Astronomical fares!

[All Line Rover]

All fares mentioned are from 20/05/12 - NFM12.

Shrewsbury to Banbury costs £68 for an SOR (no SDR available) or £156 for an FOR.

Let's just remind ourselves of how much Birmingham to Banbury costs. £19.10 for an SDR or £44 for an FOR. There is no First Class accommodation between Shrewsbury and Banbury, and an SOR costs just £16. So if you buy a through ticket for a First Class journey from Shrewsbury to Banbury, that's a staggering 2.6x price increase compared to splitting at Birmingham, a central hub (£156 instead of £60)! hock:

I just couldn't believe this one. Almost triple the price, and it's a rather obscure journey at that! (And surprise, surprise, this fare is price by XC. Whoever sets these fares urgently needs a reality check).

 

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Not fun for the passenger, but you have to applaud their commercial prowess here!

People who can't be bothered checking options or don't even realise they can will just cough up anyway.

Same reason Virgin can get away with massive SOR/FOR prices - these are aimed at businesses who will just pay.

 

[All Line Rover]

Not fun for the passenger, but you have to applaud their commercial prowess here!

People who can't be bothered checking options or don't even realise they can will just cough up anyway.

Same reason Virgin can get away with massive SOR/FOR prices - these are aimed at businesses who will just pay.

But at least Virgin can, to some extent, justify the high prices being such a premium route (and they also make it extremely difficult to find cheaper fares on the peak trains ).

£156 for an FOR from Shrewsbury to Banbury is plain ridiculous. You only get to travel in the "comfort" of First Class accommodation on a Voyager for about 50 minutes. They're charging £112 to travel from Shrewsbury to Birmingham and back! It never occurred to me that that route is one of the UK's flagship railway lines.

(And I thought Crewe to Birmingham was bad at £83 for an FOR, even though you get plenty of food, alcohol, and access to First Class lounges).

I'll admit that I'm amazed by their daring attitude. At least they can't hike up the Shrewsbury to Birmingham fare seeing as this is priced by London Midland.