Advice on regular train travel

david81_2

Hi all

First time poster here, I'm just starting a new daily commute from London-Reading. Any advice on how to cut the costs of tickets? I can't seem to find any... when buying a season ticket the amount seems to go up from around £260 buying daily to £290 with a season ticket hows that work? Only rail card I’m entitled to is one you can only use after peak hours... is there anything you can do?

Thanks!

spiro

When you say £260 daily, please explain the ticket you have been buying daily (cost/type/tibe?) and how many you have bought to get to the £260. Also what does the £290 cover (train/tube?).

david81_2

Thanks for the reply, sorry should have explained.

Paying 260 is if i buy a return ticket each day at £12.80 which comes to £64 a week and £256 a month (est) thats buying 5 tickets a week... if i buy a season ticket i assume it counts weekends so it jacks the price up to £286 but of course I will not need to use it at the weekends. Its only for the train and the line between Twickenham and Reading.

Ebe_Scrooge

If you travel 5 days a week, then a season ticket should be cheaper than 5 daily tickets ( and slightly cheaper still if you buy a monthly or yearly season ticket ). A season ticket is based on peak time fares, so if you travel at off-peak then daily tickets will probably be cheaper.

If you only travel 2 or 3 days a week, then a season will be more expensive. It varies by train company and route, but the cut-off point is typically 3.5 - 4 days - i.e. if you travel more days per week than that, it's cheaper to get a season.

Edit - You appear to be correct, based on the NationalRail website. How peculiar !!

GRM

david81 wrote: »

Paying 260 is if i buy a return ticket each day at £12.80

Standard anytime return looks to be £23.60. Are you travelling off-peak to get the £12.80 fare?

£286 for a monthly season ticket is based on the £23.60 per day.

GRM

My monthly ticket is only 6.3x the daily cost - means I'm quids in by the second Tuesday...just a shame it costs £624 :-/

Ebe_Scrooge

GRM wrote: »

Standard anytime return looks to be £23.60. Are you travelling off-peak to get the £12.80 fare?

£286 for a monthly season ticket is based on the £23.60 per day.

Which website are you looking at ? NationalRail.co.uk says anytime return is 12.80, as per the OP ( first class return being 25.80 ). I wonder if this is a case of different websites having incorrect information on them ?

david81_2

yeah National Rail is 12.70 for a return. Its the same on thetrainline.com. its very odd, i thought season tickets were designed to be cheaper

On another note, know any railcards/discounts that will help with anything?

Livingthedream

The reason the Anytime return is cheaper than the Season ticket is because the Season tickets is priced the same for London - Reading or if you travel Reading - London, this is to stop people scamming the ticket system to get cheaper peak tickets into London during the peak.

The Anytime return London - Reading is going against the main commuter flows so the trains in that direct will be quieter, therefore cheaper that a Reading to London Anytime return.

Hope that makes sense.

GRM

I was looking at RDG-TWI.

LTD has the answer.

david81_2

Thanks Livingthedream! Think you solved the mystery!


So is there anyway to get cheaper tickets from twi-red without buying a daily ticket? No travel cards/discount you know of can help at all?