Silly Season Tickets

[allbarbarry]

Hello all,

Does anyone actually buy these annual season tickets? I presume so, else the railway wouldn't offer them?

Leeds to London Zones 1-6 1st class: £33,976.00
Manchester Piccadilly: £32,556.00
Berwick upon Tweed: £53,180.00
Penzance: £32,016.00 (excluding sleep supplement)

Barry

 

[Haywain]

Leeds to London Zones 1-6 1st class: £33,976.00

Yes, sold a few of those some years ago.

 

[allbarbarry]

Yes, sold a few of those some years ago.

Would there be many of this season ticket sold?

That’s not too far off the UK median income in 2024.

Apologies for my late reply.

Barry

 

[OhNoAPacer]

I am not sure these can be described as silly. Rare maybe, unusual perhaps but not silly.
It is worth remembering that you don't necessarily need to be making a journey everyday for a season ticket to be worth having.
I calculate for example, assuming my calculation is correct, that if needing an anytime travel card then the break even point for an annual season from Northampton to London is something like 8 journeys a month.

 

[stadler]

I suppose there might be a few long distance wealthy commuters in these towns who buy such tickets. But probably very little. I would imagine purchases of such tickets are less than ten a year. You would need an extremely well paid job for it to be worth the money.

I do wonder if any Reston to London Z1 Z6 Travelcard tickets have been sold. That appears to be the furthest distance annual season ticket you can buy. It costs £29,544.00 standard class or £53,180.00 first class. I can not imagine that the Reston area has anyone commuting to the London area.

 

[etr221]

I did read of someone who had bought (or at least asked for) an annual season ticket from Thurso to London, first class (naturally - if you're spending that much, then you will), back between the wars - the booking clerk reportedly collapsed from the shock. (He had just bought the remains of the Hochseeflotte, then at the bottom of Scapa Flow, so would be making the journey fairly frequently).

So, yes, I think there will be at least some demand for such season tickets - and the sort of person who will be buying them, will most probably be wanting first class variants, and will be happy to pay a premium for not having to buy a ticket for each trip. And for that sort of person, an all line, all stations, annual pass is probably what the railway should be offering. They will not be your everyday commuter...

 

[Hadders]

I doubt any of these tickets are actually sold but they do represent decent value compared to the price of an Anytime ticket. For example, a 1st Class One Day Travelcard from Penzance is £470.20 so the break even point is around 68 journeys a year.

Long distance tickets like these normally offer validity over a wide geographic area, effectively an anytime annual rover ticket. Again, I expect none or very few are sold but they could be useful in very edge cases.

One that might see a few sales is a 1st class annual season from Manchester which is £32,556. There's no 1st class one day travelcard from Manchester but given that a 1st class Anytime return to London Terminals is £535 then the break even point will be less than 60 journeys a year (when you add in a provision for the travelcard). I would imagine there are quite a few people making at least one return journey a week between Manchester and London in 1st class. This ticket would also allow travel via Birmingham, Reading, Sheffield, Leicester, Milton Keynes etc.

 

[bengolding]

I doubt any of these tickets are actually sold but they do represent decent value compared to the price of an Anytime ticket. For example, a 1st Class One Day Travelcard from Penzance is £470.20 so the break even point is around 68 journeys a year.

Long distance tickets like these normally offer validity over a wide geographic area, effectively an anytime annual rover ticket. Again, I expect none or very few are sold but they could be useful in very edge cases.

One that might see a few sales is a 1st class annual season from Manchester which is £32,556. There's no 1st class one day travelcard from Manchester but given that a 1st class Anytime return to London Terminals is £535 then the break even point will be less than 60 journeys a year (when you add in a provision for the travelcard). I would imagine there are quite a few people making at least one return journey a week between Manchester and London in 1st class. This ticket would also allow travel via Birmingham, Reading, Sheffield, Leicester, Milton Keynes etc.

I know someone who holds a London to Manchester Annual First. They make around 3 return journeys each week and much prefer living in Regents Park than Manchester.

 

[TUC]

Hello all,

Does anyone actually buy these annual season tickets? I presume so, else the railway wouldn't offer them?

Leeds to London Zones 1-6 1st class: £33,976.00
Manchester Piccadilly: £32,556.00
Berwick upon Tweed: £53,180.00
Penzance: £32,016.00 (excluding sleep supplement)

Barry

Compared to paying the extra costs of a London mortgage, it may be that these represent good value. For example, the £33,976 Leeds fare, if you were travelling to and from London five days a week, 46 weeks a year, equates to a daily return first class fare of £147.70.

 

[Somewhere]

I imagine there may be a fair few staff employed by the BBC with the Manchester one, who may well claim it on expenses from when the BBC moved up to Manchester

 

[Royston Vasey]

I know someone who holds a London to Manchester Annual First. They make around 3 return journeys each week and much prefer living in Regents Park than Manchester.

London to Manchester is only 15 minutes longer and a lot more comfortable than Kings Lynn to London, and plenty of people do that most days, so I can well believe this!

 

[Silver Cobra]

Hello all,

Does anyone actually buy these annual season tickets? I presume so, else the railway wouldn't offer them?

Berwick upon Tweed: £53,180.00

Barry

The funny thing about the Berwick-upon-Tweed 1st Class annual season ticket is that it is cheaper to purchase twenty six 14-day 1st Class All Line Rovers and an annual Zone 1-6 travelcard separately (last I looked a few years ago it was several thousands cheaper). The first direct service from Berwick to London arrives at 10am or later, so even that potential advantage of the annual season over the ALRs doesn't exist.

 

[Watershed]

The funny thing about the Berwick-upon-Tweed 1st Class annual season ticket is that it is cheaper to purchase twenty six 14-day 1st Class All Line Rovers and an annual Zone 1-6 travelcard separately (last I looked a few years ago it was several thousands cheaper). The first direct service from Berwick to London arrives at 10am or later, so even that potential advantage of the annual season over the ALRs doesn't exist.

The first direct one (which actually starts at Berwick, as it happens), yes. But there is a connection off that service at Newcastle onto the Flying Scotsman, which arrives before 10am. So it's not entirely superfluous, depending on the way you interpret the time restrictions on an ALR (i.e. whether they can be circumvented through a non-stop split).

 

[Haywain]

The funny thing about the Berwick-upon-Tweed 1st Class annual season ticket is that it is cheaper to purchase twenty six 14-day 1st Class All Line Rovers and an annual Zone 1-6 travelcard separately (last I looked a few years ago it was several thousands cheaper). The first direct service from Berwick to London arrives at 10am or later, so even that potential advantage of the annual season over the ALRs doesn't exist.

That assumes that there is never a requirement totravel north from London before 1000.

 

[TUC]

I imagine there may be a fair few staff employed by the BBC with the Manchester one, who may well claim it on expenses from when the BBC moved up to Manchester

Quite possibly, although the BBC claiming to more located in the North, but it is actually London staff commuting to Manchester, is the worst kind of tokenism.

 

[jfollows]

I can see why some people might do it, but I found age to be a factor also - in my case I had a month's season ticket Bath-London in my 30s and this was fine, especially since someone else paid for it, but in my 50s I thought about applying for a job in London but living in Wilmslow. The salary increase was significant enough to pay for a season ticket, but at that age I realised that 5 hours of travelling each day wasn't going to work for me. In my 20s and 30s I might have enjoyed the travel itself, but with age and familiarity I could see how it wouldn't work for me.
I did use all-line rovers for occasional commuting Manchester-London before the time restrictions came in. Saved the hassle of staying in a hotel. But I'm only talking about a few days over a couple of weeks here.

 

[ricoblade]

I suspect a lot of them will be company paid. I had 1st class monthlies from Retford to London a few years ago as my company wanted me in the London office quite a bit. I tried to get them to buy me an annual one, showing the cost advantage, but that would have taken it over my boss's approval limit.

 

[Dai Corner]

Quite possibly, although the BBC claiming to more located in the North, but it is actually London staff commuting to Manchester, is the worst kind of tokenism.

See also: Channel 4 and Leeds

 

[Haywain]

the BBC claiming to more located in the North, but it is actually London staff commuting to Manchester

That's the sort of thing that happens when businesses and organisations relocate.

 

[geoffk]

I did read of someone who had bought (or at least asked for) an annual season ticket from Thurso to London, first class (naturally - if you're spending that much, then you will), back between the wars - the booking clerk reportedly collapsed from the shock. (He had just bought the remains of the Hochseeflotte, then at the bottom of Scapa Flow, so would be making the journey fairly frequently).

So, yes, I think there will be at least some demand for such season tickets - and the sort of person who will be buying them, will most probably be wanting first class variants, and will be happy to pay a premium for not having to buy a ticket for each trip. And for that sort of person, an all line, all stations, annual pass is probably what the railway should be offering. They will not be your everyday commuter...

or a National Railcard for 30-59 year olds!

 

[Samm]

Leeds to London Zones 1-6 1st class: £33,976.00
Manchester Piccadilly: £32,556.00
Berwick upon Tweed: £53,180.00
Penzance: £32,016.00 (excluding sleep supplement)

If traveling from north of Leeds or Manchester to London, it might be worth getting the 14 days All Line Rover tickets instead of an annual season ticket. First class 14 days All Line Rovers are currently priced at £1387 each. You’d need around 26 of these to cover a full year, which works out to £36,062. That's not far off the price of the annual season tickets from Leeds or Manchester, and it offers much more flexibility.

the sort of person who will be buying them, will most probably be wanting first class variants, and will be happy to pay a premium for not having to buy a ticket for each trip

Agree with you there. With the All Line Rover, you’d have to renew it every 14 days

 

[Dai Corner]

If traveling from north of Leeds or Manchester to London, it might be worth getting the 14 days All Line Rover tickets instead of an annual season ticket. First class 14 days All Line Rovers are currently priced at £1387 each. You’d need around 26 of these to cover a full year, which works out to £36,062. That's not far off the price of the annual season tickets from Leeds or Manchester, and it offers much more flexibility.

As long as the time restrictions don't affect you

All Line Rover (7 Days) | National Rail

Special offer: All Line Rover (7 Days). The portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

The All Line Rail Rover is NOT valid for boarding or alighting train services operated by Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, or LNER before 10:00 Mondays to Fridays at the following stations:

• Birmingham New Street
• Bedford
• London Euston
• London Kings Cross
• London St Pancras International
• Luton
• Luton Airport Parkway
• Milton Keynes Central
• Stevenage
• Watford Junction

No restrictions apply on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Compared to paying the extra costs of a London mortgage, it may be that these represent good value. For example, the £33,976 Leeds fare, if you were travelling to and from London five days a week, 46 weeks a year, equates to a daily return first class fare of £147.70.

There aren't going to be many of them. A number of years ago I was a long distance commuter - the ticket costing far less than £34K - but it only took a month before I decided I didn't care how much they were paying me it wasn't worth getting up at 05:15 and getting home at 20:30 every day so I packed it in and stayed in hotels in London during the week.

 

[johntea]

I've heard from many a contractor over the years that whilst the money is OK the novelty of travelling around a lot and staying in Premier Inn night after night soon wears off!

Although when you're earning 6 figures I suspect you may be in the position to own your actual home and then just rent a studio apartment or similar closer to your workplace...but the pandemic seemed to be the key in turning fully remote working from a fairly 'niche' thing to pretty much the normal way of working for a lot of people (not all of course)

I'm slightly jealous of my sister who is a manager in a global firm, she doesn't get a salary anywhere near as much as you may think but (all on company expenses) one week she can be in Manchester, the week after Switzerland and a couple of months ago even Japan!

 

[The exile]

That's the sort of thing that happens when businesses and organisations relocate.

Although things slowly settle down with natural staff turnover.

 

[Red Rover]

In the mid 90’s I’m told there used to be 3 annuals from Weymouth to Waterloo.

 

[[.n]]

In the mid 90’s I’m told there used to be 3 annuals from Weymouth to Waterloo.

there were some even more recently than that- certainty up to just precovid times

 

[xotGD]

At the other end of the scale, folk used to buy a Man Pic to Man Oxford Rd annual season ticket to qualify for the annual season ticket holders' railcard.

 

[GW43125]

At the other end of the scale, folk used to buy a Man Pic to Man Oxford Rd annual season ticket to qualify for the annual season ticket holders' railcard.

Many a Ryde Esplanade-Ryde St. John's season was sold once upon a time, to qualify for the gold card and also SWT's six free weekend tickets a year (sorely missed!).