Cost difference

[blue dog]

hi I'm new to regular rail travel. Potential job in Birmingham, I live near oxford, thought train might be the way to go! Checked cost and time from oxford to Birmingham rtn around 0630 week day, £56, crikey! Thought I'd just check from little local station (tackley) about 5 miles out of oxford, £24, rtn similar timings, what a difference and free parking.
Is this quite common ? If so is there a website that gives u cheapest fair within a radius of home ?

Thanks coll

 

[bigfoote]

Other than National Rail Enquiries "postcode" search, I can't recall any other sites that have such a function built in...

 

[Romilly]

Tackley has 12 to 14 trains per day each way: Oxford has far more. Tackley to Birmingham will always involve a change of trains en route: Oxford to Birmingham will nearly always be a through train. The Tackley ticket is a day return, whereas Oxford-Birmingham returns are period returns (i.e. return same day or within a month) designed for longer journeys and giving more flexibility.

It is worth noting that an Oxford-Banbury anytime day return is £12.20 and a Banbury-Birmingham anytime day return is £21.70 and so long as you use a train that is timetabled to call at Banbury (and nowadays I seem to recall that all do) you can do the Oxford-Birmingham journey with that pair of tickets for £33.90 which is the better comparison with the £21.70 Tackley-Birmingham anytime day return.

 

[cuccir]

Hello,

There are a range of different ticket types available out there - Advance fares which are only valid on one train, Anytime fares which are flexible, Off-Peak tickets which have time restrictions, and other tickets restricted by route ('Via Banbury') or train company ('London Midland only').

It looks to me from the prices you quote that you're comparing Advance tickets, which are restricted to the booked train. These start cheap but go up as the cheaper ones sell out. So if you pick a date in February, for example, there are some options for Oxford-Birmingham which come out as a £22.60 return. Whereas for travel tomorrow, it's around the £54 that you quote.

Note that from Tackley, the Advance fares at short notice are actually more expensive than the flexible walk up ticket. There is an Anytime Day Return for £21.70. Don't buy more expensive Advance tickets which are more restricted, which is what the £24 return will be!!!

As for explaining it: this is an unusually big difference for stations so close, but you should note that there are trains Oxford - Birmingham every 30 minutes and that journeys take 70 minutes; whereas trains to Tackley are every 2 hours and take longer (90 minutes). So part of what you're paying for from Oxford is the more frequent service.

It looks like the train company are pricing by banding stations together. Tackley (and Heyford/Kings Sutton) has obviously been put in with Banbury, as fares cost the same from Tackley as these stations. There are hundreds of stations in the UK and train companies group stations together to simplify pricing for themselves. If (like you have) you find where the hidden borders between groups are, you can often find very good deals.

Finally, if you're planning to commute, then you'll save money with a season ticket if you usually travel at least 4 days a week - you can check prices here: http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/seasonticket/search

 

[blue dog]

Thanks for replys

 

[pdeaves]

In addition to what cuccir says, bear in mind that season tickets can be used any number of times per day (i.e. you could 'pop home' for lunch if you really wanted!), plus at weekends. They can also be used for unlimited travel between any stations between the stated end points (e.g. an Oxford-Birmingham season would be valid for a Banbury-Leamington journey).

 

[alistairlees]

A good option is to buy a Tackley to Birmingham season (£79 for a week), then, if you want to travel from Oxford on some days, buy an Oxford to Tackley Anytime Day Return (£12.20). The train doesn't need to stop at Tackley if you combine a return ticket with a season ticket. So long as you are going from Oxford no more than three days a week then this will be cheaper than buying an Oxford to Birmingham season (£127.50).

Obviously trains from Oxford are rather quicker though!

 

[robbeech]

Have you seen the car park?
Many of these little stations have very limited car parking, so whilst it might be free, it might also be full!

 

[Qwerty133]

A quick check of google maps would suggest that there is no carpark at Tackley and that the station is literally a couple of platforms at the end of a quiet residential road.

 

[Starmill]

Tackley has a pretty naff service, morning 'peak' services to Banbury are only 0655 and 0901. Then there an 1155, then 1434! Afternoon trains from Banbury to Tackley are 1508, 1723, 1837, 2001, 2138 etc. So the gaps are long and irregular. Missing a connection or getting to the station late would cause a big problem.

It sounds like a very long, slow commute to me. Have you considered driving to Warwick Parkway? It's only £35.30 a week from there for a West Midlands All Zones ticket, rather than £79 a week from Tackley, or £127.50 a week from Oxford.

 

[cuccir]

The cost difference between Tackley and Oxford is also comparatively much less on the season ticket (£97 a week v £127 a week) than with other walk-up fares. The big gap is the lack of a well priced Day Return.

Other options would be to drive to Kings Sutton, which has a better service than Tackley but also is a small station with free parking, or into Banbury, though presumably that has its own cost and time implications.

 

[30907]

The cost difference between Tackley and Oxford is also comparatively much less on the season ticket (£97 a week v £127 a week) than with other walk-up fares. The big gap is the lack of a well priced Day Return.

Other options would be to drive to Kings Sutton, which has a better service than Tackley but also is a small station with free parking, or into Banbury, though presumably that has its own cost and time implications.

Heyford would be easier to access (and park at?) than Tackley, and Banbury than King's Sutton, despite being further by road. I presume Banbury isnt free parking though.