Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

sandking072_2

KeithP wrote: »

No idea what you mean by "a lot more expensive than usual".

I can see Advance Singles outward from Birmingham NS to Ipswich on the Friday evening for £27.00. Problem is these miss the last train to Woodbridge. Is bus a possiblity for the last bit?

If you don't mind leaving Ipswich at 07:53 or 08:42, Advance Singles to Birmingham NS cost £21.50 on the Monday morning.

Anytime Single Woodbridge to Ipswich is £3.30

Thanks for getting back to me. I can usually do the journey for roughly £40 with split ticketing, however I understand it's a problem with it being so last minute. The bus part of the journey is difficult as it's 2 buses so not very practical at that time of night.

As for the Monday, I have an appointment at 9am so those two trains are out as well. I thought there may have been more savings to be made even this close to travel but this only cropped up today.

However, thanks very much for the advice. It's much appreciated.

epm-84

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Not sure about that, as Merseyrail are very strict about not being allowed to board a train without a valid ticket.

Yes you aren't allowed to board a Merseyrail service without a valid ticket unless there is not open ticket office and no working ticket machine. Doing so could get you a £20 penalty fare plus the fare for the journey you are making with them and if your journey involves going through a central Liverpool station you will be given the penalty fare.

geordieracer

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Not sure about that, as Merseyrail are very strict about not being allowed to board a train without a valid ticket. My regular journey is Southport to Hereford via Chester, but even if you can collect tickets at Chester I wouldn't be able to do the Southport to Chester bit with just a booking reference number.

I usually book and collect my tickets at Hereford so it's not a problem, but if circumstances mean I have to change my journey date I am stuck with paying full whack. (Actually I don't pay the full Southport to Hereford fare of £43.90 but split at Chester, so £4.45 Southport to Chester, and Chester to Hereford £23.50, saving nearly £16 on the straight through fare). Crazy isn't it? An Advance single is £12 for the whole journey.

Have you asked them if you can do this though? As i said I know they let you do so on Chiltern as they understand that not every station can have a fast ticket machine.. Though im suprised southport doesnt

Bogof_Babe

Southport has a ticket machine but I've only ever used it for buying Merseyrail local tickets. I must investigate whether it is suitable for picking up pre-booked Advance ones, although as it doesn't come up in the drop-down list of available stations when booking online I've always assumed it isn't, otherwise it would be included on the list wouldn't it, even if the ticket office counter staff can't oblige?

Good point though, I'll make a point of checking that out.

Edit: How important is it to select the appropriate station for collection when booking online? Could another station find the ticket for you if you have the booking reference details?

epm-84

geordieracer wrote: »

Have you asked them if you can do this though? As i said I know they let you do so on Chiltern as they understand that not every station can have a fast ticket machine.. Though im suprised southport doesnt

Chiltern have more lenient conditions on their website compared to Merseyrail.

Merseyrail's are:

Merseyrail operates a Penalty Fares scheme across the whole network. Passengers must buy a ticket before they board the train as our on train staff do not issue tickets. All stations have facilities for passengers to buy a ticket. Most stations have a ticket office that is staffed from start to end of service, some have an easy to use ticket vending machine.


Any passenger who is found travelling without a valid ticket for their entire journey is liable to be issued with a Penalty Fare of £20 by Merseyrail Ticket Inspectors plus the fare to the destination station if continuing their journey.

Chiltern in their policy refer to 'the required ticket not being available':

Passengers travelling with Chiltern Railways must carry a valid ticket for their entire journey. If a station does not have a ticket office, or the ticket office is closed, a ticket can be purchased from the self-service ticket machine(s) on the station. If the ticket required is not available from the self-service ticket machine, then a 'permit to travel' should be purchased from the machine on the station. Where these are not available, tickets should be purchased at the first opportunity during the journey.

Bogof_Babe

Wake up Merseyrail then .

GBT2010

Just spotted that my local train company eastmidlandstrains.co.uk has extended the Best Fare Finder on its website to cover other train companies' routes - now 250 routes in total apparently. :j

This is a good way to find those cheap tickets in my experience - its quicker than searching trains at different times.

Like most train companies own websites, EMT don't charge a booking fee either.

epm-84

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Wake up Merseyrail then .

Merseyrail see it as they are ahead of other operators as they have ticket buying facilities at all their stations from the first to last service so can impose the strictest conditions on penalty fares.

Bogof_Babe

epm-84 wrote: »

Merseyrail see it as they are ahead of other operators as they have ticket buying facilities at all their stations from the first to last service so can impose the strictest conditions on penalty fares.

That's all very well unless you want to travel outside of their operating area.

Bogof_Babe

On another matter...


I've been waiting for Advance Singles to appear for Friday 10th September, but as at tonight East Coast are only listing full walk-on fares.

Fair enough, except that in this section: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html
it says that Arriva Trains Wales are currently selling Advance tickets for weekdays up to 17th September and Saturdays up to 11th Sept.

I have looked on the Arriva site too and they don't have any Advance fares showing for those dates.

I'd think that even if they were all sold out the price box on East Coast would still be there for the cheaper fares, but with no trains showing against them. At the moment it doesn't look like any have been offered at all.

Could one of our forum experts please advise what is going on? TIA.