Railroad fare (ticket prices) in different countries

[philipmartin]

"Current passenger service....expensive." Well we have something in common, David. I sell monthly tickets to New York for $445.00 (641 NZ Dollars,) for example.

[David Benton]

What distance is that , Philip ?
I feel a new thread coming on , standby while I attempt to split the thread.

[David Benton]

wow , that worked.

So lets compare prices around the world. in Philips honour(honor , since he gave me the idea), lets convert te local price to USD$ , if we can , And Miles , I suppose,

Ajourney from Auckland to wellington ( 680 k.m , 425 miles )booked a month from today would cost nzd$ 140 , usd $ 98. note that is mid winter, so off season.

a long distance commute, Palmerston north to wellington, 138 k.m, 86 miles, monthly pass is nzd$ 829, usd $ 580.

[philipmartin]

David - I make the distance between Middletown, nj, and New York City forty three miles. Trains make it in between an hour and ten minutes and an hour and a half, depending on how many stops it has.
The company, NJ Transit, has promised not to raise fares this year, but there are some who doubt that.
A full fare round trip is $30.50. Mom and pop and two kids twelve or older pay $122 - 175 NZ Dollars. We do have some discounts, but a lot of people who use our popular ticket vending machines don't know about them. The same for people who produce their tickets on their smartphones, another new and very popular option.
I've quoted prices a few time and had customers say, "never mind; well drive."

[kato]

Let's see... Germany:

• local public transport association, covering an area very roughly rectangular of about 120 miles east-to-west and about 40 miles north-to-south. Commuting center where people work is in the middle, so typical rides usually won't exceed 75-80 miles. Tickets capped at maximum USD 23 (NZD 33.20) for a round trip ride on any connection within that for one adult (cap applies at distances above ca 30 miles). Commuter tickets for the same distance can be had for as low as around 77 USD (111 NZD) monthly. Two adults, two kids would use a discount one-day ticket for four people for their round trip instead - unless they absolutely can't operate a ticket vending machine - and would pay USD 32 (NZD 46.30) for unlimited trips within that day within the area.
• outside local public transport association standard DB fares apply. For say Frankfurt to Mannheim - 53 miles distance, from one regional capital to another - that'd be USD 43 (NZD 62.40) full fare round trip on a local train that takes 1 hour and 10 minutes or USD 65.60 (NZD 95.00) on a high-speed train that takes about 35 minutes. Monthly ticket for the faster train is USD 372.60 (NZD 540.00), for the slower train USD 296 (NZD 429.10) per month. For the price of the faster option most would probably consider a Bahncard 100 at 424 USD (NZD 614.70) monthly for unlimited trips within the DB network nationwide though.
• A longer trip... well, Stuttgart to Berlin for example would be 393 miles, so we have some comparable distances. 158 USD (229 NZD) one-way, higher-speed trains. There's a cap at some distance beyond where the price doesn't increase anymore, somewhere around 200 miles. With some clever booking ahead you can lower the price to as low as USD 31.80 (NZD 46.00) for that trip though.

P.S., regarding driving: For the above Frankfurt - Mannheim route Google tells me driving would take the same amount of time as the local train (1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes - traffic jams not included). For the Stuttgart - Berlin route it'd similarly be around 6 hours - regardless whether you drive or take a fast train. Cost typically assumed for driving (deprecation, gas) is around 0.50 USD per mile here, which for either of the above trips makes driving by car around 25% pricier than taking the train. If i take a work-related trip above a certain minimum distance - 50 miles or so - and want the cost refunded then i have to either take the train or explain why i absolutely need a car on site.

P.P.S.: all prices for trains quoted above for second class.

[David Benton]

Thanks guys, but here is no need to convert to NZD$, just the local currency and USD$, or just Usd$ for comparison. Appreciate the effort though.

Kato , that Bahn ticket sounds like a good deal, if one were visiting Germany, working in a area away from your home in Germany.

Philip , do you point out to them how much it would cost to park a car in NY city?

[philipmartin]

David, parking in New York is expensive. Going across a bridge or through a tunnel to New York is also surprisingly expensiveness . If someone decides to drive when I quote a ticket price, I don't remind them of these things; they probably already know them.
My quotes here are only for one transportation agency in North America, and there are many such agencies, each with its own funding methods and fare rates. If people want to go from New York or points in New Jersey to Philadelphia, they can take my company plus SEPTA, the Philadelphia equivalent of my state owned railroad / bus company, or they can take Amtrak. I always tell them, quite truthfully, that Amtrak is surprisingly more expensive.
My quotes here don't include some reduced fares that we have, as for frequent travelers, children under twelve, seniors/disabled and military persons, all paying less than half fare. And employees, like me, ride free, on my company. When I worked for the New York Central, I could ride free across the continent; but those days are just a memory.

[kato]

that Bahn ticket sounds like a good deal, if one were visiting Germany, working in a area away from your home in Germany.

The Bahncard 100 ticket is a minimum one-year subscription though; if you're commuting such distances every day over a longer time it can worth it.

The monthly tickets cited for e.g. that route are pretty good actual one-month deals (especially in comparison to the one-off price - it's cheaper once you do more than 6-7 round trips in a month).

Looking through prices for France they're also rather comparable to Germany. As a direct comparison: Montpellier - Avignon in the south, 52 miles distance: 1 hour 09 minutes to 1 hour 18 minutes by regional TER train. Round trip cost USD 38.50. However since this crosses TER regional borders there are apparently no monthly discount tickets for this particular route at all.

And employees, like me, ride free, on my company.

As often as you like? DB employees get up to 14 free one-day tickets per year, valid Germany-wide. If they take out more than one per month they also get taxed on it.

[philipmartin]

Employee pass privileges on my state owned company are nearly the same as they were on the predecessor private railroads, completely free and unlimited on the lines, bus and rail, operated by my company. Aparently it's somehow in our labor contract, because a few years back, pass privileges for management, who don't have a labor contract, were terminated in accordance with the will of the state governor, Chris Christie. They have since been restored, but we union people would have lost them as well if it hadn't been for our contracts.
On most of the predecessor railroads employees could get trip passes, (good for a round trip,) on most of the other railroads in North America. That's no longer possible. On the railroad side of my company, spouses don't get passes; on the bus side they do.