regular train travel advice please to travel to uni

hisandhers_2

Hi there, I am a mature student starting a years course at Birmingham city uni starting in september. Although its a year its really only about 25 weeks! It is only a part time course so I only need to travel down once a week.
I am able to pay for the fees of this course however when I came to look at the current advance prises (12 wks ahead) it currently costs 99.00!!! that is just to get there & back in one day on the train!
Please, please could some one advise me on how I could get from Huddersfield to Birmingham Perry Barr station any cheaper?

Again this would be every monday. i just cannot afford 100. a week for travel! I will have to pull out if I can't find any cheaper way of getting there & back :-(

wealdroam

Firstly, get a 16-25 Railcard.
Mature students are eligible... see here.

Don't know where you are looking but Advance Singles are available much cheaper than that.

I assume you want to travel back to Huddersfield on a Friday too.

Using Mon 28 March and Fri 1 April as an example...
Advance Singles at £22.50 each way are plentiful.
This drops to £14.85 with a railcard.
So a railcard pays for itself after less than two return trips.

Info from Southern Railway.

Edited to add:
Re-reading your post it seems that you will be making a day trip every Monday.
The same principle holds... look for Advance Singles instead of Return tickets.

btw... that twelve weeks thing is so often not true.
Cheap Advance Singles are often released later than that.

AirlieBird

Your looking too far ahead for the cheap train tickets. Try a week or two earlier and there are tickets for £14 each way - although you have to travel on the train your booked on with these tickets.

12 weeks is when Network Rail have to confirm the timetable. At this point non-reservable tickets become available (which is what you've found). The cheap tickets don't become available until the train operator opens their reservations system which might be a week or two later.

Livingthedream

Couldn't find Birmingham Perry Barr station so used Birmingham NS and assume your travelling back on the Monday.

Try splitting at Chesterfield and Derby and getting day return tickets, if you can travel Off Peak then the price is £32.70, if you have to travel early ie Peak before 09:30 then £42.30 or you could do a mixture of Peak and Off peak as needed, these tickets are walkon fares and don't need to be bought in advance.

Livingthedream

wealdroam wrote: »

Firstly, get a 16-25 Railcard.
Mature students are eligible... see here.

Don't think he's eligible as 'Open University, distance learning and part-time courses don't qualify' from the 16-25 Railcard Eligibility webpage

wealdroam

Livingthedream wrote: »

Don't think he's eligible as 'Open University, distance learning and part-time courses don't qualify' from the 16-25 Railcard Eligibility webpage

Oops... you're right.
Part-time courses aren't eligible.



Psst... leave out the word Birmingham and you will find Perry Barr.

Livingthedream

Wealdroam thank you for the psst! I was scratching me head, will remember that one for the future.

Mids_Costcutter

It sounds like the OP will attend only one day a week (Monday) so due to the narrow qualification criteria for a full-time mature student they wouldn't be able to obtain a 16-25 Railcard.

If too expensive by rail there's always National Express coaches, though would be a long day!

Or find a university course closer to home?

Does this thread demonstrate the need for a universal national railcard?