Train fares again

[gothick]

Ho hum. This time I approached train fares with a view to simply confirming that it would probably be quite pricey to use a train to get to London next week. But while I was looking at the standard prices, I checked out the First Class prices, too.

The First Class prices seem to be out of the realm of "pricey" and well into the region of "mindblowingly stupid". Who pays £233.50 to get to London and back (about a hundred miles) on a Friday night? On a train? Is there actually anyone, or are these fares some strange artefact of the booking/pricing system?

Surely for that money, you'd hire a limousine instead, or just buy a car, and therefore either be free of parking problems or be able to change your return plans easily.

I might suggest this as a Top Gear challenge, actually. How ostentatiously can you get from Bristol to London and back on a budget of £233.50, given a week to make your plans?

Comments

[gothick-matt.livejournal.com]

I can see why you might prefer it; Bristol to Cambridge is a pain in the arse on the train; there's two changes and if you want to travel first class (and therefore get a pretty good chance of a seat and a table, even if you've not made a reservation) then you're looking at the sharp end of £200. Easy to believe that a cabbie could make a profit on it charging him something a little less than that... And both methods of transport take about three hours for the journey.