On 16 Oct 2006 14:17:35 -0700, wrote:

Intend on taking a large tribe up to the museums on Sunday 22nd
October. The train/tube for all of us is over 160 quid, plus takes
about 1 hour longer in the car. Tempted to drive and would only do this
on a Sunday.

£160?? How many people is that? Do railway compaies still do group
tickets? Thay may help.

Surely is you have that number of people parking, not to mention the
costs of running n cars, wll add up. Why not hire a coach?

Ken Wheatley wrote:
On 16 Oct 2006 14:17:35 -0700, wrote:

Intend on taking a large tribe up to the museums on Sunday 22nd
October. The train/tube for all of us is over 160 quid, plus takes
about 1 hour longer in the car. Tempted to drive and would only do this
on a Sunday.

£160?? How many people is that? Do railway compaies still do group
tickets? Thay may help.

Surely is you have that number of people parking, not to mention the
costs of running n cars, wll add up. Why not hire a coach?

Hi Ken. There are 2 adults and 3 kids (all science mad). Using
http://www.thetrainline.com the cheapest we can get from where we are
to London is 151.20GBP, and it takes much longer door to door too.
We're down in Dorchester and I've driven it before in about 2:30h
(M27/M3, especially on a Sunday). The train/tube will take about 3:45h
if we're lucky, plus changes and pushchairs/lifts. We all fit in a 1.1
engine car. We don't use the train enough to justify a family
rail-card? The kids really love the train, and I don't particularly
like driving, but for the time/price I didn't think it made sense. PS.
Wouldn't do this on any other day but a Sunday...

wrote:

Hi Ken. There are 2 adults and 3 kids (all science mad). Using
http://www.thetrainline.com the cheapest we can get from where we are
to London is 151.20GBP, and it takes much longer door to door too.
We're down in Dorchester and I've driven it before in about 2:30h
(M27/M3, especially on a Sunday). The train/tube will take about 3:45h
if we're lucky, plus changes and pushchairs/lifts. We all fit in a 1.1
engine car. We don't use the train enough to justify a family
rail-card? The kids really love the train, and I don't particularly
like driving, but for the time/price I didn't think it made sense. PS.
Wouldn't do this on any other day but a Sunday...

FYI, you can do the journey for £101.60 (with One Day Travelcards all
round), *including the cost of a Family Railcard*. I understand this
might still be a bit steep, especially given the extra time involved,
but worth bearing in mind if you find yourself in a similar situation
in future.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

In article . com,
() wrote:

Hi Ken. There are 2 adults and 3 kids (all science mad). Using
http://www.thetrainline.com the cheapest we can get from where we
are to London is 151.20GBP, and it takes much longer door to door too.
We're down in Dorchester

Does that include a Network Card discount? Worth buying a card just for
this trip.

nationalrail.co.uk gives an off peak day travelcard fare of £81.60, so
£101.60 all-in if you have no Network Card and you can use it for the
rest of the year for discounted off-peak rail travel in the South East.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Colin Rosenstiel wrote:

nationalrail.co.uk gives an off peak day travelcard fare of £81.60, so
£101.60 all-in if you have no Network Card and you can use it for the
rest of the year for discounted off-peak rail travel in the South East.

Good point. It's often forgotten that the Network Railcard has almost
all of the same properties as the Family Railcard (other than that
adult(s) with no children are an acceptable group, and the gbp10
minimum fare), and might be a better choice for those who will travel
with their family as a one-off then use it themselves afterwards.

Neil

Colin Rosenstiel wrote:
In article . com,
() wrote:

Hi Ken. There are 2 adults and 3 kids (all science mad). Using
http://www.thetrainline.com the cheapest we can get from where we
are to London is 151.20GBP, and it takes much longer door to door too.
We're down in Dorchester

Does that include a Network Card discount? Worth buying a card just for
this trip.

nationalrail.co.uk gives an off peak day travelcard fare of £81.60, so
£101.60 all-in if you have no Network Card and you can use it for the
rest of the year for discounted off-peak rail travel in the South East.

Unfortunately (for SWT) the 250-mile round trip will only cost about £25
of petrol by car in the small vehicle the OP mentions. I know that
doesn't include wear-and-tear, but as much as I like to promote the use
of the train, the car is almost certainly going to be more economical.

--
Dave Arquati
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

Dave Arquati wrote:
Hi Ken. There are 2 adults and 3 kids (all science mad). Using
http://www.thetrainline.com the cheapest we can get from where we
are to London is 151.20GBP, and it takes much longer door to door too.
We're down in Dorchester

Does that include a Network Card discount? Worth buying a card just for
this trip.

nationalrail.co.uk gives an off peak day travelcard fare of £81.60, so
£101.60 all-in if you have no Network Card and you can use it for the
rest of the year for discounted off-peak rail travel in the South East.

Unfortunately (for SWT) the 250-mile round trip will only cost about £25
of petrol by car in the small vehicle the OP mentions. I know that
doesn't include wear-and-tear, but as much as I like to promote the use
of the train, the car is almost certainly going to be more economical.


Agreed, but given his dislike of driving, his kids' liking of trains
and the possibility that he'll use the Network Card again, it's worth
at least mentioning.

I always forget about the "valid for other people" nature of my Network
Card - I tend to just view it as a YP that only works in London...

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

Dave Arquati wrote:

Unfortunately (for SWT) the 250-mile round trip will only cost about £25
of petrol by car in the small vehicle the OP mentions. I know that
doesn't include wear-and-tear, but as much as I like to promote the use
of the train, the car is almost certainly going to be more economical.

And, with 5 passengers in a small car with a small engine, quite
possibly just as environmentally-friendly.

Neil

Neil Williams wrote:
Unfortunately (for SWT) the 250-mile round trip will only cost about £25
of petrol by car in the small vehicle the OP mentions. I know that
doesn't include wear-and-tear, but as much as I like to promote the use
of the train, the car is almost certainly going to be more economical.

And, with 5 passengers in a small car with a small engine, quite
possibly just as environmentally-friendly.


Not in the short term, at least: the train will run whether or not the
family catch it, and the extra energy required to lug them about will
be negligible.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org