I found this old local newspaper dating from January 6th 1923 when I was clearing out bric-a-brac
It makes for a fascinating read...
I noticed with amusement that on the front page it was reported that on January 1st rail fares of Great Britain were reduced by one farthing per mile! An event "that's been received with satisfaction by railway travellers throughout the country."
Wasn't there a depression on?
I wonder what the fare was per mile? Does the article say?
ReplyDeleteGood point...... Gawd it's a boring post today Tom,
DeleteI have too much on to sit down properly and write something
It wasn't boring at all, it got me thinking.
DeleteI could not find out for myself how much fares were back then but I read in this article
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16390608
that until 1968 fares were set at 3.25 old pence a mile (1.3 New Pence).
I was interested to learn what season tickets cost. Stevenage to London £3,200; St Albans to London just shy of three grand and the most expensive for a season ticket at 31p a mile, twenty times what it cost pre 1968 but, adjusted for inflation, only 1.5 times as much. In real terms, therefore, rail fares have only risen 50% since 1968 and I am using the worst case as an example the most expensive route in England. The average cost per mile across the network is, at 20 pence per mile (ppm), in real terms exactly the same as it was 45 years ago. Yes, I was surprised too!
I wondered how much it cost to run a car by comparison so quoting from a Telegraph article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/columnists/mike-rutherford/9412681/RAC-cost-of-motoring-figures-dont-add-up.html
"The most common medium-size cars, such as the Ford Focus, Hyundai i30 and Volkswagen Golf, cost about 45ppm. And many huge family saloons/archetypal company cars, such as the Ford Mondeo, the Citroën C5 and the Vauxhall Insignia come in at about 50ppm."
Looking at it this way, season tickets represent pretty good value for money.
A season ticket from Swansea to Cardiff is only 6ppm and the walk into the station and buy a one off ticket only 20p a mile.
The range of walk into the station and buy a ticket is from the 20p of Cardiff to a whopping 80p a mile Manchester to London but even from Manchester a season ticket is only 14ppm.
Your not-so-boring post, John, provoked me to llok all this up and now I am left with the question: Why the huge disparity in fares?
ah but compared to a car, most of the time I doubt everyone gets a seat. Many a time they are ramming you on the train there are bags in all the aisles and you cant get to the seat you have booked.
DeleteI am an avid public transport user. but the trains naff me off! Great western is the pits.
And when was the last time that fares were reduced? I certainly can't remember it happening here. And if it was reported in one of our papers I would assume it was April Fool's Day.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I did the post!
DeleteAmazing eh?
What a treasure
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing find.
ReplyDeleteSaw this and thought of you...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3sRdbaMwgk
xx
Ah mr cardle
DeleteSuch a sweetie
I love reading old papers and magazines. The Great Depression didn't hit until 1929. Don't you remember? (Well, you must have been very young.)
ReplyDeleteThe past is another country is it not?
DeleteMy grandmother was 26 when this newspaper came out.....
What a different world it was
even newspapers from the 70's and 80's are interesting as they remind you of things that you had forgotten about.
ReplyDeleteSeeing the title of this post, I first thought it was going to be about high cholesterol and life before Lipitor and other statins.
ReplyDeleteThe past is a FOREIGN country: they do things differently there. The opening line of The Go Between.
ReplyDeleteLol..I knew I misquoted it....
DeleteI said to myself bel will be commenting on it within the hour and I was almost right
I wanted to hear more about the 'fancy Dress Ball' ( end column 2).
ReplyDeleteJane x
I wonder when The Prestatyn Weekly will be able to claim another decrease in rail fares?
ReplyDeleteLovely to have a little glimpse into the past.
ReplyDeleteTidying up always grinds to a halt on the discovery of an old newspaper.
ReplyDeleteFares being REDUCED, unheard of these days :-(
My Father was 26 when that was printed and my mother 22.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure.
ReplyDeletelook the beautiful typeface. stunning
ReplyDeleteI wanted to read about the pergola poles, lost and reward and evening classes too! How interesting to see what people were reading all those decades ago.
ReplyDeleteI love these old newspapers and their front pages John. I see the fancy dress ball made the front page - must have been quite an event.
ReplyDeleteA depression in 1923? That was just after World War I ended. The Great Depression didn't hit until 1929.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Great find.
ReplyDeleteAnd I expect if they were in the depression, any sort of lowering of prices made people happier.
No news is good news, John. :-)
It looks to be in very good condition - no yellowing. Must have been away from the light all that time.
ReplyDelete