It’s more expensive to take the train from London to Manchester than flying to New York and back.

Sky presenter Martha Kelner branded Virgin Trains a ‘national disgrace’ after she was forced to splash out £338 on an open return ticket to the city for work.

She hit out at the train service on Twitter and said it was cheaper to fly to New York.

Martha Kelner paid Virgin Trains £338 for an open return ticket to Manchester (Picture: Martha Kelner)

Martha Kelner shared the ticket (Picture: Twitter/Martha Kelner)

A last-minute one-way direct flight to the Big Apple cost £257.


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Return flights from Heathrow to JFK from this Saturday to the following cost as little as £245.

Other train users supported Kelner, with Michael Dowd replying: ‘£130 for a single UK Armed Forced ticket. Country is a joke!



‘Can’t even afford to get home and see my family every weekend.’

Just bought London to Manchester open day return. £338. That’s a national disgrace @VirginTrains — Martha Kelner (@marthakelner) November 26, 2018

Tim Rich said: ‘For £338 you could have a flight from Heathrow to Moscow direct and a night in the Sheraton Palace hotel.’

The Sheraton is a 5-star hotel in the Russian city.

Jeremy Cross added: ‘It’s cheaper to fly!’ with Kelner replying: ‘To New York.’

Cross added: ‘I paid £184 at the weekend, I didn’t get a seat with that, but it’s now starting to look like a bargain.’

Virgin Trains said customers could pay as little as £23 (Picture: Getty Images)

Patricia Barraclough said she could fly from Sydney to London for around the same price.

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Direct flights to Sydney in Australia starts at £293 in December, if you fly out on Monday 3 December and book a return.

However, Virgin Trains said customers could pay as little as £23 to go from London to Manchester, by booking in advance and at a specific time.

A Virgin Trains spokesperson said: ‘The vast majority of our customers pay far less than Martha, with fares between London and Manchester starting at £23.

‘Martha could have booked and travelled that same day for just £39 by choosing her train and buying an advance fare.’

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