Living on trains

[bennorthyork]

Following this article, I wondered how close you could get to replicating the idea in the UK and the cost? I know there are no Saturday night sleepers.

I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

Lasse Stolley lives on Germany's trains. Metro investigates the fascinating story of this 17 year-old digital nomad.

metro.co.uk

 

[A S Leib]

26 full price 14-day all line rovers would be £23,608 per year, plus, at most, £8.50 (off-peak zones 1-2 Oyster / contactless fare cap) × 52 = £442; around £24,050 per year. I don't know what you'd do during Christmas though.

The cheapest railcard advance tickets for Caledonian Sleeper seats I've seen are ~£35, so I'd guess £50 without, and similar for the Night Riviera; six nights per week, 52 weeks per year, that would be £15,600 without a railcard or £10,920 with one (plus Night Tube).

 

[Townsend Hook]

There’s no annual pass equivalent to the ‘BahnCard 100’ that this chap uses available for the UK network; the closest equivalent would be buying 26 14-day all line rovers to cover the year. This would be £23,608 standard or £36,603 first, versus €4,550 (£3,888) standard or €7,714 (£6,592). So the cost alone would make it far harder or simply impossible for most people.

 

[HST43257]

Following this article, I wondered how close you could get to replicating the idea in the UK and the cost?

Lots

I know there are no Saturday night sleepers.

Breaks the train rule but there’s plenty of coaches on Saturday nights if all else fails. Or there may be Saturday night York to Man Airport services?

There’s no annual pass equivalent to the ‘BahnCard 100’ that this chap uses available for the UK network; the closest equivalent would be buying 26 14-day all line rovers to cover the year. This would be £23,608 standard or £36,603 first, versus €4,550 (£3,888) standard or €7,714 (£6,592). So the cost alone would make it far harder or simply impossible for most people.

Alternatively, if within the correct age ranges, the railcard discount plus railcard price would be 15,769

 

[Townsend Hook]

Alternatively, if within the correct age ranges, the railcard discount plus railcard price would be 15,769

If it comes to that, if it was attempted by a member of railway staff with discounted leisure travel (some extreme remote working), a year’s worth of all line rovers would only be £5,902! The paucity of overnight services in this country would surely be the undoing - a lot of nights spent in the seats up and down to/from Scotland and the West Country, or otherwise having to break the bank on berth supplements.

 

[A S Leib]

or otherwise having to break the bank on berth supplements.

If using Caledonian Sleeper Flexipasses, it can be done for the low price of £124,800* per year (plus Night Tube fares).

I suppose that another way could be to rely on other late-night / early morning services, e.g. 22:00 Bristol Temple Meads - Reading - Gatwick - Bedford, but I don't see how that's viable on a nightly basis.

*((52×12)/10)×2000

 

[yorksrob]

Alternatively, how much would it cost to charter your own train for a year.

 

[zwk500]

Alternatively, how much would it cost to charter your own train for a year.

Rather a lot more than £125k, I expect.

 

[yorksrob]

Rather a lot more than £125k, I expect.

Maybe (I expect there'd be more time parked up in sidings rather than being on the move all the time).

 

[zwk500]

Maybe (I expect there'd be more time parked up in sidings rather than being on the move all the time).

It depends exactly how you're doing it of course. But every move on the mainline will attract costs (access fees, planning fees, fuel or electricity costs) and then you need to pay the leasing or maintenance costs of keeping a train/loco in mainline condition.

 

[yorksrob]

It depends exactly how you're doing it of course. But every move on the mainline will attract costs (access fees, planning fees, fuel or electricity costs) and then you need to pay the leasing or maintenance costs of keeping a train/loco in mainline condition.

The sort of thing a group of wealthy individuals might manage perhaps.

 

[zwk500]

The sort of thing a group of wealthy individuals might manage perhaps.

Indeed. Plenty of wealthy individuals can pay for a private train for a week or so. I think in pre-jet ahead America it wasn't unknown for magnates to all but live aboard their private cars which would be hooked onto the back of commercial services.

 

[kacper]

On the other side of “living on trains”, i’ve seen homeless people using the Southern metro trains for their facilities

 

[HST43257]

If it comes to that, if it was attempted by a member of railway staff with discounted leisure travel (some extreme remote working), a year’s worth of all line rovers would only be £5,902! The paucity of overnight services in this country would surely be the undoing - a lot of nights spent in the seats up and down to/from Scotland and the West Country, or otherwise having to break the bank on berth supplements.

Taking the complete extreme, a status pass holder (safeguarded unlimited) would spend a whopping £0 on a year’s living on trains, potentially even first class living!

 

[A S Leib]

Do staff get any discounts on the Caledonian Sleeper Flexipass?