TRAIN Prices! It's so silly!

xangeleyes

Ok, so I need to go to Doncaster at the end of May for a wedding, and I'm looking at train prices.

Now I only actually need a single there for 2 adults and 1 child from Huddersfield, so I put that in on the National Rail and it's £32.25

So out of curiosity (sp), I find out how much it would be for a return.
So for a return it's only £1 more which I guess is great depending on which way you look at it, but then you have an option next to the prices, to go for a single fair, and this price is £64.50!!!!! :eek:

How have they worked that out!?
I'm not complaining really, I just find it rather silly.

Anyone know where I can buy cheap train tickets from for 28th May?

moonrakerz

A lot of rail fares do seem silly, but there is a lot of logic in them (which has since been lost in the mists of time).

A single fare is calculated (very roughly) on a pence per mile basis, on the principle that the passenger wants to go from A to B and back to A - and that's it.
If you double that for a return, then the shopper/tripper who wants to go from A to B for a short trip isn't going to pay that sort of money - hence the small difference between the fares.
Add special "off peak" and "Advance" fares designed to get people onto trains that would otherwise be running empty and the whole thing starts to look ludicrous - but it is based on (reasonably) common sense. I often make use of an apparent piece of lunacy when I go to the Midlands - I can go on one train (with one change) for £16.05 or I can go on a direct train for £2.95 !

xangeleyes

Thanks, I think lol.

I've worked out that it would save me £10 if I was to buy a family Ryder for West Yorkshire for buses and trains, so I'll travel to Wakefield and buy my ticket there for Doncaster.
If that makes sense.