Why are UK train tickets more expensive than in Europe? BBC News

Commuters heading back to work after the Christmas holidays will be faced with train fare increases of 1.1%. Train fares have gone up in the UK and new research shows that it has some of the highest season ticket prices in Europe. Some passengers spend up to 13% of their monthly salary just to get to work. Graham Satchell looks at how UK rail fares compare with the prices elsewhere in Europe.

[Euroduplex]

Maybe the Germans pay twice as subsidies, but we all have to remember that their overall network length is twice(about 16000km) of Brit counterpart(around 7000~8000 km). So, it can be said that the excessive ticket price is a result of sheer inefficiency of British system.

[captain-obvious-speaks]

Wait, 11k GBP for a season pass? Are you shitting me?

[qdog]

£22 for a one way ticket for a 15 minute ride on the Heathrow express is a ripoff. But I pay it because I just flew overnight, and I wanna get to my hotel to crash.

[cuckingfunt]

Comparing apples and oranges. I live 25 miles out of fucking London, a season ticket here costs 11, 000. The service is the pits.

Germans were moaning but did you see how clean their 'dirty' trains They should spend a day here, then they would appreciate what they have.

Also their trains are all state owned, therefore if the state pays in service comes out... When our state pays our private owners, the money just goes in their pocket.

[AgnostosGnostos]

Privatization is beneficial when there is competition. In Britain railway companies have the monopoly in specific railway lines. People are obliged to pay expensive tickets because they have no other choice of railway transportation.
Also the use of their cars is more expensive or slower or less reliable due to traffic jams.
That it is exploited by private railways companies and at the end the victim is the ordinary tax payer who has trusted wrong politicians.

[nickmullerITFC]

COST ME 120 POUNDS FROM LONDON TO MIDLESBROUGH DAY RETURN CRAZY AND WHY

[DM-kvkj]

"More expensive" is an understatement! Last year in France (where I've also lived before, teaching) I took a high speed TGV train the entire length of the country from Paris to Nice, first-class, for £90. Standard inter-city train tickets are around £15-£20. Here it regularly costs me over £100 to go to Brighton from Manchester - last time I looked it was £113 minimum, with most of the prices being £230.. and first class tickets I've looked at have been over £500.. which is completely insane. The UK has seen private companies simply extorting the British public, because they can, and British people everywhere let them get away with it year after year, largely just not knowing any better.

[tanjir]

Hey. Why don't you compare with France or Spain. Their High speed train is cheaper than your 90 mph train. Get your real fact.

[mrannonymous]

This was 8 years ago, pre-pandemic pre-inflation. It's unimaginable now.

[-Eckhart]

I think the worst problem in Britain is overcrowding. From a German point of view, you seem to have half the number of train carriages per passenger than we do. And ours are still often very full. So: longer trains? Doubledeckers?

[toby]

My parents were looking to go from our small town to another small town to see a new pub - £25 each for a 13 minute rail journey each way. Actually laughable

[quickly]

As someone who has traveled in Europe, I can boldly say that the trains in the UK are undoubtedly the most expensive

[sh-igfm]

It's ownership UK rail is owned by France
For years France has been allowed to use UK passenger's to pay for bringing down the prices of French tickets and support the survice and jobs in France

[nicky]

Full support for fare dodgers! Fighting back against ridiculously high transport costs!

[defunctt]

No need to watch the video - here is the answer - you pay more because you need to pay for the profits of the private operators (even though they are already subsidised).

[martinh]

Another dead giveaway: look at the age of the British train (1980s ?) and the German train (looked no older that 5 years).

[ajithkukumar]

Germany considers decriminalising fare dodging in public transport

[hoodyniszwangsjacke]

You should show how the rail systems in Austria and Swizzerland are working. THEN you see really the difference. Because in comparison with this two rail systems, the german one is the least efficient and worst working in terms of punctuality and service. Of course either Austria and Swizzerland are subsidying it a lot, but people are using it more and more.

[BrianMarto]

£958 pounds a month with Oyster card to travel to London which is just under 90 minutes, this is wrong, asking the folks at the station the answer is simple trains are not subsidized Governments could care less, trains are for the occasional travel

[jonathandaohsunwang]

UK rail fare is higher in japanese shinkansen rail fare, Higher than Korean high speed.