Britain's Strange Housing Priorities | 154 comments (154 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Britain's Strange Housing Priorities (none / 0)

But if you move within area 6 of the Transport for London system you can cut those commute costs to under 200 pounds a month. And you will be able to find a 2-bed for 800 in that range (albeit in an "unpopular" - i.e., full of the wrong kind of regular people).

It's all about choices.

But, yes, I was just checking that a 1-way ticket from Luton to St. Pancras (30 minute train ride) costs 13 pounds off-peak. So spending 30 pounds a day commuting into London (plus some London public transport) does not seem impossible.

Economics is politics by other means

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jun 1st, 2011 at 10:22:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Britain's Strange Housing Priorities (none / 0)

But, yes, I was just checking that a 1-way ticket from Luton to St. Pancras (30 minute train ride) costs 13 pounds off-peak.

But any properly run rail net has a tiered price scheme, where greater commitment on volume nets you lower price. That separates chumps and tourists from their money more efficiently, while still allowing commuters to pay only the (lower) true economic cost.

If you buy a monthly card and you're not getting at least 50 % off the one-way price, you should feel like someone's cheating you. Coz they would be. Hell, in Copenhagen, a ten-trip card gives you 30-40 % off the one-way price, and the monthly card breaks even with the ten-ticket packs at around 40 trips per month.

- Jake

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Wed Jun 1st, 2011 at 10:34:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Britain's Strange Housing Priorities (none / 0)

There are ways to save. One way is to buy a ticket before 6pm the previous evening.

Advance - Buy in advance, sold in limited numbers and subject to availability. These tickets are only valid on the date/train specified.
Off-Peak - Buy any time, travel off-peak
Anytime - Buy any time, travel any time
Season - Unlimited travel between two stations for a specified period
Rovers and Rangers - Unlimited travel within a specified area. There may be a few time restrictions on when you can travel.

Railcards offer value for money if you travel by train, saving you at least 1/3 on rail fares. They cost from £18 to £26 each and are valid for 12 months. Our Railcards page shows more details. Take a look at our discounts page to see what other discounts are available.

Various discounts are cumulative, resulting in a Byzantine faer system. But it's still expensive.

Economics is politics by other means

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jun 1st, 2011 at 10:43:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Britain's Strange Housing Priorities (none / 0)

Going to the Railways season ticket calculator, a Luton to central London monthly season ticket with area 1-6 tube card is £406.30, without the tube it's £326

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jun 2nd, 2011 at 08:21:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Britain's Strange Housing Priorities (none / 0)

Also, Luton is far worse than many of London's "unpopular" areas.

There are people out here who commute to London regularly - about 3-4 hours by car and 2 hours by train.

But if the mortgage doesn't get you the train fares will.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Jun 3rd, 2011 at 05:01:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Britain's Strange Housing Priorities (none / 0)

Jesus, just move somewhere in tube areas 4-6.

Economics is politics by other means

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jun 3rd, 2011 at 05:11:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Britain's Strange Housing Priorities (none / 0)

Those times are both ways.

An hour into London isn't much worse than getting in from (say) the outer limits of Zone 6.