Cheap Train Fares (not)

[G3CWI]

All of the posts above seem to confirm my view that local rail travel is very expensive when such bargains exist on long distance routes.

 

[vernon]

All of the posts above seem to confirm my view that local rail travel is very expensive when such bargains exist on long distance routes.

No. They confirm that you have a view. Nothing more.

 

[srw]

All of the posts above seem to confirm my view that local rail travel is very expensive when such bargains exist on long distance routes.

If you're happy to travel off-peak and use an Oyster card*, the most you'll pay for a single journey within the TFL zones is £3.90. That will take you from a rural town in Buckinghamshire to a rural town in Essex, or from the edge of the North Downs to the edge of Bedfordshire.

*and frankly you're daft not to - a 5 minute single without an Oyster card costs £4.70.

 

[vernon]

If you're happy to travel off-peak and use an Oyster card*, the most you'll pay for a single journey within the TFL zones is £3.90. That will take you from a rural town in Buckinghamshire to a rural town in Essex, or from the edge of the North Downs to the edge of Bedfordshire.

*and frankly you're daft not to - a 5 minute single without an Oyster card costs £4.70.

Sadly the original poster lives in the Macclesfield Triangle where discounts allegedly disappear without trace.

 

[Sara_H]

Train travel is unpredictable, price wise. Me and son are going to london (from Sheffield) in a few weeks. I was surprised to get a return ticket some where around £35 (with friends and family railcard).
We were looking to go to Cornwall for a summer holiday in the summer, but found the fare to be prohibitively expensive, so we're off to Robin Hoods Bay instead, which is better anyway!

 

[Soltydog]

Long journeys - yes, there are bargains. I am not so sure that this applies to shorter journeys though. Macclesfield to Chester return is £18 - which is more than the cost of the petrol to drive there (I know that's not the only cost of driving).

On that route the price is the same however far in advance I look.

Am i right in thinking that you will be traveling on Northern Trains for most of the journey? Northern dont offer any cheap advance tickets Sometimes you need to know how to work the system.
eg- York to Hull on Northern service is about £18 single fare with no advance cheap tickets, however traveling from Newcastle back to Hull via York & using the same Northern service can be had for about £9 if booked well in advance with East Coast

 

[spen666]

Train travel is unpredictable, price wise. Me and son are going to london (from Sheffield) in a few weeks. I was surprised to get a return ticket some where around £35 (with friends and family railcard).
We were looking to go to Cornwall for a summer holiday in the summer, but found the fare to be prohibitively expensive, so we're off to Robin Hoods Bay instead, which is better anyway!

Train travel uis entirely predictable, price wise if you bother to understand the system.

the cheap train tickets only go on sale at most 12 weeks in advance of travel, so it is no wonder you are finding the prices to Cornwall in summer holidays eye watering. The only fares available are the non discounted ones. Book 12 weeks before travel and you will find much cheaper fares are available

 

[Sara_H]

Train travel uis entirely predictable, price wise if you bother to understand the system.

the cheap train tickets only go on sale at most 12 weeks in advance of travel, so it is no wonder you are finding the prices to Cornwall in summer holidays eye watering. The only fares available are the non discounted ones. Book 12 weeks before travel and you will find much cheaper fares are available

Not always necesserily the case. Last year my Mum tried the trick of ringing the train company every day for a couple of weeks at around the 12 week before she wanted to travel time, wanting to travel from Sheffield to Weymouth.
She was told every day that the cheap tickets "hadn't been released" until lo and behold, she rang one day and miraculously all the cheap tickets had been sold!
And of course, such a silly pricing system makes rail travel expensive for those who don't have such advance notice of when they'll need to travel.
It shouldn't really be this hard!

 

[Over The Hill]

I sometimes look into using a train but in most cases end up sticking with the car.

The thing with trains is that they are not door to do and mostly you are lucky to be dumped within 5 miles of where you want to actually be. From my house in Hampshire to pick up my car in a village outside Cambridge needed: Walk-Bus-Train- Tube- Tube- Train - Bus-Walk. Three hour and about £70. Coming home in car I bought was 2 hours and perhaps £20 in fuel. OK I know there is the cost of the car but I have that anyway!

I just about only use the train to go to London or anywhere you cannot really use a car in. Horrid experience every time. Standing all the way next to the loo or if you get a seat you only get 80% of the seat with the other 20% being taken by the sweaty fat slob next to you. I suppose as they have a full train they can justify charging what they do.

In normal life we don't pre plan most simple trips weeks in advance to be able to book cheaper tickets.

 

[spen666]

Not always necesserily the case. Last year my Mum tried the trick of ringing the train company every day for a couple of weeks at around the 12 week before she wanted to travel time, wanting to travel from Sheffield to Weymouth.
She was told every day that the cheap tickets "hadn't been released" until lo and behold, she rang one day and miraculously all the cheap tickets had been sold!
And of course, such a silly pricing system makes rail travel expensive for those who don't have such advance notice of when they'll need to travel.
It shouldn't really be this hard!

Sara read what I posted. ie train tickest are released not more than 12 weeks. in advance. They are not always released that far ahead.

 

[Roadhump]

It is often cheaper to split your journeys into several 'legs' with separate tickets. As an example - I have saved over £20 by buying Hebden Bridge to Leeds, Leeds to Derby, Derby to Coventry, rather than Hebden Bridge to Coventry. I caught the same trains that I would have done with the more expensive single ticket.

There isn't a lot of help to work out the best combinations. I just check them manually on the National Rail website.

Very true, last summer I travelled from Liverpool to Plymouth at very short notice. It was going to cost me £268 return but when I got to Lime Street station in Liverpool the ticket clerk told me to wait a couple of minutes while she looked at price options, she broke my journey down into about 6 smaller ones and it cost me £129 return. I still only had to make the one change at Birmingham. What fantastic customer service that was.

Interestingly I also travelled along that coastal South Devon track that got washed away recently at Dawlish, the scenery on a sunny summer day along there is lovely.

 

[Archie_tect]

Travelling off peak if you can helps even splitting longer journeys into smaller sections to only pay for peak travel for the shortest journey during the peak hours...

[Edit: roadhump's post makes mine redundant now but it goes to show nothing is ever simple and when you are in a rush or haven't got access to internet or a 'real person' it is almost impossible!]

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, and taking an alternative route can be cheaper. It usually saves me money travelling to the Midlands via Manchester rather than Leeds, but I have to change stations in Manchester rather than platforms in Leeds. I also prefer the scenery via Leeds so I usually go that way unless the saving is more than , say, £5.

 

[Flying Dodo]

In normal life we don't pre plan most simple trips weeks in advance to be able to book cheaper tickets.

The trains have always been that way, even back in British Rail days. Same as the airlines unfortunately.

 

[asterix]

All the the websites offer cheap fares up to 70% off - but as far as I can see they all offer exactly the same fares. I was looking to do some day trips with the bike using the train but it looks rather expensive and there appears to be no real competition. Are there any bargains to be had?

Maybe we should privatise the railways, thus making them more efficient and better VFM? Like with the utility companies, that's worked a treat.