It isn't fun at all. I gave it up in 1999 when the Class 66's replaced the majority of everything else on freight. Passenger wise I never took to the voyagers taking over from class 47's and got fed up of travelling to Crewe to see owt decent on the West Coast. I carried on going to Doncaster photographing trains until about 2003 then quit altogether then.
Not knocking it, i just never really had the need, used em during my time in the forces, but always been local to work or used car.
For another comparison, my wife and I are travelling tomorrow by train from Hamburg in north Germany to Ötztal in Austria. It's about 750 miles one way. The fare is €236 in total for a first class return journey for both of us. That's about £50 each per 750 mile leg.
I'm no fan of the Scottish Government but I think they've made a good decision with scrapping peak fares for 6 months next April link Peak return from Glasgow to Edinburgh is £27.30, off Peak is £14.20 (Journey length is about 45 minutes and distance is about 45 miles). For reference, I was in Germany in the summer and their government had introduced unlimited monthly travel on local trains for €9 which was unbelievable (link).
Ha ha, it's not as posh as it sounds, the difference in price is marginal, from memory about £50 for the entire return journey for both of us. It's an 11 hour journey on just about the busiest day of the year, so we wanted some leg room. Funnily enough, in Germany 1st class often gets booked up before 2nd class.
Not wrong, it's a scandal. Quick look at the Barnsley to Huddersfield one train an hour on the Penistone Line today and it is as bad as yesterday.... 6 - cancelled first train of the day. 7 - 39 minutes late despite an extra hour to sort it. 8 - 21 minutes late. 9 - cancelled. 10 - 15 minutes late. 11 - After half a dozen attempts it is on time. 12 - Cancelled. 1 - 14 minutes late. 2 - On time. 3 - Cancelled. 4 - 9 minutes late. One train an hour and still not reliable even when not striking for some of that bottomless pit of cash from the magic money tree. The service is pathetic.
Southern Trains used to be the worst in the country! They may have just been overtaken by Transpennine though.
To be fair the train service down south is pretty dire as well and the prices are eyewatering If I wanted to go to central london for work one day the cheapest fare is £36.50 and thats excluding using the Tube. It basically costs £1 per mile ( 50p if you include the return) if you exclude parking its cheaper to drive with just one person in the car