said there is likely to be greater expenses for airlines due to increased security and environmental taxes.
He also said it was impossible to know what the cost of aviation fuel would be in a few years time, although he added that more modern planes would be developed with greater fuel efficiency.
ROAD
A SPOKESWOMAN for National Express said journeys are not just about travelling time and the company is improving its coaches to make them more comfortable and user-friendly.
She said: "It's not just a case of a journey takes x amount of time. We're making a lot of improvements to change the spirit of the journey as well.
"We've got wi fi and we're introducing leather seats.
"There's so many different audiences that we can target with our prices. It's not just for students who are looking for cheaper travel - it's also for commuters."
Rachael Clegg asks people on the streets of York what they think about the cost of travelling by train
Kellie Pritchett, 19, student, York St John University:
"I travel to Hull and it costs me nearly £16 one way, which I think is too expensive as it's not that far away. It would cost me the same amount of money to travel by car."
Laura Davis, 28, student, York St John University:
"It costs £9.20 to go to Doncaster, which is expensive considering it's only one stop away. It is too expensive to travel by train and much cheaper - for me anyway - to travel by car."
Maria Goulding, 56, retired part-time lecturer at the University of York:
"I travel from Durham and although the university pay for my travel, I think it is very expensive. I get the train to work because it would take too long to drive from Durham. It cost me £19.80 for a cheap day return. Prices vary so much, the other day it cost me £49, but other days it could cost £200. I travel by plane when I am travelling to Southampton as it would take too long by train and it only takes about an hour on the plane."
Vikki Towney, 39, civil servant:
"It don't think trains are too expensive. I have a family card and travel quite cheaply. Trains are environmentally friendly way of travelling as well and I like to think of myself as being green. When you are on the train you can have a cup of tea and it's child-friendly. I wouldn't fly anywhere in this country because I'd have to get a bus and a train to get to the airport anyway."
Source: The Press
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