Pathfinder plans shorter days to combat rising costs
PATHFINDER RAILTOURS is to offer later start times and earlier finishes that are designed to connect with first and last service trains, so passengers are less reliant on hotels in future.
“We’ve got to take note that, since Covid, the base cost of British hotels has risen, if not doubled,” the firm’s founder, Peter Watts, told me. “Tying one or two nights in a hotel into train tour prices, which themselves have gone up, is becoming questionable, so now we are reflecting upon our start and finish times, which means we may not be able to do as much in the day as we used to, but we have to take notice of what people are prepared to support.”
Living in Devon, I am all too aware of the extra costs participants face to travel on railtours, especially during the summer months, or for tours that start/end in London, so I suspect Pathfinder’s pledge to make it easier for people to make a trip an ‘out and back in a day’ will be welcomed by its customer base.
“We’re famous for our 5am starts from the first station and getting back at 11pm. We are looking to see if we can come up with trains that have a 7am start, 7am to 9am over their pickup points, with the 9am one being chosen for connectional values, and then making sure we’re trying to get back at 8pm for the first set-down, and back home by 10pm or something,” Peter added. “It’s a slow adaptation because obviously we have to put our specifications in quite early. At the moment, we’re working on the Christmas period. There’s a long lead-in time these days, and that’s because of the initial planning and getting the initial OKs before it even goes public, three or four months ahead.”
At present, Pathfinder has two steam excursions on sale – September 9’s ‘Cumbrian Fells Express’ to Carlisle, taking in Shap and the ‘S&C’, with Tangmere in charge between Carnforth and Preston, and October 21’s ‘Cumbrian Coastal Express’ which, as the name implies, goes via the lesser used Cumbrian Coast line. Prices start at £129 for both trains.
The rising cost of railtour tickets is something that is often commented upon by both travellers and non-travellers alike. However, like it or not, promoters have to charge what they do because running trains in 2023 is not a cheap endeavour, as Peter illustrated to me…
Based on a typical steam-hauled railtour, Peter told me the vast majority – around 85% of the total cost of running a day trip – goes to third parties such as locomotive owners, the train operating company and rolling stock owners, as Pathfinder is an independent promoter.
“Then we’re basically left with 15% with
which to pay our own costs and make a profit,” he added, confirming the old adage that railtour promoters only tend to make a profit in the last couple of carriages.
Peter was speaking to me for a forthcoming feature looking at the past, present and future of main line steam, as 2023 marks his half-century of organising railtours. This will be published in a future edition of Steam Railway.
WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO DO AS MUCH IN THE DAY AS WE USED TO, BUT WE HAVE TO TAKE NOTICE OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE PREPARED TO SUPPORT
PETER WATTS, PATHFINDER TRAINS