most expensive railtour?

[heart-of-wessex]

Some will say Chingfinder is expensive, but I've noticed a tour recently costing a bomb making Pathfinders fares look like bargain basement prices!!

The recent 'Grand tour of Great Britain' 8 day charter cost a mahoosive £14,290 for a solo berth!!! hock: hock: hock:!!!! Even the real Orient Express trip is well under half of that!

Most expensive I've seen for a ridiculously short trip was a VSOE trip earlier this year (I think) weighing in at just over £300 for Swindon to London Kenny O!

Can anyone beat £14,290? I bet they made a mint on just one coach if it was full, even just 5 berths would rake in over £71,000. For a trip like that though, it would take me an absolute decade to save up for, just for a 8 day trip. I'd rather go to the USA and explore all the lines there for 10x cheaper, and more miles

I'd also be interested to hear of any short trip charters costing quite alot more too.


James.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It has been known for people to chance doing part of a railtour (say Crewe to Stafford) unbooked and thinking they'll get away with giving the steward a tenner being forced to pay the full £70+ cost for a ticket for the full tour. Officially though, the largest I ever see is usually for a table of 4 in Premier Dining on the Easter / Autumn Chieftains from PF, or any other multiple-day tours.

 

[theblackwatch]

£71k wouldn't cover the cost of running an 8 day railtour - a single day one will normally set you back in excess of £20k.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

£71k wouldn't cover the cost of running an 8 day railtour - a single day one will normally set you back in excess of £20k.

Was it Class 47 hauled throughout too I wonder? There is a photo of a WCRC Class 47 on it top and tailed with another one. Yet the Great Briton series for 7 days steam action is just over £2,000, which is actually quite cheap for a week!

 

[12CSVT]

For railtours aimed at the enthusiast, there was a half day tour run by DRS on 7th July 2007 between Carlisle and Newcastle (covering several freight only lines) hauled by a pair of DRS 66s. Cost was upwards of £100.

Value for money - NOT.

 

[Chester025]

It has been known for people to chance doing part of a railtour (say Crewe to Stafford) unbooked and thinking they'll get away with giving the steward a tenner being forced to pay the full £70+ cost for a ticket for the full tour.

EDIT: Scratch that. I thought it was a Pathfinder tour you were talking about!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Any evidence of this actually happening or is it just hearsay and Chinese whispers?

It was reported from sources who would have no reason to lie, I believe quite a few witnessed it too. Of course it varies by operator, some welcome part fares, others make it very clear that the consequences will be like the ones in the report I mentioned.

 

[Stephen55a1960]

Some will say Chingfinder is expensive, but I've noticed a tour recently costing a bomb making Pathfinders fares look like bargain basement prices!!

The recent 'Grand tour of Great Britain' 8 day charter cost a mahoosive £14,290 for a solo berth!!! hock: hock: hock:!!!! Even the real Orient Express trip is well under half of that!

Most expensive I've seen for a ridiculously short trip was a VSOE trip earlier this year (I think) weighing in at just over £300 for Swindon to London Kenny O!

Can anyone beat £14,290? I bet they made a mint on just one coach if it was full, even just 5 berths would rake in over £71,000. For a trip like that though, it would take me an absolute decade to save up for, just for a 8 day trip. I'd rather go to the USA and explore all the lines there for 10x cheaper, and more miles

I'd also be interested to hear of any short trip charters costing quite alot more too.


James.

At £1786.25 per day, I think you'll find that an exotic cruise works out cheaper

 

[Chester025]

please delete

 

[ChristopherJ]

At £1786.25 per day, I think you'll find that an exotic cruise works out cheaper

Exactly.

Who in their sanity would want to pay £14,000 to spend 8 days roaming around the dull and uninteresting landscape of Britain, constantly up the rear end of commercial trains, hauled by a crappy 47 and in Mk2 and Mk3 carriages? If I want that I'll pay £20 and go to the next preserved line diesel gala.

I'd rather stay at home and use that 14k sensibly - like buying a 'night' with Natalie Portman.

Saying that, I would like to try London - Venice on the VSOE, and as mentioned it's a damn side cheaper too! £2,750 return for 5 days/4 nights.
http://www.orient-express.com/web/vsoe/journeys/4_135988.jsp

Let's compare...

1) £14,000 Royal Scotsman. One country, one train, one loco, 8 days, get to visit Hereford LOL, chances of a intimacy with a young lady? None - it's full of Scotsman.

2) £2,750 VSOE. Five countries, two trains (British Pullman + Continental VSOE), hauled by several locos from each country, 5 days, get to visit Paris, Innsbruck and Venice, chances of a intimacy with a young lady? Guaranteed - it's a romantic train intended for couples.

I think I know what I'd choose... I'll give you a clue - it's not the top one!

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Well I wouldn't agree on the crappy 47 side, for a personal point of view of course, but I still wouldn't pay £14,000 for the haulage, I could buy a tonne of driving sessions on a Class 47 and other locos instead for that price!

Of course if it really does cost over £10,000 grand to run, then they either need to get tips from the Great Briton tour (Steam cannot be cheaper to run than class 47s surely??) and wonder how cruises and orient express trains run for less of a price...

There were double berths on the tour too, costing £8,930. So looking at the video of the tour, there is 6 sleeper cars, so lets say it's 3 and 3 and fully booked (apparently a MK3a has 13 berths, lets just round up to 10) so that's:

10 x 14,290 = £142,920

x 3 = £428,760

10 x 8,930 = £89,300

x 3 = £267,900

£267,900 + £428,760 = £696,660!!!!!!! That's over £87,000 costs covered each day if needed, otherwise some epic profit margin!

I did look on the Royal Scotsman, I see the single berth is the same price as a twin berth, just a £5,360 supplement fee hock: hock:
It did cover restaurant prices, to which it only visited one in Oxford anyway and maybe another on day 7, not mentioned in the itinerary that you went anywhere else, and most of it was a wet week anyway!

 

[matt]

The Royal Scotsman is aimed at wealthy Americans hence the high prices.

 

[ChristopherJ]

The Royal Scotsman is aimed at wealthy Americans hence the high prices.

Allow me to rephrase that for you.

The Royal Scotsman is aimed at gullible Americans hence the high prices.