Rail Cost More Expensive Than Car Cost

Thursday, 25. September 2014

You may or may not know that taxi fares are calculated (automatically via software in the metre) using a mixture of time and distance. For example, the cabs in London travelling between 06.00 and 22.00 on a normal weekday (excluding bank holidays) charge according to Tariff 1. For the first 252.4 metres or the first 27.1 seconds (whichever is reached first) there is a minimum charge of £2.40.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

For each additional 126.2 metres or 27.1 seconds (whichever is reached first), or part thereof, if the fare is less than £17.40 then there is a charge of 20p. Once the charge has reached £17.40 the charge increases to 20p per 88.5 metres or 19 seconds (whichever is reached first), or part thereof.

As it’s easier to calculate the cost per mile than per hour (we don’t know the speed the cab will travel at) the rate goes from £15.30 per mile to £2.55 per mile after the minimum charge then it increases again to £3.64 per mile once the charge reaches £17.40. All very complicated but converting into a cost per mile provides us with a better perspective.

So I was quite surprised to read a totally different perspective on rail fares following the last, above inflation, fare rise announcement. It was not only shocking but also gave us a very good reason why people are still not choosing to take public transport over their precious car. The report suggested that peak time rail fares are one of the worst value items, sitting alongside car insurance, inner city/airport parking, energy bills and car mechanics charged by some dealers at £200 per hour.

The columnist explained that his short, early morning trip cost an amazing £1.20 per minute travelled or £72 per hour. So comparing that with a black cab after the minimum charge of £2.40 you pay 20p per 27.1 seconds or £0.44 per minute or £26.40 per hour. Is it me and the columnist, Mike Rutherford, or is this madness? He calculated that those doing the 121 minute trip between Manchester and London during peak time costs them £1.33 per minute or £80 per hour.

He points out that it is just a matter of time before 2nd class peak travel will reach £100 per hour or £150 per hour first class. Apparently an annual season ticket between London and Manchester costs £14,000 which works out at £1.33 per minute. He then compared that with the cost of a new Mini which, after allowing for ALL running costs including the cost of the car, fuel, insurance, servicing, RFL, depreciation etc. it came in at 33p per minute if you assume an average 60mph.

Now this may be a little unrealistic but it puts rail travel into context. No wonder people still want to avoid train travel! By Graham Hill

Has The Coalition Helped The Motorist As Promised?

Saturday, 5. February 2011

A GATSO speed camera

Image via Wikipedia

Auto Express has reminded us that when the Tory led coalition came to power they were going to stop Labour’s war on the motorist but has that war ended? They analyse the key areas:

Speed Cameras: We already know that many of the UK’s cameras have been switched off but we also know that many local people are being trained up to use speed Read more »

Cities Set To Scrap Congestion Charges

Friday, 9. July 2010

To make congestion charges or not to make congestion charges – that is the question that the city council of York has been wrestling with and decided – no charge – at the moment. Not wishing to be a cynic but I feel it may have had something to do with the removal of millions of pounds of funding, introduced by the Labour government to encourage cities to make the charges. But whilst this, and other proposed Read more »

Political Party Views On Transport

Friday, 5. March 2010

If you have no children to educate, no elderly relatives in need of care, you are employed in something that pays more than minimum wages it may be that your biggest priority in life is your car and what it costs you to run. If that’s the case you may be interested in some information kindly provided by Fleet News. They have looked at some of the major transport proposals and initiatives  and compared the Read more »

Employer Responsibilities When Staff Work From Home

Saturday, 30. January 2010

Business Insurance specialists Premierline warned employers that when they allow employees to work from home they are still responsible for their welfare in the same way, I guess, as employees that use their own cars for company business. According to the Department for Labour the employer has the same responsibilities as he would for any other employee at work. Whilst it is accepted that some controls are Read more »

Are Battery Powered Cars Really Green?

Monday, 30. November 2009

As with anything ecological there are some strong views when it comes to the debate on battery powered cars. The Labour Government believes that battery power is the way to go and is offering a £5,000 subsidy per battery powered car from 2011. This will cost £230 million but according to experts in the motor industry the future depends totally upon the ability of the battery manufacturers to develop batteries Read more »

Bad Vehicle Excise Duty Rates Set For 2010

Wednesday, 27. August 2008

After all the public outcry over the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) reforms that were proposed by the Chancellor, a cross party committee has come out in favour of the proposals. When the Chancellor announced his plans to introduce the green banding retrospectively on not only new cars but also old cars pushing millions of used cars into higher tax bands the Tories and some Labour MPs condemned him for Read more »