Car vs Train - Missing Trains Already

[al78]

Truro to Penzance via the A390 and A30 is 44 miles. Sainsburys in Pz are selling diesel at £1.05 per litre which equates to £4.67 per gallon. My Golf will easily manage 45 to the gallon. You do the maths.

That means the fuel cost is approximately £10, not £5 since you presumably wish to get back again, and the round trip will be 88 miles. Unless I have misread something in your earlier post you compared the cost of a return rail fare with the outbound only fuel cost for driving.

 

[edwin_m]

I probably spend at least 4hr per week working on the laptop on trains. On the rare occasions when someone has queried this I have pointed out that although it may take longer or cost more than other modes, this is usually outweighed by the unproductive time involved in either driving or taking a plane. It helps also that I plan to use off-peak trains and Advances wherever possible.

 

[Cliveblackpool]

Truro to Penzance via the A390 and A30 is 44 miles. Sainsburys in Pz are selling diesel at £1.05 per litre which equates to £4.67 per gallon. My Golf will easily manage 45 to the gallon. You do the maths.

I always double the cost of fuel to give an approximate cost per mile. Tyre wear, servicing, (with a diesel car it is false economy to skimp on servicing) parts, parking etc.
Train is cheaper for 1 person!! Plus the walk up the hill to the station in Truro will help keep you fit!
http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/motoring-advice/running-costs/diesel2014.pdf

 

[Crossover]

Truro to Penzance via the A390 and A30 is 44 miles. Sainsburys in Pz are selling diesel at £1.05 per litre which equates to £4.67 per gallon. My Golf will easily manage 45 to the gallon. You do the maths.

That means the fuel cost is approximately £10, not £5 since you presumably wish to get back again, and the round trip will be 88 miles. Unless I have misread something in your earlier post you compared the cost of a return rail fare with the outbound only fuel cost for driving.

Your fuel there works out at around 10p per mile (which is about what I get from my Golf) so the round trip in fuel will be around £10, not £5 as noted by al78 - the maths doesn't add up on taking the car for that distance

I always double the cost of fuel to give an approximate cost per mile. Tyre wear, servicing, (with a diesel car it is false economy to skimp on servicing) parts, parking etc.
Train is cheaper for 1 person!! Plus the walk up the hill to the station in Truro will help keep you fit!
http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/motoring-advice/running-costs/diesel2014.pdf

 

[HowardGWR]

Truro to Penzance via the A390 and A30 is 44 miles. Sainsburys in Pz are selling diesel at £1.05 per litre which equates to £4.67 per gallon. My Golf will easily manage 45 to the gallon. You do the maths.

I still scratch my head over why you have to convert back to old measurements. Is it living in Cornwall that demands this strange mental activity?

 

[Master29]

I still scratch my head over why you have to convert back to old measurements. Is it living in Cornwall that demands this strange mental activity?

If he can get to the A30 on the Cornish Car Park aka A390 on 45 miles a gallon I still say he`s using miracle juice. To be fair 45 miles as the crow flies would represent both ways easily.
I simply think Truro to PZ is a bad example seeing as Cornwall rail travel is fairly cheap but the road system is a joke. Hardly a no brainer and Truro is bloody expensive parking wise and horrendous traffic wise.Especially during the summers and peaks.

 

[Richard_B]

I find the price calculation usually depends on if the journey is being done solo or with people. With rail card 1 persons advance or off peak ticket is nearly always 60-70% of the just petrol costs for my journeys, but if going with friends somewhere then splitting the costs of the car becomes cheaper person-which as a student everyone is cool doing.

On other factors that will influence the decision.. The longer the journey the more attractive the train should become as it reduces the impact of getting to the station and who really wants to drive on a motorway for 6 hrs...

 

[Phil.]

That means the fuel cost is approximately £10, not £5 since you presumably wish to get back again, and the round trip will be 88 miles. Unless I have misread something in your earlier post you compared the cost of a return rail fare with the outbound only fuel cost for driving.

Indeed I did - or didn't as the case may be. I still maintain the slightly higher cost is more than offset by the convenience though. You must remember that had Mrs. Phil accompanied me then the costs would have immediately halved whereas using rail they would have doubled.
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If he can get to the A30 on the Cornish Car Park aka A390 on 45 miles a gallon I still say he`s using miracle juice. To be fair 45 miles as the crow flies would represent both ways easily.
I simply think Truro to PZ is a bad example seeing as Cornwall rail travel is fairly cheap but the road system is a joke. Hardly a no brainer and Truro is bloody expensive parking wise and horrendous traffic wise.Especially during the summers and peaks.

Well all I can tell you is that I had a clear run both ways leaving Pz (outskirts) at circa 10.30 and £2.50 saw me parked in lemon Quay multi storey for two hours. There was a bit of congestion coming out approaching the roundabout by the retail park but it hardly compared with the twenty five minute late arrival of the 18.00 from Paddington last Friday that Mrs. Phil came back from Padders on.

 

[Blindtraveler]

As my username suggests I dont drive but even if I did I wouldnt bother with a caras Im quite happy letting someone else be it a bus or taxi driver or the ASDA van delivering my shopping fight with the traffic and I would Im sure walk more if practicle as quite apart from anything else its good for the (seamingly ever expanding) waistline!

Motorway driving is Im told dull and as a believer in supporting public transport the various forms of this would be my choice for journeys where it was at all doable. Only for really remote or non transport served trips would I shell out the small cost of hiring a car, where possible from a local firm to support a communitty and even this wouldnt be so essential if the high volume of car owners hadnt made so many outer suburban and rural bus services so unviable that theyve been cut
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And of course its a vicious cycle as the less public transport there is the more people of all ages from teens to pensioners, some of who shouldnt be out on the roads quite frankly own cars. The only thing that would change my mind in my hypothetical able to see enough to drive situation is if the future electric vehicles have a slightly longer range, maybe up to 200 miles on a charge meaning one becomes a viable option for longer journeys or those without a handy power supply

 

[Greenback]

Whenever this subject comes up we end up with the same sort of arguments.

The truth of the matter is that each journey is different, and the economics of each journey will similarly vary. For most people, the convenience and flexibility of the car is going to add value to using that form of transport rather than trains for many journey which could be made by rail, but there are many, many more journeys that people make all the time that will not even by possible using the railway.

 

[Phil.]

I still scratch my head over why you have to convert back to old measurements. Is it living in Cornwall that demands this strange mental activity?

No, it's because I was brought up on (for my generation) easy to understand imperial measurements.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I always double the cost of fuel to give an approximate cost per mile. Tyre wear, servicing, (with a diesel car it is false economy to skimp on servicing) parts, parking etc.
Train is cheaper for 1 person!! Plus the walk up the hill to the station in Truro will help keep you fit!
http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/motoring-advice/running-costs/diesel2014.pdf

Walking up the hill from the city to Truro station may keep me fit but my 66 year old knees get a bit strained.