Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

dggar

Taking a sample date of Tuesday 4 th December
Off peak return with senior rail card
Caldercruix to Glasgow £4.10

Caldercruix to Ardrie £1.80
Airdrie to Glasgow £2.90.
Total £4.70

This is from National Rail Journey Planner

clagmonster

There are concession fares which may not appear on some journey planners. I can not find the eligibility for them, so Neverstop's mother may or may not be eligible for them. If she is, I would reccomend:
Caldercruix - Airdrie Scr Concess Rtn £1.20
Airdrie - Glasgow Cen / QSt Scr Concess Rtn £1.20
Total £2.40, as opposed to Caldercruix - Glasgow Cen / QSt Scr Concess Rtn £4.05.
Fares taken from the BR Fares website (sorry I can't post a link).

If she is not eligible for said concession fares, then I agree with your post.

dggar wrote: »

Taking a sample date of Tuesday 4 th December
Off peak return with senior rail card
Caldercruix to Glasgow £4.10

Caldercruix to Ardrie £1.80
Airdrie to Glasgow £2.90.
Total £4.70

This is from National Rail Journey Planner

clagmonster

neverstop wrote: »

hi sorry for delay in replying.
my mum gets Edinburgh to Glasgow line train, from Caldercruix to Airdrie which is the next stop, cost for return £1.10
On approaching Airdrie she asks to buy ticket to Glasgow cost for return£1.10 . Ticket inspector tells her she cannot do this and says she must leave train which my mum willingly does then re-enters train , inspector says she cannot reboard this train stating she will have to wait 10 mins for next train.

According to the National Rail website, Caldercruix station has a passenger operated ticket vending machine, but not a booking office. It is therefore probable that the Airdrie-Glasgow ticket is not available from the machine. The Airdrie-Caldercruix concession return may or may not be available from the machine, certainly in West Yorkshire the machines sell concession tickets.
If the machine does indeed 'sell' the concession tickets, then assuming the machine accepts the passengers intended payment type, the passenger must 'buy' that ticket from the machine. If not, the passenger must pay the fare to the travelling ticket inspector on board the train at the first opportunity.

As there is no facility to pay it at Caldercruix station, the Caldercruix-Glasgow fare must be paid to the travelling ticket inspector at the first opportunity in line with Condition 3 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

For reference, the National Rail Conditions of carriage are available via the National Rail website.

thelawnet

It looks like all journeys under 10 miles are charged at £1.20 return. Over 10 miles is half the standard fare. On journeys of medium length, it will be cheaper to split into sub-10-mile chunks at £1.20 return, instead of paying half-fare.

http://www.spt.co.uk/travelcards/concessions/

The furthest you can travel from Cadercruix is then Easterhouse.

So buy Caldercruix-Easterhouse instead, and at the first chance ask for the Easterhouse-Glasgow return.

yorkie2

neverstop wrote: »

hi sorry for delay in replying.
my mum gets Edinburgh to Glasgow line train, from Caldercruix to Airdrie which is the next stop, cost for return £1.10
On approaching Airdrie she asks to buy ticket to Glasgow cost for return£1.10

Does she comply with the Conditions by purchasing all the tickets required (Caldercuix - Airdrie plus Airdrie - Glasgow) at the first opportunity?

The first opportunity would be at your origin if there is an open ticket office there. There isn't at Caldercuix, therefore you should purchase the first ticket from the machine (assuming, of course, there is a ticket machine in working order and that it accepts your chosen method of payment), you then must both show the ticket purchased and request the additional ticket(s) required to complete the journey when the ticket inspector passes through the train.

If there is no functioning ticket machine, or if the ticket machine only accepts cards and you wish to pay in cash, then you may buy both tickets from the inspector at the first opportunity.

Can you provide more detail about the process of ticket purchasing and interaction between customer and ticket inspector please?

If the customer is not purchasing a ticket at the first opportunity, then the customer is not entitled to any concessionary/discounted fare.

jennie-jack

dont know if you can help as its quite soon im looking at the cheapest tickets from huddersfield to london. not fussed which station or which route it goes just the cheapest.

it is 2 adults and 2 children and we have a family and friends pass.

also if you can help with that another question. there are 5 of us in total going but our 2 yr old is in a wheelchair. wont need assistance as we can lift him but will need a disabled space aswell as the 4 seats.

its for 12th october untill 14th.

thanks

littleirishboy

On the last weekly email it said that the standard Liverpool London return is £75... and you were recommending the London midland £15 each way offer? just wondering why as you can get a return London-liverpool or vice versa for £28 all the time? not a special offer just a regular price?

wealdroam

littleirishboy wrote: »

On the last weekly email it said that the standard Liverpool London return is £75... and you were recommending the London midland £15 each way offer? just wondering why as you can get a return London-liverpool or vice versa for £28 all the time? not a special offer just a regular price?

£74.20 is the price of an Off Peak Return.

£28 buys you a Super Off Peak Return valid on LM trains only and the times of the day when you can travel are severely restricted.

The LM £15 offer gets you tickets with the same time restrictions as an Off Peak Return.

So for example, on a weekday, if you want to leave Euston at 09:40, and return leaving Liverpool at 16:04, 17:04 or 18:04, then you can buy either the £74.20 ticket or the £15 each way LM offer tickets.
The £28 fare is not available at those times.

Did you read the article linked to from the email?
In there it said...

A London-Liverpool off-peak return ticket booked on the day costs up to £75. As you can book the £15 vouchers on the day, you could save up to £60.

But as you almost suggest, buy the £28 ticket to travel at anytime on a Saturday or Sunday.

Edited to add:
Another useful return ticket for travelling from Liverpool to London on a Saturday is a Super Off Peak Day Travelcard.
It's only valid on Virgin Trains, so is much quicker than London Midland Trains, and it includes all London bus and tube travel.
It is a few pounds more at £36.70.
You do have to book a specific train for the outward leg, and they are quota controlled, but you can travel back on any train.

pabzlito

Thanks for the opportunity to get £10 off rail fares (not sarcastic).

Got to the page at 3pm, put in my email and postcode and filled in the captcha words, then I was presented with two new captcha words more than ten times. Each time I carefully copied them into the little box, and each time a new pair of words appeared. I did not get a single discount code.

As I said, sincere thanks for the opportunity, but I won't be trying one of these offers again.

iabw12

pabzlito wrote: »

Thanks for the opportunity to get £10 off rail fares (not sarcastic).

Got to the page at 3pm, put in my email and postcode and filled in the captcha words, then I was presented with two new captcha words more than ten times. Each time I carefully copied them into the little box, and each time a new pair of words appeared. I did not get a single discount code.

As I said, sincere thanks for the opportunity, but I won't be trying one of these offers again.

I can only echo the sentiments above - I tried both at 11am and again at 3pm today. I have a train journey on Saturday and it would have come in handy. Utter madness, but worth a go:p Like the OP it's not something I'll have another go at, but none-the-less an "interesting" experience.