this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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How difficult is it to get around the UK without a car in 2023? (self.askuk)
submitted 1 year ago by abraham_linksys to c/[email protected]
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Burger here, I've been living in Yurp for a while now but still haven't made it to the UK. As a 'mercan I take it with a grain of salt when Euros tell me transit is "bad" anywhere, but I do hear its supposed to be "bad" outside of London.

Do you guys own cars? Is owning a car necessary to live where you are?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I personally wouldn’t want to live here without a car, but that comes with a few caveats.

  • I don’t want to live in or near cities. I live in a well-connected area (as in there’s a motorway) but quite far from nearby cities.
  • I don’t expect to be able to drive in cities. I make plenty use of park and ride which, in my experience tends to be very good.
  • trains are insanely expensive here. The tories played a big brain move and privatised the trains companies, so now they’re essentially priced to the point of being unusable.

Elaborating on trains. Availability tends to be spotty (trains don’t run overnight and end ridiculously early, for instance). Price tends to be SUBSTANTIALLY more expensive, even if you’re driving alone, and even if you factor in running costs. Slap a mate in the passenger seat and split the cost, and you’re both saving a ton of money, and possibly time.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I find trains are often relatively affordable but you have to have a good understanding of the system. For example, an anytime return between Manchester to London on the direct train can be £300 which people are rightly outraged by.

But you can buy Split Tickets for part of the journey, and/or take different trains to cut the costs down. You can do Manchester to London return, even booking only the week before, for £50, if you go via Crewe and take the comfier and less crowded, but slightly slower, West Midlands Rail train.

You shouldn't have to know the system so well to get cheap fares, but it's not impossible to do