MoneySavingExpert.com Cheapest Train Fares Article Discussion

Although the train company will charge £20 for a senior railcard, my local authority in Suffolk will provide one for £15. Don't know if all local authorities do it, but worth asking if, like me, you are over 60 and travel by train a lot.
Joe

My mum discovered a good trick on the overpriced Glasgow - Edinburgh route. Since you can't buy a return for a different day (they only let you buy a day return - ridiculous rip off!), she found out that if she bought an open return to Inverkeithing, one stop beyond Edinburgh, she could use it any time in the following month and just get off the train in Edinburgh. And it's a saving of about £2 on an off-peak return - an off-peak single to Edinburgh costs around £9 and an off-peak open return to Inverkeithing costs around £16. There's probably even more to save by planning your travel times in advance and buying a ticket online.

I'm sure it must be possible in the other direction too, perhaps by buying an open return to Anniesland or similar. Alternatively buy a day return on this route, which costs about 20p more, and give the return portion to some other person at the other end of the route. At least someone benefits from the Scotrail fares rip-off that way! :rotfl:

It works in my example because you have to change trains at Edinburgh to get to Inverkeithing, so it's just a case of not getting on the next train. If you could do the same to Anniesland, it would work the same way as both Glasgow Queen St and Edinburgh Waverley are the end of the line.

Otherwise I'm not sure how they would stop you getting off early if you wanted, unless they had automated ticket barriers or people checking your tickets as you left the station. I suppose you could get in trouble that way, but as you say, they'd really have to force you back onto the train rather than the other way round!