Cheap Train Tickets Guide

Our team of train ticket enthusiasts have created this cheaper train tickets guide which is full of useful information and resourceful links with the tips and tricks on how to save on average 83% of your normal train ticket fare.

With the worrying UK economy, finding cheaper train ticket is essential for cutting travel costs and saving money. We have explained the hidden methods on how find the cheapest fare possible for your journey, using several different techniques which you can try, and see which method works best for your travel requirements.

Step 1 – Buying your train ticket from the customer service ticket desk

When purchasing your ticket at the train station, don’t assume that the ticket clerk is finding you the cheapest train fare, a recent study has shown that the clerks will not tell you the cheapest fare available for the route if you don’t ask. If you asked the clerk ” Can I have a Return ticket to London” you haven’t actually asked for the cheapest price so why would the clerk give you the cheaper option? it’s simple they wont if you don’t ask, after all it’s making the train company extra money if they sell more high priced tickets.

Book Before Everyone Else

Why not beat the ticket rush? The train fare prices work similar to the airfare ticket prices, if you got wind of a special offer, lets say a… “cheap flight to Dublin for £1.99″, its a bargain right? and you might find yourself wanting to book A.S.A.P? Well the general rule is to book your train tickets early to benefit from the opening prices before the seats are taken and the prices are hyped for the more popular routes.

Whens the right time to book your ticket?

If you can plan your railway journey in advance then to ensure you get a bargain, the right time to buy your ticket is around 10-12 weeks in advance of travel. Why is this? well contractually Network Rail must have the timetable set 12 weeks in advance of travel, so you can book around 12 weeks before and benefit from the opening prices.

Heres a little trick for getting a heads up on cheap train tickets.

Did you know that TheTrainline’s ticket alert system emails you the moment cheap advance tickets for any specific journey or city become available? You can sign up and set the required travel locations and have it emailed to you right away Find Out More

Booking your train tickets last minute?

If you can’t book your train tickets in advance, you could also bag yourself a cheap fare by booking online the night before. Still thousands of seats are left empty and discounted prices are still available so make sure you check online before traveling, you can also have the added benefit of walking straight onto the train with your printed ticket!

Network Rail Special Offers

The National Rail has a nice a-z list of special offers and discounts on train train, these a from the majority of uk trains so take a look you might find something that interests you. Click here

National Rail Season Tickets

If you are traveling the same route more than 3 times a week, like most people traveling to work, buying a season ticket can be very beneficial.

Fancy a £1 train ride?

Megatrain are extremely cheap and can give you cheap travel to some of the UK’s most popular destinations. You could travel to Bath, Manchester, London, Salisbury and a big selection of other cities for as little as £1 plus a 50p booking fee – well we can officially say its less than the London tube.

So whats the cheapest way to travel in a nutshell?

Use a train ticket comparison service. Why? it can take lots of time checking each separate train company for train ticket prices, so why not use TheTrainLine or RailyEasy as they compare the ticket prices of several leading train companies. Although it’s worth considering that TheTrainLine charge a £4.50 booking fee, which you could avoid by going direct and booking with the rail company, but you may not have the time to do this or be able to find the same discount if your not familiar with price comparison sites. You can check Jonathan Rowles post on TheTrainLines booking fee here

Do you know about split ticketing?

Instead of buying a direct ticket which would normally be a single or return, you can buy several tickets to the stops along the main route, this is called split ticketing, this method can save you lots and lots of cash. Checkout the guide here

How a Rail Card can save you lot’s of money!

Yes! It’s a myth Rail Cards are not only available for students, and pensioners, anyone can invest and make massive savings on train tickets. In total theirs 5 different rail cards 16-25 railcard,  Family & Friends railcard,  Senior railcard, Disabled Persons railcard and the Network railcard, each saves you a 1/3 of rail fares in Britain, each Railcard is around £25-£26 and £18 for disabled persons. You can cover the cost of a rail card with buying just one ticket and receiving the 1/3 discount.

Recommended Travel Related Resources

Are you a frequent traveler on the London Rail? checkout the easy to read map with all the stops and info. London Overground network map (PDF 0.15MB)

Save Money With Train Delays

Train operators don’t and won’t advertise the fact that passengers are entitled to reclaim some of their fare back or even a full refund if their train is delayed by more than a certain amount of time, this varies depending on the operator so please check the traveling terms. If you are a regular train user, please sign up with Train Delays, they will email you the details of the train and all the information you will need to make a claim. You can on average get back up to 20% of a season ticket. As a London Tube user you can also reclaim for delays (of over 15 minutes). Contact http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/refunds/tuberefund/

Train Resources

Checkout Rail.co.uk for lots of usefull information, such as train companies. Find out the offical train times with nationalrail.co.uk The Association of Train Operating Companies represents and supports Britain’s passenger railway Have you got a complaint about the rail or you are unhappy about something you can contact the passenger focus which is the watchdog for the sector. The Office of Rail Regulation is the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain’s railways.rail-reg.gov.uk Information on the london oyster card here
Interested in rail jobs? please visit the railwaypeople to fast track your career in rail.

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