Trivia - Are there any cases where a bus journey is more expensive than a comparable train journey?

[py_megapixel]

Usually buses seem to be cheaper than trains, but surely there must be some exceptions.... I can't think of any off the top of my head, which is why I'm creating a thread for it.

I'm going to set some baseline rules for what I count:

• Journeys should be a direct bus/train if available and advertised as such, otherwise a route involving a sensible number of changes can be counted. I am deliberately leaving this open rather than imposing arbitrary requirements, but let's just say it should be a routing which a non-enthusiast friend/family member might logically take.
  
  
• Fares compared should be the cheapest adult fares which don't require any form of pre-booking, and should not include split ticketing or other little-known tricks (such as buying a very cheap ticket for the PlusBus validity). Again, the purpose of this is to ensure that the fares are once which a non-enthusiast is likely to be sold.
  
  
• If you are discussing a ticket with time or other restrictions then please note them in your post, as there are likely to be examples where the train is cheaper off-peak and bus cheaper in the peak, for example.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you count a return journey, then Wolverton to MKC off peak. Bus £4.80 (day ticket; 2 singles come to £5), train £3.80 Off Peak Day Return. It's also made the other thread as for a single journey bus is cheaper. I suspect Bletchley-MKC is likely to work as well. Wolverton-Bletchley probably not as the £4.80 day ticket is an effective cap.

I suspect most of the examples will be like this one. Possibly overwhelmingly in the PTE areas where train fares tend to be quite low due to additional subsidy? This is because train return fares tend to be little more than a single, whereas bus return journeys usually require the purchase of two singles or a day ticket that tends to be priced somewhere around the 2 singles mark in most cases (sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less).

 

[vlad]

Unless they've reduced their prices, to get from Kidsgrove to Crewe and back on First PMT you need a day ticket which costs £7.50. However, a day return on the train costs £5.70.

 

[Statto]

Liverpool City Centre-Huyton, train is £3.50 return, bus think £2.30 single, Arriva adult Merseyside Plus day ticket £4.50

 

[charley_17/7]

Milton Keynes Central to Bedford X5 day return is £13.70 (or £8 single), whereas the CDR is £8.90 via Marston Vale Line. Years ago the X5 and 99 had their own 'Virgin Trains Bus' fares, which were considerably cheaper.

 

[Geochemwill]

Staveley to Kendal (10mins). Single Bus £4.20, train off peak £3.80, peak £4.10. Return bus £7.30, train off peak £3.90, peak £4.60. For single or return tickets, irrespective of time of day, train cheaper than bus!

 

[Darandio]

Redcar Central to Middlesbrough. Train is £3.30 off peak return and £3.70 anytime return. Equivalent bus was £6.30 return last time I used it for a journey that takes over five times longer.

 

[Busaholic]

I believe it is often cheaper to get an offpeak return between two stations on the Cornish main line than to make a similar return journey by bus. In both cases, First is the operator. No wonder, perhaps, that Cornwall was chosen by Dept of Transport for pilot (much) reduced fare experiment, an idea that appears to have escaped into the post-Covid ether without being enacted.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Not cheaper but barely anything in it: Charlbury-Oxford, £7 CDR, £6.80 by bus. The train takes 15 minutes, the bus takes an hour or more. A fair few people do still get the bus because they can disembark in parts of Oxford some way from the railway station.

 

[DDB]

If I've read the faretable correctly Derby to Matlock return on the TransPeak is £7.60. On the train it is £7.70 for the anytime but only £6.80 off peak.

 

[sk688]

Trowbridge to Bradford on Avon - £3.20 on a single through the GWR App , £3.35 through the First Bus App

Clifton Down to Redland - £1.50 GWR , £2.20 using the 72

 

[JonathanH]

Some examples, although personally I usually walk the first one in 20-25 minutes.

Redhill to Reigate
By bus £2.60 single, £4.40 return
By train £2.50 off-peak day single, £2.60 anytime day single, £2.60 off-peak day return, £2.90 anytime day return

Redhill to Gatwick Airport
By bus £3.00 single, £5.10 return
By train £2.30 off-peak Oyster / Contactless, £4.00 peak Oyster / Contactless, £4.00 anytime day single, £4.30 off-peak day return, £7.80 anytime day return

 

[Llandudno]

Deganwy to Llandudno
By train anytime single £2.40, anytime day return £2.50
By Arriva Bus single £3.30, return £6 (Which is the cost of their day rover ticket)

 

[NorthOxonian]

Oxford to Bicester outside the peak. The train fare is £3.50 single or £3.60 for a day return, whereas the bus is £4.40 single or £5.50 return (and for completeness, peak train fares are £5.20 and £5.80 respectively).

I am reasonably confident there are a few on the Durham Coast, but Go North East no longer publish fare tables, making it difficult to verify these. Sunderland to Seaham almost certainly fits, for example, but I can't prove it.

In that same area, if you count Peterlee and Horden as the same place, then there will be more - many of the buses running to Peterlee are premium services such as the X9 and X10, which means the fares are relatively high. From there to Hartlepool, Billingham, or Middlesbrough would all be decent shouts, but again, I wouldn't be completely confident of these.

 

[E100]

Newcastle to Metrocentre is a lot cheaper with a railcard and still cheaper without. I don't have the exact figures but train around £2 and bus around £3.50-4.00 depending on the operator.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Newcastle to Metrocentre is a lot cheaper with a railcard and still cheaper without. I don't have the exact figures but train around £2 and bus around £3.50-4.00 depending on the operator.

A bus single on the 100 is £2.90, with no return sold (only a day ticket for £4.30). Go North East don't publicise their fares, but they offer a Newcastle & Metrocentre Saver for £4, which would cover a return journey.

On the other hand, the train fare is £3 for an off peak single, up to £3.70 for an off peak day return. I imagine that for a return journey the train will be cheaper but for a single the bus usually has the edge (us lucky railcard users excepted).

However, having made that journey many times, I don't think taking the train has even occurred to me. Between the fact that the buses are fast and regular, compared to the train (which leaves from the furthest platform in Newcastle, making it feel even more of a hassle). I expect a lot the time it will be those sorts of journeys which give rise to these examples - where the train isn't much faster, or is much less frequent, for example. There TOCs will set their fares to compete on price.

 

[Mugby]

Derby to Belper. Off Peak day return by train £5.10p.

TrentBarton bus (The Sixes) Single fare £4.10p. The cheapest Return is their ZigZag off peak all day ticket at £6.60p.

TrentBarton - The really expensive bus company!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

TrentBarton - The really expensive bus company!

Stagecoach in Cumbria aren't that cheap either!

 

[mchunt]

Letchworth to Hitchin - £3.60 return on train at peak time, it was £3.75 single last time I used the bus (over a year ago).
Letchworth to Stevenage - £4.20 return off peak on train, £5.10 cheapest return ticket on bus - peak time bus is cheaper than train.

 

[northken]

Bristol Temple Meads to Clifton Down is £2 for an Anytime Day Return. The single for the bus is £2.25/£2.50, depending on whether bought in advance or not.

 

[ALEMASTER]

Sheffield to Rotherham return..

by First bus (such as X1 or X78) - First Day South Yorkshire ticket £5
by Northern train - Off Peak Day Return £3.90, Anytime Day Return £4.60
by Tram-Train - Tram Only Dayrider £4.40

A single journey is £2.60 on the tram and £3.60 on the train. First bus don't advertise their single fares.

Dore & Totley to Sheffield

Train (Northern, TPE or EMR)
Single £2.80
Off Peak Day Return £3.40
Anytime Day Return £4.00

Bus (First 97/98 or TM Travel 218)
Single £3.00
First Day Sheffield £4.20
TM Travel U-Go Day Ticket £4.50
Citybus Day ticket (any operator) £4.70

 

[Zooty]

Lancaster - Bare Lane
Bus: £2.90 single, £5.00 return (day ticket also £5.00)
Anytime train: £2.60 single, £2.90 return
Off-peak train: £2.30 single, £2.40 return

Lancaster - Morecambe
Bus: £3.80 single, £6.30 (!) return (day ticket £5.00)
Anytime train: £3.70 single, £4.10 return
Off-peak train: £3.30 single, £3.40 return

 

[739678]

Many parts of inner Glasgow have train fares that undercut the bus, but the example below adds another confusion if you are only going one way...
Glasgow Central or Queen Street to Partick
Bus: £2.50 single, £4.50 return (Day Ticket)
Train: £2.40 single, £3.00 anytime return, £2.00 cheap day return.
Subway: £1.75 single, £3.30 return

 

[Flange Squeal]

A few examples of direct journeys and the single/return fares....

Woking to Brookwood
Train (Anytime): £3.80 / £5.40 (5 mins)
Train (Off Peak): £3.80 / £4.50 (5 mins)
28 (Falcon Bus): £4.00 / £6.50* (28 mins)
48 (White Bus): £3.70 / £5.50 (24 mins)

(*There is a Woking Travelwide day ticket available covering this section for £5.80, so it'd be interesting to see if the driver offered this cheaper multi-operator ticket rather than the day return)

-----------------------------------------

Woking to Addlestone (Sunday)
Train (Anytime): £4.00 / £4.40 (12 mins)
456 (White Bus): £4.30 / £6.90 (30 mins)

-----------------------------------------

Addlestone to Chertsey
Train (Anytime): £2.90 / £4.30 (3 mins)
Train (Off Peak): £2.90 / £3.90 (3 mins)
456 (Falcon Bus): £3.00 / £5.00 (14 mins)

-----------------------------------------

Staines to Virginia Water
Train (Anytime): £3.90 / £6.80 (8 mins)
Train (Off Peak): £3.90 / £5.10 (8 mins)
566/7 (White Bus): £4.30 / £6.90 (19-22 mins)
500 (White Bus): £3.30 / £5.30 (13 mins)

-----------------------------------------

Guildford to Woking
Train (Anytime): £4.10 / £7.50 (~10 mins)
Train (Off Peak): £4.10 / £6.10 (~10 mins)
Train (Super OP): £4.10 / £5.00 (~10 mins)
28 (Falcon Bus): £5.00 / £7.50 (52 mins)
33 (Stagecoach): £4.20 / £5.80 (27 mins)
462/3 (White Bus): £3.70 / £5.90 (52 mins)

(*It should be noted the 28 and 462/3 are a bit more round the houses than the direct Stagecoach 33 and Arriva 34/35 (32-38min journey time), but the latter don't seem to want you to know how much they are going to charge you in advance, so I can't compare them here)

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Guildford to Woking
Train (Anytime): £4.10 / £7.50 (~10 mins)
Train (Off Peak): £4.10 / £6.10 (~10 mins)
Train (Super OP): £4.10 / £5.00 (~10 mins)
28 (Falcon Bus): £5.00 / £7.50 (52 mins)
33 (Stagecoach): £4.20 / £5.80 (27 mins)
462/3 (White Bus): £3.70 / £5.90 (52 mins)

(*It should be noted the 28 and 462/3 are a bit more round the houses than the direct Stagecoach 33 and Arriva 34/35 (32-38min journey time), but the latter don't seem to want you to know how much they are going to charge you in advance, so I can't compare them here)

If I recall correctly, I think a 34/35 return is £5.70. Not sure about the single fare however.

 

[neilmc]

There must be hundreds, and increasing all the time. A large proportion of bus passengers will either have period/rover tickets or will be pensioners using their ENCTS pass. However, for ENCTS passengers the level of return they get from the local authority is a percentage of the single fare, so it makes sense for them to continually ramp up the cost of single tickets, knowing that hardly anyone will buy them and, unlike trains, the local authority often has no control over the cost.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Stagecoach in Cumbria aren't that cheap either!

Another bus company who are pretty expensive for occasional travellers is Southern Vectis, and their network is a happy hunting ground if you're looking for examples of the train beating the bus on price.

In fact, there are no rail journeys on the Isle of Wight which are more expensive than their bus counterpart (route 3 runs parallel to the railway line for its entire length), and in the vast majority of cases rail is a bit cheaper. That applies to single fares, and even more so to return fares - which are only available on the train and not on the bus.

Ryde - Ryde St. John's Road: £1.50 by train, £2.50 by bus.
Ryde - Brading: £2.80/£3.50
Ryde - Sandown: £3.30/£3.50
Ryde - Lake: £3.50/£3.50 (the only case where the bus and train journeys cost the same)
Ryde - Shanklin: £4.00/£4.50
Brading - Shanklin: £2.70/£3.50
Sandown - Shanklin: £2.30/£2.50

The one exception is for travel to "Ventnor Bus", which is offered as a through ticket with a change at Shanklin. But even that can be cheaper than just getting the bus - if you have a railcard, or you're wanting to make a return journey (the fares from Ryde, for example: £6.50 train single, £8.80 train return, £4.30 train single with railcard, £4.50 bus single).

 

[RT4038]

I think, as a general rule, bus fares tend to be more expensive over short distances (one station to the next etc) but then progressively the tables turn the further you go.

Intuitively this sounds reasonable - over short distances buses tend to get the most trade because journey times will be more comparable, services more frequent and bus stops are more likely to be more convenient than stations, with fare difference being small in absolute terms.
The further the distance, the convenience of the bus stops will start being outweighed by the longer journey times, and services less frequent, so the bus fares have to be more competitive than rail to get any market share at all.

Obviously there will be plenty of exceptions to this, due to particular local circumstances.

 

[Typhoon]

There are probably stacks in the South East. Herne Bay to Whitstable (station to station - 2 rail stops) - Rail £4.30 return (£4.10), Bus single is more than either (£4.40 - £6.60 return). Because fares are often increased by a percentage, inequalities are merely compounded. However, if you go any distance on the bus you hit Stagecoach's Day Ticket rate of £7.30. I guess this is much the same elsewhere.

 

[mlambeuk]

York to Poppleton £3.70 off peak return vs £4.50 First York day ticket (£4.05 if bought as an mticket).