Since there's a lot of opinion on this thread, but not a lot of real data from real passengers, I thought I might try to redress the balance.
I've been travelling Edinburgh - London on a weekly basis for business for the last two years. I used to fly every week but a few months ago I abandoned the plane for the train. Why ?
Cost
This year I've taken:
- 34 single First class rail journeys (typically leaving Edinburgh 0600 Monday, London 1500 Friday)
- Total cost £3937.65
- Average single fare: £115.81
During the same period I've taken:
- 14 single Economy flights (at similar times to the trains)
- Total cost £1524.58
- Average fare: £108.89
- These flights have either been via EZY at LGW or BA at LCY
Typically I book around 2 weeks in advance regardless of how I travel.
So in terms of cost, there is little to choose. And in fact if I were to travel standard class, rail would be significantly cheaper.
Time
In terms of time, my door to door journey from leaving the house to the London office takes 5 hours exactly (train) and 3 hours 45 (plane via LCY) and 4 hours via LGW.
So on a good day travelling by air gains me an extra hour. However the good days travelling by air are increasingly few and far between, and the scope for things to go wrong (ATC delays, weather, tech aircraft, lost bags, late bags, security queues) is ever-increasing, whereas in 34 rail journeys, I've had delays of longer than 10 minutes only twice.
Quality
When I catch the train, I can walk to the station, or take a short taxi ride, whereas getting to the airport is a 20 minute taxi or bus ride. Similarly in London, getting to the office is a short tube ride (train) or a longer tube or train/tube ride (plane)
I can carry as much luggage as I can carry onto the train, and pack whatever I like into it. Travelling by plane, I'm restricted in what I can carry in my hand luggage, and have to stand in a queue, have my bag searched, maybe take off my shoes, and maybe have a body search as well. And with EZY I have to pay to check luggage into the hold.
On the train I have more legroom, can move about freely at any time, can use my laptop at any time, have internet access, and can use my mobile if necessary. In first class I get limitless free tea or coffee, juice, biscuits, fruit at my seat or I can pay for something more substantial. Or I can go along to the restaurant car and have a hot meal. On the plane, I may get a hot meal (BA) included in the price, but the choice is limited to having it or not, and on EZY I will have to pay for anything to eat or drink.
When I arrive on the train, I grab my luggage from the rack and leave the train immediately. When leaving the plane I have to wait for my bag to be unloaded which in the case of LGW can take up to 30 minutes.
When I leave the train I'm already in the city centre, whereas from the plane I have another 30 minute journey there.
You'll notice I didn't mention Heathrow once. Travelling domestic from there is a complete lottery and I abandoned it long ago.
=====
So why did I abandon the plane for the train ?
- In practice, it's no more expensive. In fact, travelling Standard class, it's cheaper.
- In practice, taking into account the more frequent delays at airports, the door-to-door time is similar
- In terms of the quality of experience, train travel is now FAR better.
- (another factor for me is that BA Cityflyer are significantly more expensive than BA Connect were. Unless you work for RBS, I guess)
Now if I was travelling cross-country, or from Aberdeen, or to somewhere close to Heathrow or Gatwick, or not able to buy tickets in advance, the equation might be different.
But I think the Tories are right to highlight that many more domestic journeys
could be taken by rail. And in fact business passengers are already voting with their feet, without any need for government intervention. Nothing to do with the environmental arguments.
13Alpha