Train ticket cost - part time worker

Cjx123456

Hi,
Im so impressed by the helpfulness of this forum - hoping somebody can help me through this maze!

I live in Crewe and travel x2 per week to my job in Birmingham. I have to be at work at 9am in Birmingham on one of the days per week so I need to be a Birmingham New Street station by 8,30am.
The other day I can travel off-peak.

Im not eligible for any of the rail card deals and I dont think its worth my while to get a season ticket ( due to part time commute)

At the moment I'm easily spending £250 per month on train fares and this is 1/5 of my salary.
I could drive to work but the M6 is just so unreliable and always full of roadworks I just cant be sure I can get there in time.
Please can you help - Id consider other forms of transport - just would like to get my commuting costs reduced in some way.

Thanks so much for your help x

redux

Two old favourites are advance fares and split ticketing.

Advance fares are reduced price offers booked before the day of travel, but only valid for travel on the specified train.

Split tickets means having two (or more) tickets, each for a part of the journey. You don't need to get off at the chosen intermediate station, but the train must actually stop there.

Using the National Rail website, both of these produce useful looking results

Compared to a peak return for £51, and off-peak return £26.30:

The cheapest advance singles are £7 (each way), or splitting at Stafford gives anytime returns (any train) of £12.10 + £12.70 or off-peak £8.80 + £11.00.

I'm a bit surprised, and did this more than once, wondering if I entered something wrong while only half-awake. It might be worth exploring splits at other stations too.

ojh

I've noticed recently that ticket prices quoted on the National Rail (.co .uk) website aren't then available on train operator websites when you click through to buy the chosen ticket. Seems to be for Advanced tickets where there is limited availability. GWR seem to be particular bad at this (message is "We haven't been able to find any trains or fares for your chosen routes and dates" when you click through from the National Rail site) and instead tickets for the same journey are x3 the price. However Southern seem to be better, so worth looking on their site (maybe other operators too) for tickets for your preferred journey, as their price may match that shown on the National Rail site.

rdr

redux wrote: »

Two old favourites are advance fares and split ticketing.

Advance fares are reduced price offers booked before the day of travel, but only valid for travel on the specified train.

Split tickets means having two (or more) tickets, each for a part of the journey. You don't need to get off at the chosen intermediate station, but the train must actually stop there.

Using the National Rail website, both of these produce useful looking results

Compared to a peak return for £51, and off-peak return £26.30:

The cheapest advance singles are £7 (each way), or splitting at Stafford gives anytime returns (any train) of £12.10 + £12.70 or off-peak £8.80 + £11.00.

I'm a bit surprised, and did this more than once, wondering if I entered something wrong while only half-awake. It might be worth exploring splits at other stations too.

It'll be about different peak times and different loadings for peak travel, an exhaustive exploration of alternative routes and splits will be needed.

bap98189

Do you work the same days every week - or at least know in advance which days you will be working? If so, you need to get organised and start buying advance tickets.

This will take a bit of organising. Advance tickets are released (roughly) 12 weeks in advance and only a limited number are sold for each train. I just a had a brief look and for November, there are tickets available for £7 each way for most days of the week.

Use the National Rail website and look at what options are available., With a bit of organisation, you should be able to travel for £14 per day rather than the £31 price of an Anytime return.

yorkie2

redux wrote: »

...Split tickets means having two (or more) tickets, each for a part of the journey. You don't need to get off at the chosen intermediate station, but the train must actually stop there.....

...unless you are combining a Season, Zonal or other area ticket with another ticket, in which case the train doesn't need to stop.

redux

I can see that the £7 advance fares might be slightly less attractive timing in the morning, and you might choose the £13 one instead.

But apart from that, I think I found a way to save slightly more on the split fare.

Ordinary tickets are valid for breaks in the journey, getting on or off between the named stations.

A ticket from Crewe to Stone has two possible routes, one via Stoke-on-Trent and (for just a few trains) one as a dogleg back from Stafford.

But they are both the same price, £9.20 day return, so buying this to go via Stafford but then getting off at Stafford is cheaper than the £12.10 day return to Stafford itself. Same ploy on the way home. You need to make sure you're on the right train, 0717 from Crewe and 1758 howewards from Stafford, but it might be worth considering.

There might be a similar trick possible at the Birmingham end, but with more work to find it.