Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

AP

markwwilson wrote:

Hi,

I will be travelling permanently from Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire to Sheffield in South Yorkshire via Leeds.

I have just moved into the area.

Does anybody know of any railcards to save me money as its currently £12.35 a day in travel costs, there must be a cheaper way than that

Thanks

Mark

You can buy a West Yorkshire Metro Card Zone 1-5 for £87.50 per month plus a South Yorkshire RailMaster for £51.40 per month and use them together for your journey. (The South Yorkshire RailMaster must be bought from a rail ticket office in South Yorkshire.) You also need a photocard.

As these two tickets are both zonal tickets, so when taken together, satisfy condition 17a of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage and the train you travel on does NOT have to stop at a boundary station when you change from one ticket to the other, e.g. Virgin Trains or the limited stop service of Northern Rail from Leeds to Sheffield via Barnsley.

These two tickets cost £138.90 per month together which is just about cutting your daily travel cost by a half for 22 or 23 working days in a month.

I suggest you get yourself familiarise with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage on:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/misc/NRCOC.pdf

in particular condition 17 as you could get some unwanted hassle from the train managers of Virgin Trains when using these two tickets together.

I have been commuting between Sheffield and Wakefield Westgate between 2001 and 2005 and I had a letter from Virgin Trains customer services department confirming that I am allowed to using these two tickets on their service and carry this with me every day just in case anyone queries their validity. I also have a copy of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (which you can get free of charge from any rail ticket office) with me at all times.

KatieF

Just wondering if anyone has any tips/savings on travelling between manchester and london, and also manchester and peterborough. I usually by saver returns for convenience, but I am sure they are getting more expensive! And the cost is just mounting up..

Spikey_2

KatieF wrote:

Just wondering if anyone has any tips/savings on travelling between manchester and london, and also manchester and peterborough. I usually by saver returns for convenience, but I am sure they are getting more expensive! And the cost is just mounting up..

try this site....

6pounds 1way possible if booked in advance.

http://www.midlandmainline.com/

clarkey1000

Have you considered the bus?

Between Manchester and London there are some really cheap National Express tickets available (somewhere in the region of £2 a ticket) but I think they might need booking in advance - you're not losing much if your plans change though and you can't use the ticket.

KatieF

Which journey and is that weekday or weekend?

Edit: Also forgot to mention I have a YP railcard

KatieF

clarkey1000, while I might be tempted for a long journey to either pboro or manchester, I am often only going for a weekend, and since me and coaches don't get along, 5+ hours each way doesnt really suit me. I've never seen them that cheap though..might be worth keeping an eye on Thanks anyway!

Spikey_2

KatieF have you tried Midland Mainline?

clarkey1000

Yeah the journeys are about 5 hours. Haven't done it myself but can't imagine it's a huge amount of fun!

I just put in an example journey in May and got a ticket price of £1 for a Friday evening :T so pretty good if you're broke or can't find a good price for the train.

KatieF

Im not broke just yet, just steadily making my way towards it! Just discovered i can get a central trains advance 1 return for £25.10 to Pboro, which is £10 cheaper than my usual thats a good easter present lol. Mind you I'm sure last year I used to get saver returns for about 3,4 pounds cheaper than I can now, anyone else think this?

No joy on going to london yet though, all seem to be around £30 which is pricey for a weekend need to go to southend for a bit while im there as well which is another tenner

jdandi

If using a Credit Card and if you can help it, try booking on the Rail providers site rather than on trainline to avoid the CC charge.
Leicester to Leatherhead on Midland Mainline 36quid on Trainline.com 37.50.

Also if you are looking for a journey which uses multiple providers always check the deals offered by both camps.
Leicester to Cardiff - Central Trains and Virgin and GWR, found the cheaper deal on the Virgin site saving me 14gbp.
although on this occassion I forgot to check the trainline.com which is also a must!
:beer: :j :money: :cool: :rolleyes: :rotfl: :T :A :money: NO MORE!