Is it Cheaper to Commute by Train or Car?

The morning commute to work is something we could no doubt all do without — but we have to get on with it anyway. It is, in fact, an important feature of our day-to-day lives, with travel times and costs often being a major factor in a job’s appeal.

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For most of us, the daily commute involves getting in the car or hopping on the train. As the two main methods of work transport, some may be surprised to know the gap in numbers between the two; with 68% of Brits driving to work and only 11% using the train. With those stats in mind, are we favouring convenience over cost when it comes to getting to and from work, or are cars cheaper than trains after all?

Is it Cheaper to Commute by Train or Car?

Isn’t it obvious?

On the face of things, this would seem a rather shallow debate, but it depends how you wish to address it. If we’re starting from nothing, the costs of buying, insuring and servicing a vehicle would no doubt eclipse the yearly costs of simply buying a train ticket, with the Money Advice Service estimating the annual costs of running a car at £1,726 — and that’s not including buying one.

However, once the car has been bought or you have traded in your old car and the dust has settled, does the head to head of running costs versus ticket fares stack up a little differently?

Peak time woes

When it comes to peak and off-peak travelling on trains, it doesn’t get more peak than the morning and evening rush. That means higher ticket prices – but how much higher?

Recent research from the Daily Mail showed that peak time rail travel could be as much as 13 times more expensive than the equivalent car journey, with journeys such as London to Manchester, Southampton to Bath and Luton to Cambridge all costing around ten times higher or more. These are, of course, much longer train journeys than the average commute, but the research does highlight the potential issue of peak time costing on the railways.

A case by case basis

Every commute is different, and to understand whether travelling by rail or car is cheaper a number of factors need to be considered — factors that differ with each individual journey.

When travelling by train, you must consider the popularity/busyness of the route and the associated peak time costs. When travelling by car, you’ll need to take parking charges, fuel costs and the breakdown of other yearly running costs into account. In all likelihood, you’ll find probably find both sides have cheaper average journey costs to offer depending on the circumstances.

There is also the matter of convenience to consider. Trains are often quicker than cars and mean no sitting in rush hour traffic, while cars give a door-to-door service and your own space away from a crowded train. While there’s no exact monetary figure that can be placed on this, convenience can trump financial gain for many commuters.

For those merely looking to best manage their day-to-day costs, however, a concrete answer cannot be given. Superficially, the train should always be cheaper. In the long run, a car could pay dividends. To really find out, commuters must run the numbers on their personal journey before making a decision.

This is a collaborative post.