(HMRC rate is 45p/mile, which constitutes insurance, capital cost, wear, petrol, etc)
the single pricing is because they don't want to sell singles at all, but remember that return lets you come back upto a month later (your choice when)
Very often I don't want to return. I can fly to Manchester, visit family, take the train to Derby, visit friends, continue to London and fly home.
I can't book advance tickets as the plane might be late, and I can't use a return journey ticket.
It's all ridiculous, and I don't understand how anyone can defend it.
Here in Denmark I can travel tomorrow (leaving at 02.35 if I want to, good luck trying that in England...) to Århus for about £50, any time of day. That's 300km, London to Derby is only 200km.
Booked in advance I can roughly halve the fare, but I don't feel punished if I'm unable to commit to that.
it's a ultimately a difference in philosophy
UK governments over the past 30 years have decided that passengers should pay to run the railway, rather than the taxpayer out of general taxation
if you look at the distribution of earnings of those who use the railways you could even call this a progressive policy
meanwhile most European countries chose the other way round
What’s the reason that people try to dodge fares by buying a single ticket? Is it because they know when and where tickets are likely to be checked?
I think the real reason is less sensational: trains that go full in one direction still have to go back in the other direction whether they're full or not.
But maybe you guys need to adopt the inter suburban mindset.
Those charges are what an Australian in NSW would expect to pay for a long distance rail service. Something with food service. I remember paying 120 bucks for a Casino to Newcastle years ago.
But the NSW intersuburbans run on the same ticketing and pricing system as the suburban lines. Newcastle, which seems to be roughly the same distance from Sydney as Derby is from London, costs like 6 - 12 bucks. Walk on walk off, like any other train.
The biggest issue they have is that the new rolling stock is garbage. The older trains were costing too much to maintain but they were quite comfortable for 12 bucks.
Brisbane to Gympie is pretty cheap too tbh. Same deal, slightly different schedule but run as an intersuburban rather than another rail class.
If I want to visit friends in Derby, coming from London, that's £81. For no good reason, a return ticket is £84.
If I need to travel at peak times, that's £123.
Booked months in advance it might be £20, roughly what a bus ticket costs.