Everyday
Train vs driving
How do estimated cost and door-to-door time compare for the same regular trip by train and by car?
For many UK corridors the honest question is not which mode is best but what this commute costs and how long the door-to-door trip takes. Driving has a per-mile figure that can include fuel only or a fuller HMRC-style allowance. The train has a ticket you actually buy — or a season ticket you can convert into a per-trip number. Times differ once you add walking to the station, waiting, and parking at the other end. This page compares the estimated difference in money and minutes for a return-style pattern you specify: distance, trips per week, a driving cost per mile, a train fare, and two journey times. National Rail and the National Travel Survey describe the system; your season ticket describes you.
Change this
Results update as you move the controls.
Count each one-way journey.
Fuel only is lower; a fuller allowance sits near 45–55p.
Your result
£552
estimated driving cost above the train
Over 368 one-way trips.
- Driving cost
- £4,968
- Train cost
- £4,416
- Driving time
- 307 hours
- Train time
- 14 days
30 miles × £0.45 × 368 trips.
Driving is 31 hours less travel time.
What does that mean?
On these figures the cheaper money path is train by £552 across 46 weeks. Door-to-door time is 307 hours driving against 14 days on the train. Compare the estimated difference in cost and minutes; it is not a verdict on the better commute.
At a glance
- Drive ££4,968
- Train ££4,416
Compare
| Cost per one-way trip, driving | £13.50 |
|---|---|
| Cost per one-way trip, train | £12.00 |
| Minutes driving | 50 |
| Minutes train | 55 |
Compare scenarios
Price per mile and price per ticket
HMRC approved mileage rates bundle fuel with standing costs; a fuel-only figure is lower. The default 45p is in that family of “fullish” motoring costs (the approved rate has since moved, so treat it as a slider, not a law). The train box should be what you pay for that trip — an advance single, a anytime return halved, or a season ticket divided by the journeys you will actually make.
Door to door, not timetable to timetable
A 50-minute drive and a 55-minute train can reverse once you count the walk to the platform, the wait, and the other walk at the far end. Parking search time belongs in the drive minutes. The National Travel Survey’s average minutes by mode are national, not your 07:12. Set both clocks to the same definition: front door to desk, or driveway to driveway.
Occupancy and reliability
A car with two occupants halves the per-person driving cost; this model is one person unless you halve the rate yourself. Delay minutes, rail-replacement buses and fuel-price spikes are omitted. If reliability is the real reason you pick a mode, the time slider is the place to add a typical buffer rather than a once-a-month horror story.
How we calculated this
Driving cost = distance × cost per mile × trips × weeks. Train cost = ticket × trips × weeks. Driving time = drive minutes × trips × weeks; likewise for the train, then convert to hours. Difference = driving − train for money and for time. Distance is miles one way per trip, matching a typical ticketed leg; count a return as two trips. This experiment provides estimates for educational purposes and is not financial advice. Actual results vary depending on rates, fees, taxes, inflation and individual circumstances.
Go further
A curated rabbit hole from this question. Each link is a real experiment, not a random suggestion.
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