New research by PetrolPrices.com has revealed that it is cheaper to travel by road than by rail, with analysis showing that train fares are up to 13 times more expensive than driving.
The comparison of 20 journeys around Britain at peak and off-peak times showed that taking a car was cheaper every time – even though the cost of petrol has recently reached a six-month high. Some fares were over £200 more expensive than the same journey by road and this applied to across peak and off-peak fares.
Peak journeys ranged from three to thirteen times the price of driving, and off-peak journeys ranged from just under three times to nearly ten times the cost of driving.
As part of the research, fuel information site and app, PetrolPrices.com looked at the fuel cost for 20 journeys travelling in Britain’s best-selling cars, the Ford Fiesta (petrol) and the Volkswagen Golf (diesel). These figures were then compared with the cost of a peak return rail ticket, booked a day in advance, leaving at around 8am and returning at a similar time the following day.
| Peak Travel: Rail versus road | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journey | Cost of peak return ticket* | Cost of unleaded petrol in the Fiesta | Difference in price | Rail more by |
| Luton to Cambridge | £84.60 | £6.40 | £78.20 | x13 |
| Southampton to Bath | £125.70 | £11.79 | £113.91 | x10.5 |
| London to Manchester | £327 | £33.97 | £293.03 | x9.5 |
| Luton to Liverpool | £289 | £31.29 | £257.71 | x9 |
| London to Birmingham | £170 | £19.87 | £150.13 | x8.5 |
| York to Bath | £344.70 | £40.59 | £304.11 | x8.5 |
| Oxford to Newcastle | £326.40 | £46.17 | £280.23 | x7 |
| Leeds to Bath | £257.60 | £36.75 | £220.85 | x7 |
| Oxford to Manchester | £170.20 | £27.88 | £142.32 | x6.1 |
| Birmingham to Manchester | £86.90 | £14.83 | £72.07 | x6 |
| Luton to Newcastle | £202.30 | £43.38 | £158.92 | x4.5 |
| London to Edinburgh | £101 | £32.94 | £68.06 | x3 |
| Petrol costs from PetrolPrices.com based on distance travelled and cost of fuel in the starting town or city. Calculations for a Ford Fiesta based on a 1litre engine and manufacturer’s claimed fuel economy of 65.7mpg and based on return journey. Rail prices quoted on the trainline.com, leaving around 8am on Weds May 8th and returning on Thursday May 9 at around 8am, with quotes obtained on Tuesday May 7. | ||||
| Off Peak Travel: Rail versus road | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journey | Cost of off-peak return ticket* | Cost of unleaded petrol in the Fiesta | Difference in price | Rail more by |
| Luton to Cambridge | £63.20 | £6.40 | £56.80 | x9.9 |
| Southampton to Bath | £32.40 | £11.79 | £20.61 | x2.7 |
| London to Manchester | £89.60 | £33.79 | £55.81 | x2.7 |
| Luton to Liverpool | £75.70 | £31.29 | £44.41 | x2.4 |
| London to Birmingham | £56.70 | £19.87 | £36.83 | x2.85 |
| York to Bath | £124.75 | £40.59 | £84.16 | x3 |
| Oxford to Newcastle | £153.10 | £46.17 | £106.93 | x3.3 |
| Leeds to Bath | £261.60 | £36.75 | £224.85 | x7.1 |
| Oxford to Manchester | £80.55 | £27.88 | £52.67 | x2.9 |
| Birmingham to Manchester | £39.60 | £14.83 | £24.77 | x2.7 |
| Luton to Newcastle | £125.30 | £43.38 | £81.92 | x2.9 |
| London to Edinburgh | £238.00 | £32.94 | £205.06 | x7.2 |
| Petrol costs from PetrolPrices.com based on distance travelled and cost of fuel in the starting town or city. Calculations for a Ford Fiesta based on a 1litre engine and manufacturer’s claimed fuel economy of 65.7mpg and based on return journey. Rail prices quoted on the trainline.com, leaving around 9am on Sat May 18th and returning within a month, with quotes obtained on Wednesday May 15th. | ||||
The research showed that a return from Luton to Cambridge cost £84.60 at peak times, costs 13 times more than the £6.40 spend to drive the 40 miles between the two. It was also one of the highest off-peak comparisons costing nearly ten times more that of the car journey. Anyone travelling by train on this route is forced to change in London because there is no direct link. A peak return from Luton to Newcastle, also via London, was £202.30, while the petrol cost for the round trip in a Ford Fiesta was around £43.50.
Says Kitty Bates of PetrolPrices.com: “With some train fares costing up to thirteen times the cost of driving, our research shows that despite the recent increases in the price of fuel, road is still a cheaper way to travel than rail. Savvy drivers can save even more by checking for the cheapest or best value station stations near to their home, en route, or at their destination. This is because fuel prices can vary massively across the country; with up to a 30ppl difference between the cheapest station and the most expensive motorway station. We have calculated that PetrolPrices members save around £200 a year by comparing petrol stations near them, with many surprised to discover nearby petrol stations they never even knew existed.”
The news comes as nationally petrol prices increased by 5p a litre last month. This is the second highest price rise since 2000, with May 2018 being the highest, and it comes as retailers pass on wholesale price increases to customers after the cost of oil increased by more than $3 a barrel. The increase is expected to add around £3 to the cost of filling up an average family car, with the average price of a tank now sitting at £70. However, as the research shows, taking the car over the train still works out as a more cost-effective option, especially if there is more than one passenger travelling.
For editors interested in covering this story, please visit the Press page for more contact details and information.
And this is based on one person in a car vs. one rail passenger. Imagine the cost savings with a full car. Scandalous is not too strong a word.
How can a car use more fuel to travel from Luton to Newcastle than from London to Edinburgh???
Or a fiesta going from London to Edinburgh and back for £33???? Was the study conducted by Ryanair? Nowhere near London to nowhere near Edinburgh…
Maybe one has more motorway driving which would save on fuel.
Get less mpg on the motorway, although no stop start, the higher the average mph, the lower the mpg!
Pugmonkey what do you drive that does less mpg on the open road? Don’t tell me, a Toyota Prius? Only car I know of that goes less mpg on motorway. Drive to a steady speed most cars do their best mpg on the motorway.
You must be driving too fast 56Mph is optimum Mpg
fuel is more expensive in Luton than london
This info is misleading as it does not take in to account the true running costs of the car. Wear and tear, insurance, servicing etc. There are few cars which run less than £1 per mile, so apply your cars true running costs over the distances quoted will probably indicate the train is cheaper.
Add in the delays on our roads during peak times, your cars running costs will increase.
I appreciate some car journeys are cheaper, especially when you are travelling with more than one person. For example a family of four travelling to most of our sea side resorts is massively cheaper by car. However that is not the examples the survey above quotes which is badly written and misleading
But still… My wife and son have a uni open day in Manchester and have to travel up from Brighton. Pushing £200 on the train, plus a hotel because you cannot get there early enough otherwise. Compare that with £80 in fuel by my calculation. Wear & tear for mileage additional to normal is not as clear cut an on-cost as saying £1 a mile and insurance is unaffected. It was a no-brainer.
You need to add on the cost of parking, which in Manchester will be expensive
If you’ve already got a car the extra costs of putting a couple of hundred extra miles on it are fairly low and nowhere near the £1 mile you quote. Government only allows 25p mile as tax deductible expense for running a car after first few miles which easily covers the incremental cost to run most cars.
Current HMRC reimbursement rate for mileage which supposedly take into account the full cost of car ownership is 45p per mile. Using that cost, a significant number of the off-peak journeys are still cheaper by car. All are cheaper if more than 1 person is travelling and all are cheaper compared to peak travel. Plus you have the convenience of travelling door-to-door at times to suit.
AS I RECALL THE DIFFERENCE IN RATE PER MILE ALLOWANCE DEPENDS ON MILEAGE FOR BUSINESS IN A YOUR. BELOW A CERTAIN MILEAGE THE HIGHER RATE APPLIES.
But you already have your car and have paid the necessary tax an insurance. So what they are saying is you won’t save owt by leaving the car at home.
That is nonsense… I have 2008 Lexus IS250. Not economical car nor it is very new (186k miles). My cost per mile all inclusive +£500 a year for unexpected breakdowns + depreciation… averages me 22p mile… for last 5 years and I only do modest 12k per year, if I would do 30k it would go down to ~10p. And it is not misleading at all, they simply make reasonable assumption that majority of over 25y old already have a car, the case is simple – you already have a car and you pay all the static costs like insurance, road tax and service anyway. So what do you take the car you already have or train?
Oops! Cheaper from London to Edinburgh than London to Manchester?? Methinks not!!
It all comes down to the type of ticket and the time you travel, as has been said previously the report is a great example of sloppy journalism and poor research.
It is when you get stuck in M6 roadworks doing 25mph for 50 miles
As with all these car/public transport comparisons – especially with rail – no one takes into account the cost of travel to/from the railhead, and the probable parking costs/difficulties. These extras are different for all of us, but they are still there and need to be put into your equation.
As with all these road/rail comparisons no one takes into account the costs (and time) of getting to and from the railheads. These will obviously vary from person to person but should be taken into account to get a faar comparison.
This is a totally false comparison – you can’t include only fuel costs; depreciation, insurance and road tax need to be included. 40p or 45p per mile would give a more realistic comparison.
And this is the cost of one ticket. What about a family of four. Extortion!
No, 34% needs be knocked off rail prices shown through use of railcards available to all in this family. Then there are advance purchases for further savings ……..
Yeah but thats another con, advanced fares. i Can use my car when I want an the cost is the same, unless your going on holiday advance fare is a p$%# take. It ment to be a public service so should be one price all the time. If they can’t run as such the Government should remove them an take it back into state control.
I usually make journeys from Cornwall up to Devon or further afield and my findings are completely in favour of the train! no mention of parking charges for the car, no mention of the times taken, the fact you are using a car which we cannot validate the MPG of, if someone makes the journey and can validate the MPG then it would be more credible, the best fares are got usually three weeks in advance – I went all the way from Cornwall to Doncaster for £17.00 yes seventeen pounds, yet last Saturday I went up to Dawlish and that cost £13.00 on the day.
Any journey through or in part in London seems to cost more every time I have booked them.
An off-peak return London to Edinburgh is more than a peak return???
This has got to be one of the most meaningless piece of “research” I’ve ever seen. No accounting for the true cost of running a car or the many good value advance tickets available. I regularly commuted Crewe-Glasgow and return earlier this year by train and never paid more than £20 each way. Also what value do you put on your time and not having the stress of driving?
I clearly have the wrong car – presumably the Fiesta used in the test is one that attracts no depreciation whatsoever, doesn’t require insuring, MoT’ing or servicing, and never needs tyres or wiper blades… Come on PetrolPrices – you can do better than this – to not make this a fair comparison makes the story worthless as it will simply be dismissed. The crazy thing was you could have written it properly, including ALL the motoring costs, and the rail fares would still have proved your point by being dearer! Sloppy, lazy journalism doesn’t win arguments.
Does your insurance, VED, servicing costs changes significantly whenever you drive car or not? You sill need to pay all the same it unless it is SORN and of the public roads. It still depreciates much the same. Yes they made assumption you already have the car – which is fair assumption considering most 25+ brits do. Trains as well cost more… you need to get to train station as well?!
Some of the calculations look doubtful as it is not just petrol you pay for. But given that we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel (oh yes we do) perhaps it shows that we are not paying enough tax on petrol. Not a popular view but one that had some credibility I believe
And what the trains running on? You say electricity? Well… how is electricity made? It was proved by more respectable research then this that taking 2l diesel Mondeo from London to Edinburgh is more environmentally friendly than train if 2+ people going.
Perhaps a comparison with a hire car is more accurate and include cost of fuel on top.
And it should be pointed out that at the end of the day the rail traveler has nothing but memories.. The car driver still holds a valuable asset.
Train fares can be reduced by using the split ticket web sites, any ordinary traveller who can plan a few days in advance need never pay anything like the full fares. I have just done quick search and there are several trains that you can take for £146.70 return if booked 24 hrs in advance. OK it’s still cheaper by car but I frequently travel from Birmingham to Carlisle and there are several places when you run near the M6, I’m having a drink, tea coffee or alcoholic, the rain is coming down and the motorway is one long fog of spray. Whose journey is less stressful, who can read a book, or do some work on the way, on the way home who is safer, the tired driver or me having another coffee or a doze?
I should have said in my previous post, the fares quoted were Kings Cross to Edinburgh.
This is no real surprise to me. The main reason I travel by train is so I don’t have to drive, because it’s such an unpleasant experience, not because it’s cheaper. How you put a monetary value on this is a tricky one, and of course I know some people hate train travel so much that they prefer to drive, so that means it comes down to personal taste and circumstances. What can’t be denied it that this is a major barrier to people switching from car to rail by those for whom cost is a major factor.
cost of fuel only add all the other costs of owning a car it as well then just see
Like we didn’t know this already. That’s why the government is now attacking up with the new fuel charge to drive on the roads.
They’ve forgetten to add the costs of getting to/from the railway station at both ends. Whereas we just step into/outof our cars at each end.
Yeah and then calculate the savings when you’re driving something like a Kia eNiro or Hyundai Kona Electric. Comparing basically pennies with hundreds of pounds.
Trains are now either for rich people who have a car or people who choose not to drive. Although even then it wouldn’t take much to outspend a driver if you travel a lot.
It’s total insanity in this country. Taxis and Ubers are insanely expensive, trains are terrible and insanely expensive, driving is sitting in endless traffic and pollution. Cycling is tough because we’re not given proper bike infrastructure (which would help drivers as well). Oh and buses are rattly old diesels (at least where I live) and I can cycle into town much faster.
Is there any good travel option in the country?
And how long will it take your EV to drive from London to Edinburgh, with the stops for charging, if you can find a free charging point? Trains just for the rich, I’m a pensioner and I can afford to travel by train with a simple bit of planning ahead and buying tickets in advance. I don’t know where you live but driving is not sitting in endless queues, it might be round London, but I’ve driven just under 100 miles today, M6 and some A roads, motorway never under 60 mph, A roads most of the way at around 50 mph with a few times at 30 through villages… You do spout some rubbish, if taxis etc are expensive, you don’t have to use them.
How can it cost more for fuel from Luton to Newcastle than London to Edinburgh ?
This is a very poor article, as has already been pointed out, the comparison against fuel alone is entirely false. A rail fare includes the cost of providing the rolling stock and other infrastructure, not just fuel to run the trains! That said, yes indeed rail is still often more expensive than driving, even for one single person let alone a family, and this situation is quite frankly ridiculous. The Government needs to act, and do so urgently, to redress this balance. There are many things which can be considered such as;
1. Railcards for all
2. Loyalty discounted rail fares (i.e. the more you travel in a year, the higher the percentage discount applied)
3. Capped rail (and other public transport) fares per mile
4. Congestion charging in towns and cities and motorway tolls (with all revenue directed to investment in public transport, walking and cycling)
5. Workplace car park charging
Motorists may not be happy with 4 and 5 above, but think what would you rather have; gridlocked roads with vehicles spewing out millions of tons of pollutants and greenhouse gases, or a more civilized environment which considers the needs of all people, not just those that happen to be stuck fuming in their cars!
The cost of car travel should include the cost of vehicle tax, insurance, servicing, repairs, and a contribution to the cost of replacing the car.
i used to live near truro in cornwall i run a 2.4 scorpio i curse at 60mph [with speed limiter set] arrive in south mimms faster than the train to london paddington cost was about the same
Advance rail fares are a bargain – £11 each from Leeds to London yesterday.
being a regular traveller between London & edinburgh I think your figures for tain costs are in the wrong headings, Cost of ofpeak return is more like £ 101 not £ 238. you need to check this as I cannot believe any information in the rest of it.
Car is also quicker. Working to Weymouth, normally 20 minutes quicker obeying all speed limits and driving at a relaxed pace . Then there is more comfortable to consider but then I don’t drive a fiesta as I am very tall
My husband and I travelled to Fife (north of Edinburgh) by car for years and trust me, it costs much more in petrol unless you’ve got a car full of passengers. It cost us about £70-£100 each way and the last time we did it, we had a Ford Focus. We had a railcard, which made it a no brainier to use the train. We didn’t need a car at the other end as we had the use of my mother’s car.
This is a really misleading article, full of misinformation. Rail tickets are always going to be expensive if you book at the last minute, but can be really cheap (well below the cost of driving, if only 1 person is travelling) if booked early enough. Plus some people have railcards that reduce the ticket cost even more.
The cost of driving is far more than just the cost of the fuel. The more you drive the faster parts of your car wear out and need to be replaced. Tyres, for example, don’t last forever and can be very expensive to replace. Plus, if you do a lot of driving, your car may need to be serviced more often. None of that is mentioned in the above article. I really wonder if the author bothered to look into the facts at all, or whether they are being paid by car manufacturers to promote car sales.
These figures are not correct, they are off my miles ( pardon the pun). However yes cheaper than a train but not that cheap.
Based on my current local petrol prices the London to Manchester (400 Mile round trip) rate for a Ford Fiesta at the quoted fuel consumption is about right, I make it 33.65 in petrol alone
However London to Edinburgh (800 Mile round trip) must be twice this figure, seeing as it’s twice the distance
I’ll therefore take this so called survey with a large pinch of salt
Typical misinformation and Illogical analysis to be expected from the media.
Factor in:
Risk of accidents
Traffic conditions
Road works
Fatigue
stress
Time of journey
These journeys are unreal. For instance from London to Manchester really means from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. How many people actually live within walking distance of Euston and want to end their journey at Manchester Piccadilly? You need to use a real journey, which if using the train needs to take account of the beginning and end sections of the journey. I live about 7 miles from Warrington Bank Quay station and if I used the train to get to my son’s in Fleet Hampshire would involve 2 changes of train and 2 taxis. and take a hell of a long time. By car it is 204 miles and takes less than 4 hours. In a Skoda Octavia petrol on such a journey I can get about 57MPG (from full tank to full tank) which costs less than £20. A taxi at each end of a rail journey would cost £20 before you take into account the travel cost between railway stations when when changing trains and the cost of the rail ticket. and the car takes up to 4 people in comfort. My daughter lives in Frankfurt-am-main. I either drive there or fly. The quickest way is to fly the next quickest is to drive and the slowest is the train using Eurostar changing at Warrington Station, London, Brussels and Cologne and then onto a tram and then walk the last few yards, all carrying heavy suitcases. The best is with the car because it is flexible, takes 2 people and is cheapest.
Railways are a 19th Century solution. And this is from some who has used the Japanese bullet train.
I guess we need to chip in something for parking. Then there is the aggravation of driving the car yourself. Maintenance and insurance is to be forgotten. Is the car a gift or did the driver buy it.
For a single person there might be some routes where taking train/public transport is cheaper. But for family… doesn’t matter where you go car is always going to be cheapest option. From my calculation even for myself and my girlfriend it always cheapest to drive regardless of the route.. and I don’t even drive fiesta or economical car at all.
The datapoints on this table are either wrong or have become muddled. For instance, the unrealistic fuel consumption other commenters have highlighted and the fact that off peak Edinburgh is priced at £238.00 vs £101.00 for peak travel.
Personally, I’d be happy to re-read a re-written article if the errors are corrected and an average running cost of the Fiesta was calculated per mile with equal assumptions for both modes of transport stated. That shouldn’t be hard to do and would be much more useful for readers of this blog.
Utter rubbish, people who go by train (like me) advance buy single tickets and get travel much cheaper. My travel to Sheffield daily would cost £13 in petrol, my car does 38 Mpg actual consumption, my train journey would cost £11, it is over 1/2 hr faster but because I am over 60 I get it for £8.30 a day in peak hours. I had to use my car last year as there where railworks near me and it was truly painful sitting on the M1 every day.