Cheap train tickets 19 July 2021 at 8:58AM in Public transport & cycling 6 replies 321 views

Angelique888

Hi. I will be picking up my son from their dad's in Morpeth on the 10 th of August. I have a Railcard for the singles coming back with the children but I will be on my own on the way up. So far, It comes up at 90 pounds for a return by splitting the tickets. Leaving from Derby at 8:45 and coming back from Morpeth 11:45 (not direct) and arriving back at 15:26 in Derby. Just wondering if there were any cheaper tickets? I do this journey every half-term. Many thanks.

Neruda

I presume that you mean that you have a Family Railcard (which can be used only when you are travelling with at least one child). This means that the cheapest way to make this trip is to borrow a child from a neighbour so that you can use the railcard when you are going to collect your children and also when you are coming back after returning them. If this is not possible then buy ONE return ticket Derby-Morpeth- Derby just for yourself without child or railcard, and ONE return ticket Morpeth-Derby-Morpeth for yourself with children using the railcard.

This link is for an online tool for finding cheap tickets through journey-splitting:
https://www.trainsplit.com/timetable_fares.aspx

sand_hun

Why is train travel in this country so expensive?

I wanted to book a single ticket for my mother from Birmingham to Newcastle (afternoon of 24/8) but it's coming to £122.

I think that's part of the reason why our roads are so congested. High train fare prices often mean it's far cheaper for people to jump in the car and get on the motorway.

Neil49

sand_hun said:

Why is train travel in this country so expensive?

I wanted to book a single ticket for my mother from Birmingham to Newcastle (afternoon of 24/8) but it's coming to £122.

I think that's part of the reason why our roads are so congested. High train fare prices often mean it's far cheaper for people to jump in the car and get on the motorway.

Use Trainsplit and you can get the 14.30 which is direct to Newcastle for £64.49.

This on Cross Country. 

If she has a Railcard you can reduce the cost by a third.

yorkie2

sand_hun said:

Why is train travel in this country so expensive?

I wanted to book a single ticket for my mother from Birmingham to Newcastle (afternoon of 24/8) but it's coming to £122.

I think that's part of the reason why our roads are so congested. High train fare prices often mean it's far cheaper for people to jump in the car and get on the motorway.

CrossCountry charge this route as a premium; people are prepared to pay it, so they charge it.

As Neil49 says, the way round it is to use Trainsplt. The 1303 is even cheaper at under 60 quid

If you click "cheap'' mode on trainsplit you can do it for 37 quid  at 1330, with a change at Doncaster if you do not mind a slower journey.

Trainsplit will issue e-tickets; you will get one PDF with all the tickets on it (each ticket is one page) which is just as easy as a through ticket.

sand_hun

@yorkie2 and @Neil49 Hi Both, thanks for that. So I booked the 18:03 which seems to be direct for a price of £60. However as it's split into multiple different tickets with different seat numbers does this mean she'll have to keep changing from coach to coach and sit in allocated seats each for each portion of the journey?

Neruda

sand_hun said:

@yorkie2 and @Neil49 Hi Both, thanks for that. So I booked the 18:03 which seems to be direct for a price of £60. However as it's split into multiple different tickets with different seat numbers does this mean she'll have to keep changing from coach to coach and sit in allocated seats each for each portion of the journey?

If the train is very crowded then she might need to do this. There is no requirement to sit in your reserved seat, but if the seat that is yours for the first part of your journey has been reserved by someone else for the next part then you need to give up your seat if asked.