We’ve all experienced that sharp intake of breath when you realise how you much you’re going to have to stump up for a train ticket. And if you had your own personal views as to the most expensive rail journey in the country? Well, one industrious travel guru has done the maths and figured out the UK’s actual most costly train trip so you don’t have to.
You may have seen news stories doing the rounds about how the new Luton Dart has become the priciest route in Britain. The £300 million line, which opened this week, charges £4.90 – or £3.77 per mile. But while that may sound pricey, it doesn’t take the top spot – at least, according to research from Simon Calder of The Independent.
The most expensive standard class route is the 0.21-mile link from Ty Glas in Cardiff to Birchgrove. The fare costs £2.60, which per mile would cost £12.24.
The second spenniest is apparently London Blackfriars to City Thameslink which costs £3.70 – or £11.38 per mile. Only takes one to two minutes and by the time the front of the train has reached City Thameslink, the back of the train has barely left the previous stop.
In third place is the journey from Belle Vue to Ryder Brow in south-east Manchester. The ticket price for this one has recently risen to £3. The route is just three-eighths of a mile, meaning the cost per mile comes to exactly £8.
Calder also went as far as calculating the ‘closest stations without a direct rail link between them and with a published ticket price’. It named the winners Catford and Catford Bridge stations in London. These sites have the Ravensbourne River running between them and are only 500 feet apart. Yet because there is no direct link, it would take you 29 minutes to travel from one to the other on the train, which would amount to around £70 per mile. We think we’d rather walk.
Stay in the loop: sign up to Out There, our free newsletter about all the best stuff to do across the UK.