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    Is taking the train really faster than driving?



    Today, I answer one of my own, and perhaps one of your, burning questions. Is taking the train really faster than just driving? Well, I found out, so you don’t have to!

    Date of Travel: May 2023

    Train
    1st Train
    Class of Travel: Standard Class (2nd Class)
    Rolling Stock: Class 180 Adelante
    Type of Service: Express Passenger
    Operator: Grand Central
    Train Number: 1A27
    Origin: Bradford Interchange, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom (England)
    Destination: London King’s Cross, United Kingdom (England)
    Cost of ticket: £21.45 ($27.50, €25.15)

    Tube
    Class of Travel: N/A
    Rolling Stock: London Underground 2009 Stock
    Type of Service: N/A
    Operator: Transport for London
    Train Number: N/A
    Origin: King’s Cross St Pancras, London, United Kingdom (England)
    Destination: Victoria, London, United Kingdom (England)
    Cost of ticket: Included in price of first train

    Train 2
    Class of Travel: Standard Class (2nd Class)
    Rolling Stock: Class 377 Electrostar
    Type of Service: Express Passenger
    Operator: Southern (GTR)
    Train Number: 1B58
    Origin: London Victoria, United Kingdom (England)
    Destination: Bognor Regis (Cancelled at Barnham), West Sussex, United Kingdom (England)
    Cost of ticket: £3.95 ($5.05, €4.65)

    Car
    Type of Car: Nissan Micra K12 (2003)
    Operator: Dylan’s Travel Reports 🙂
    Origin: Peel Park, Cliffe Road, Bradford, United Kingdom (England)
    Destination: Bognor Regis Pier, The Esplanade, West Sussex, United Kingdom (England)
    Cost of ticket: c£34.73 ($44.45, €40.55)

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    #trainvscar #nissanmicra #trains
    —————————————
    Credits
    [1] www.openstreetmap.org under Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/ https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/summary/ https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/

    Rail emissions: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/infrastructure-and-emissions/rail-emissions/#:~:text=Key%20results,series%20started%20in%20April%202011.

    TfL emissions: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-0354-2021#:~:text=In%202018%2F19%2C%20the%20average,2e%20per%20passenger%20km.

    Nissan Micra emissions: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G45pwu427m8tKKrTkvJPQg7ymOBqfEKU/view?usp=sharing

    44 Comments

    4. TheRacingGameGuy on

      so I have questions. Like how do you get a train ticket that cheap? Cheapest I could find for the same route was £84.90 > OK Thats without railcard fares or any other discounts. Also at a guess, your wife's disability may be Fibromyalgia? I totally understand that, my wife has the same with added chronic fatigue. But I still love her as she is! Also also, you were incredibly lucky on the day with traffic, and you drove past both my work place (by about 1/8th of a mile away) and my house (about a 1/2 of a mile away!)

      Lastly, you REALLY need a dashcam, it would do the work of the go pro without needing charging and save all the video for you! I liked this video! Nice race!

    5. True Brit on

      For me you massively underestimate the car cost. Petrol is only one cost – as you note. Insurance, maintenance and depreciation can be big numbers. Now in your case your car is not expensive. How you calculate the numbers is complicated and has many variables. One quick way to get to a number is to use the UK tax allowance for mileage as an rough idea. Long time since I have claimed that in the UK but I think its around 45p a mile. That would give you a very different result.

    7. Reza Alan on

      Great trip, and yeah it's great to see Elie comeback as co-trip reporter in this video. For next suggestions of trip like this is from London to Paris, between direct bus and train (not the Eurostar). That speed camera sign is definitely killjoy, maybe I haven't driving yet IRL, but when i play truck simulator and entering UK territory, that speed camera sign is coming as a sudden.

    8. Robert Gill on

      Watch out Dylan. Ellie looks like she is set to take over you travel videos. Ellie you have a great voice. Thanks to you both for this interesting video.

    10. Seeking Travel on

      So as a conclusion, the train is much faster than the car, considering you took like a 1h30m head start in the car, Ellie took one of the ''slowest'' fastest trains in England (traveling for almost 1h30 in an almost easterly direction, rather than a southerly one). Also, you got very lucky that there was no traffic on the road. And I am not even going to speak of the rotten luck Ellie has. Also, there is the fact that (besides the break of the car) Ellie also had to take a connection in London which also involved a Metro ride. Not a direct route, which included other waiting times, that the car didn't take. Also, there is no mention of UK (in the title) so i can also add on the list the notoriously bad UK cancellations which happen a lot, sadly. In conclusion the train is much faster than the car, unless you add 1h waiting time which could have easily been 15 min, I would have only taken a 5m margin to make it more exciting 😀 plus a more direct train was in question as well. Can you imagine the train beating the car on a Manchester to London ride? haha it's funny just thinking about it.

    11. Max Art on

      In terms of travel time, the two routes aren't perfect to compare: while the car takes a rather direct route (on a very good day, by the way) starting a few steps from the point of departure, the other one involves walking to the bus stop, a bus transfer to the station, a long wait at the departure station, changing the station in London, as well as a very bad day (delays from London onward). So the comparison doesn't convince me completely. Moreover, to be able to judge the practicability of one or the other way of traveling, one should take into consideration another aspect: the luggage. Each of you should take along a typical suitcase of let's say 20 kg.

    12. Barry Garber on

      Suprised Ellie didn't take Thameslink from St Pancras to East Croydon or Gatwick to avoid using the tube to Victoria. Having said that on the particular day of your journey with the Southern disruption it probably wouldn't have made any difference. Love your videos Dylan. Keep up the good work!

    14. Big P on

      That little Micra of yours really marches on doesn't it. Shows you don't really need a brand new car all the time.

      PS. get a haircut!

    15. Monty's Television on

      Nice video 6:03 reminds me why I hate traveling by bus. The Q to pay, then the general people in the way as you try to get on and them faffing about to sit down and then the noise of the traveling public.

    16. Elol1 on

      Quite nice different video, enjoying it so far! 😀 P.S. The M62 is horrible atm, i travel on it like every week and the speed limits are stupid slow

    17. Nick Hiscock on

      Broken air-conditioning on the train is a big no. That train should have been cancelled and an alternative train or road coach arranged. As for your car regular servicing would help prevent the air-conditioning failure. That train service was terrible overall very inconvenient and delayed. It would have been much better if there was a through service from the Midlands to south coast not requiring any transfers in London!

    20. Daniel Baroy on

      I love these types for videos! I think it was ridiculous the fact the Grand Central staff member told your wife to move. Hidden disabilities are just as important as a wheelchair user or any other type of visible disability. I loved seeing your wife in this video and I hope we see her again soon!

    21. The Chuckness on

      18:06 i was shocked to found out Ellie has hidden disability. In my country, if you have a persons with disability ID, you can sit on your designated disability seat–hidden or obvious. In trains, that means at the very very front. Sad that trains seats here are not cozy as it may be.

    24. Colin D on

      An electric car would have brought down the CO2 figure, and also help eqalise the times taking charging stops into account.

    25. Paul Tidd on

      I have to say a very interesting video to make given the distance and locations. In my early years of driving and owing a car I wouldn’t have thought anything of doing that. However, now and 12 years without owning a car and occasionally hiring a car (if two of us are making a journey, say, to a remote part of Norfolk from Yorkshire), I find driving tedious, draining and often stressful, particularly alone, and watching your driving footage reinforce that! So, as much as it’s been interesting, no more please!

    26. John Keepin on

      I hope you enjoyed it overall! When it comes to working out the numbers, there are many variations. When it comes to expenses, some will know that there are established HMRC guidelines for working out running costs for business tax allowances that cover a range of different expenses, not just fuel consumption.

      W.r.t. the CO2 emissions numbers, the old official rate of that model is probably out of date, given that the fuel used now has changed c.f. how it was back then – assuming you were using E10. You could do the sums based on your actual fuel used for that trip and look up the CO2 produced by buying that amount, taking into account that a proportion of it is not oil (as the other part is renewable). Have fun with that.

    28. Karen S on

      Unfortunately the Southern Network are renowned for their delays especially on the London/ south coast line earning them the Southern Epic Fail nickname especially with the often ridiculous reasons for delays a lot of the time. Great video though.

    29. RD4590 on

      Train is definitely better from hub to hub. But in the west of England cars are always better.
      I live in Bristol and in my previous accommodation it took me 30+min by bus, 15min by scooter or 10min by bicycle to get to the Temple Meads terminus (not onto the train). Parkway is virtually inaccessible. For a little longer than 30min I could drive to Weston-Super-Mare, Bath, Chepstow or even Newport (if I broke the law like everyone in the overtaking lane on the motorways). And not to mention the extensiveness of the road network compared to rail (Thank you Beeching). And there's no railway anymore in those beautiful Cotswolds villages. Oh I also forgot to mention a big ass ripoff scammer called CrossCountry which made me unwilling to travel anywhere north of Birmingham.
      But if I were to go to London I'd still take the train. I don't dislike the Class 800 and I don't want to drive anywhere close to or into the M25 ever again.

    30. Andrew Gwilt on

      Most people say that because they hate going on long journeys including using coach. But I would say driving is faster than using train. Because you don’t have to change trains at a station.

    31. Kimi The Worm on

      I 100% agree with the guard on the disability – I have a disability, I cannot walk very far due to chronic arthritis (however I do refuse a blue badge – I will not take the place of other who may be worse off)

      However it doesn't stop me sitting in a train seat – whereas a wheelchair user…….

    35. zawtowers on

      Enjoyed this one, and definitely would have also been interesting if the emissions were less if Eli went from Bradford Forster Square via LNER to London Kings Cross (electric train) instead of the diesel of Grand Central – because according to the ORR stats, the electric emissions are around one quarter of diesel. The 47 gram figure on ORR's main page is all traction which will include diesel. It's a shame that Southern did a Southern and there were delays, and the M25 was amazingly quiet, which is a minor miracle. Definitely an interesting watch and well worth noting the pluses and minuses of each mode of travel.
      The Bognor Regis – Littlehampton shuttle service definitely is worth a video on its own when you get chance to do it. There's also two fab crazy golf courses at Littlehampton too (and the two of you must do the Bognor one by the pier) and it's a good little day out.

    40. Anthony Warrener on

      Thank you very much for this excellent video ! The time difference was surprising, and in most ways the car wins hands down. Your experience highlights the frequent delays of rail travel these days, and poor Ellie had a most unpleasant journey on Southern ! I thoroughly enjoy this type of video by the way !

    41. Dinsmore on

      Toronto here. I favour public transit where it is convenient. I don't pay too much attention to time but comfort. Driving the motorways is stressful and I am relaxed on the train.

    43. John Williams on

      Had she not waited an hour and instead caught the next train into Leeds and changed there she would’ve landed in London earlier and faster. Obviously the issues with Southern would have delayed her anyway but the outcome would’ve been miles closer. Otherwise, she’d have easily won by a long shot

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