My, how cheap these Swiss trains are. Or are they?

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. You may not have heard of this Brussels-based organisation until this week, when it announced: “The three most expensive rail operators in Europe are the ones operating totally or partially in the UK – Avanti West Coast, GWR and Eurostar.” The report compared the prices of tickets across Europe. It triggered headlines such: “UK rail fares are now officially the most expensive in all of Europe.” Given the painfully high cost of travelling in Switzerland, I was surprised by the report’s conclusion. At the time of data gathering, we found prices ranged from £15 to £74.” This came as a surprise to Avanti West Coast; a spokesperson said: “There has never been a £74.90 fare offered by us between Euston and Milton Keynes.” As it happens, you could pay £74.90 for a ticket from London to Rugby. The report specifies: “We collected only standard fares, simulating one-way trips for a middle-aged individual travelling in 2nd class, without optional seat reservation or subscription.” It looks to me as if the research has indeed halved the actual cost of travelling on Swiss trains, as well as magnifying Avanti West Coast rail fares by a factor of four.