gothick_matt

So. I'm popping down to London next week. And joyously, when I mentioned I was going, Su-who-sits-next-to-me said I could stay at the flat she owns in Chelsea if I fancied it. Nice. All I have to do is pick up the keys her tenant has left behind for her. Oh, and she's made me promise to say "hello" to any Chelsea Pensioners I pass, which is fair enough, I think.

So, that's all good. Then I looked at train prices for getting down there on Tuesday night and back on Wednesday morning (to get in to Bristol before 10am, for work.)

A hundred and twenty five quid.

For God's sake.

So, looks like I'll be coming back by coach. Luckily, being next to Sloane Square -- yes, I really will be staying in the land of the Chelsea Tractor and the Sloane Ranger -- the flat's remarkably convenient for Victoria, which means I should just be able to roll out of bed and along to the coach station.

And the coach will cost the princely sum of £6.

Now, that's not an entirely fair price comparison, as the £125 was the return journey on the train (because of the bit that falls into "peak time" on Wednesday morning); the coach price is only a single fare because I still want to travel down to London on the train and the price on Tuesday evening won't break the bank. At least I'll be able to do some writing, or other productive stuff.

But even so, it gives you an idea of how expensive the trains are compared with virtually any other form of transport. My next best bet after the coach would have been to drive down, park somewhere like Ealing Broadway, and get the tube in and out, which would have cost me about a third what the train would cost.

This is a real shame, as I generally enjoy train travel¹, but pretty much every time I look at doing it I can't justify the expense compared to virtually any other form of transport.

I'm quite tempted to try getting a quote for hiring a stretch HUMV limo just to see whether it might still be cheaper.

¹Leisure train travel, anyway. Commuting starts gets on my nerves quite quickly.