Short railway journeys: now disproportionately expensive?

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Simon Calder's started a Twitter thread, someone's responded with Oldfield Park to Bath Spa at £3:50, which is a fare that discouraged me from catching the train a couple of weeks ago (walked it instead). The thread's reminded me that at the time I was wondering if short hop train fares had overachieved. Also, for the time being, some are up against the £2 flat fare on the buses.

Mark

https://twitter.com/SimonCalder/status/1776168682525253925

[Witham Bobby]

Anyone else used to journeys like Worcester Shrub Hill to Worcester Foregate Street on the strength of a 6d platform ticket?

[Noggin]

The last time that I did BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative)) to Avonmouth by rail it was £2 - presumably the same as the bus.

[TaplowGreen]

Maidenhead-Taplow £1.90 (I generally walk it!)

[grahame]

Hear are some "short hop" fares below the Olddield Park to Bath Spa ones:

Lelant to Lelant Saltings - £1.00 off peak day single (that's after 05:00).
Culrain to Invershin - £2.00 anytime day single
Ryde St Johns Road to Esplanade - £2.00 anytime, £1.10 evening or Sunday out
Wrexham General to Wrexham Central - £2.00 anytime day single
Aberdovey to Penhelig - £2.10 anytime day single
Keyham to Dockyard - £2.20 anytime day single
Llanrwst to North Llanrwst - £2.20 anytime day single
Kirby to Headbolt Lane - £2.30 anytime day single
Maghull to Maghull North - £2.30 anytime day single
Reading to Reading West - £2.40 anytime day single
Grimsby Docks to New Clee - £2.50 anytime day single
Yetminster to Thornford - £2.50 anytime day single
Severn Tunnel Junction to Caldicot - £2.60 anytime day single
Birmingham Moor St to Bordesley - £3.00 anytime, £2.90 evening

Wales Valleys seem to have a minium fare of £2.70 for "quicker to walk" journeys such as Rhiwbina to Whitchurch and Barry Island to Barry. Barry Island to Barry Links if £279.00 anytime single.

Edit - I keep finding more low fares and editing them in ..

[IndustryInsider]

The Reading to Reading West fare offers great value when you consider the chances of being mugged if you tackle it on foot! 

[grahame]

The Independent has featured "10 journeys that cost more that £1 per mile" this morning ... I have hummed and haaaed and decided that's a related but separate thread - started at http://www.passenger.chat/28618

But the £2.70 Ty Glas to Birchgrove is featured:

These are not the priciest journeys per mile in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom): most of those are for extremely short journeys that travellers would not normally make. The most expensive of all in pounds-per-mile is the link from Ty Glas in the northern suburbs of Cardiff to Birchgrove, which is less than a quarter-mile. The fare increased earlier last month to £2.70, taking the price-per-mile to £12.70.

This confirms, sadly, that I am not "normal".  But then it was a journey I walked and didn't take the train. I got off the train from Cardiff at Ty Glas, walked to Birchgrove while the train went up to Coryton and came back ...

The short journey from Hamilton Square (Birkenhead) to St James (Liverpool) does feature in the article as a short journey that people will take at over £1 per mile due to it being a long way to walk round - the Mersey is in the way!

[Marlburian]

The Reading to Reading West fare offers great value when you consider the chances of being mugged if you tackle it on foot! 

The trouble is that one has to leave Reading West anyway. The walk between the two stations is relatively civilised, but heading west along the Oxford Road can be unpleasant. And there's always the risk of being accosted by females of flexible morality. (Is that a plus or minus?)

[grahame]

I find myself thinking that fares would be more equitably based on "x"p per end station and "y"p per mile - so if "x" was 80p and "y" was 50p you would have an alternative setup for the whole fare network.   And its in line with the cost of the rail industry to provide too, with customers paying for the overhead and use of two lots of facilities, plus the mileage.  I think taxis do it already.

[grahame]

And there's always the risk of being accosted by females of flexible morality. (Is that a plus or minus?)

Accosted you should not be ... but you bring back a conversation I had last week when I checked into a hotel with the chap behind the counter.  Vivid memory with a chat that would have been worthy of us sitting in the bar and putting the world to rights.  Quite extraordinary and one of the subjects we briefly touched on was women's safety, man's drive, and whether easier access to the services of females with flexible "morality" would reduce the level of unwanted forced attention by men on women.   We touched on war and refugees, the environment, employment rights and finding the right staff too.  Like I say, quite extraordinary.   There's the occasional spark on trips like these that will be in my memory for years - the dutch backpacker on his way to Vilnius, and the lady in the train on Friday who was so "hyper" in her own business ... and we ended up having a brief few minutes, but fascinating, conversation as we approached the intermediate stop where she got off.

So - who have YOU met for fascinating conversation in your travels?  I will split the thread if people pile in answers!