same train journey, £20 cheaper.

trailingspouse

Today I needed to take the train from West Yorkshire to Nottingham at short notice. I didn't have time to go online, just turned up at the train station.

The nice man on the desk told me that the route I thought I wanted to take (from my home station to Leeds, change at Leeds for a train direct to Nottingham) was quite expensive, and it would be cheaper for me to go from home - Leeds - Sheffield - Nottingham.

The more direct route would have cost me £45, the route he suggested was £26 - but he then pointed out that there was nothing to stop me taking the more direct route using the cheaper tickets.

How does this even work? What's the point?

I did as he suggested, had my tickets inspected twice en route with no problems. Why is the higher fare even offered?

shark_DB

Welcome to the crazy world of train tickets, where quite often not even the ticket clerk can fully understand it

yangptangkipperbang

shark_DB wrote: »

Welcome to the crazy world of train tickets, where quite often not even the ticket clerk can fully understand it

I think he did - he told the OP which was the cheapest way to do his journey. He didn't have to explain the logic behind the fare structure !

yorkie2

trailingspouse wrote: »

Today I needed to take the train from West Yorkshire to Nottingham at short notice. I didn't have time to go online, just turned up at the train station.

The nice man on the desk told me that the route I thought I wanted to take (from my home station to Leeds, change at Leeds for a train direct to Nottingham) was quite expensive, and it would be cheaper for me to go from home - Leeds - Sheffield - Nottingham.

The more direct route would have cost me £45, the route he suggested was £26 - but he then pointed out that there was nothing to stop me taking the more direct route using the cheaper tickets.

How does this even work? What's the point?

I did as he suggested, had my tickets inspected twice en route with no problems. Why is the higher fare even offered?

I think you misunderstood the clerk.

I think you were told that a ticket from your home station (where?), or indeed from Leeds to Nottingham was very expensive, however a ticket from your home station to Sheffield was cheap, and a ticket from Sheffield to Nottingham was cheap.

The direct trains all go via Sheffield, so the route hasn't changed, this is what is known as "split ticketing" which means using a combination of tickets for one journey. The creator of TrainSplit - a site which calculates and sells "split ticket" journeys - wrote this article you may find interesting: Fares & Ticketing Guide: 1.6 Split ticketing

SickyNicky wrote:

It is possible to buy a through ticket from almost anywhere to almost anywhere else on the rail network. Sometimes, however, it may be beneficial to buy more than one ticket to complete your journey. Reasons for this might include....

trailingspouse

But why is the higher fare offered at all? Why don't they just say 'Ah, you want to go from A to B - that'll be £26 please.' That's the bit I'm failing to understand.

Also, if I'd gone with the higher fare, it was £46 return, and £45 single. Baffling.

Frogletina

Several years ago I used to travel from Coventry to Chester which always meant one or two changes. I always had to change at Crewe. However, the cost of tickets to Crewe were considerably more than the ones to Chester. Just crazy.

I've just checked and it is the same today.

Weekday anytime return to Chester, change at Crewe, £56.50

Weekday anytime return to Crewe, £77.00

esuhl

There's another interesting trick I discovered recently to get cheaper train tickets...

Imagine a triangle, where each side is a train track, and there are 3 corners (A, B & C) representing stations. I live near station A.

A ticket from A to B costs £6.
A ticket from A to C costs £9.

Sometimes I want to travel from A to B, then C, and back home to A. I used to buy a ticket from A to C, since the ticket lets you travel via either directly or via B.

But then I realised that the ticket from A to B allows you to travel via C if you wish.

And then I realised that, even if I was only travelling from A to C directly, the cheaper A to B ticket would be valid!

It's nuts. But it does save a few quid, even if I get strange looks from ticket inspectors as they wonder why I appear to be travelling "the long way round" each time.

I wonder whether there's a case for mis-selling/mis-adverting/fraud. If I ask for the cheapest ticket from A to C, I shouldn't be conned into buying a more expensive ticket than I actually need.

Skimble

Ticket Office staff are required to offer the most appropriate through ticket (where one exists, which they do for 99% of journeys) for the journey being made and should not offer split tickets unless you explicitly request such a combination, as doing so is (potentially) a breach of "impartial retailing" rules. and can cause problems for the passenger if the split doesn't comply with Condition 19 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (see below).

For example:

Travelling from Anytown to Othertown, you can get trains run by Really Fast Trains or Not So Fast Trains. Both companies set their own fares for the through journey, with Not So Fast Trains setting the fares for intermediate stations.

If you buy a ticket from Anytown to Othertown, the only options are period returns due to the distance involved. Really Fast Trains set the "default" fare (valid on either company) at, say, £50 Return and Not So Fast Trains have an operator specific fare of £30 Return.

If, on the other hand, you buy a ticket from Anytown to Middletown (where all trains stop) and a separate one from Middletown to Othertown, you might only pay £40...but you can still use the Really Fast Trains service because the train stops where you change from one ticket to the other, even though Really Fast Trains will get a lower share of the revenue than they would for the through ticket.

And now for Condition 19 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, which dictates when you can use a split ticket:

Rail_Settlement_Plan wrote:

19. Using a combination of tickets

You may use two or more tickets for one journey as long as together they cover the entire journey and one of the following applies:

(a) they are both Zonal Tickets unless special conditions prohibit their use in this way. The Ticket Seller will, if you ask, advise you whether you can use a Zonal Ticket in combination with another ticket.

(b) the train you are in calls at a station where you change from one ticket to another;

or

(c) one of the tickets is a Season Ticket (which for this purpose does not include Season Tickets or travel passes issued on behalf of a Passenger Transport Executive or local authority) or a leisure travel pass, and the other ticket(s) is/are not.

You must comply with any restriction shown on the tickets relating to travel in the trains of a particular Train Company or Train Companies (see Condition 10).

For the purposes of this Condition, a "leisure travel pass" means any multi-journey ticket (excluding Season Tickets) valid for:

(i) at least 7 consecutive days; or
(ii)at least 3 days in a period of at least 7 consecutive days

and includes rover tickets, travel passes, flexipass tickets and BritRail passes

Note that Transport for London is not a Passenger Transport Executive or local authority for the purposes of 19(c).

Examples

A Travelcard Season from Anytown to London Zones 4-6 and a separate London Zones 1-3 Travelcard Season could be used on a train that runs non-stop from Anytown to London, per condition 19(a).

If you held a season ticket from Anytown to Middletown and another one from Middletown to Othertown, you could only use that on trains that stop at Middletown in both directions, per condition 19(b).

If you hold a season ticket from Anytown to Middletown and an ordinary return from Middletown to Othertown, the train does not have to stop at Middletown, in accordance with condition 19(c).

Phew! That was longer than I expected...

yorkie2

Skimble wrote: »

Examples

A Travelcard Season from Anytown to London Zones 4-6 and a separate London Zones 1-3 Travelcard Season could be used on a train that runs non-stop from Anytown to London, per condition 19(a).

If you held a season ticket from Anytown to Middletown and another one from Middletown to Othertown, you could only use that on trains that stop at Middletown in both directions, per condition 19(b).

If you hold a season ticket from Anytown to Middletown and an ordinary return from Middletown to Othertown, the train does not have to stop at Middletown, in accordance with condition 19(c).
..

Examples are absolutely spot on.

Though it's worth noting in the last example that, while you must only have one Season, you can get any number of non-Seasons without the train having to call at any station.