Rail travel

olb81

Hi

Just looking for ways to save money on the train.

My local buses are very cheap and good but going further I need the train.

For example reading to burton on trent return is about £90

That's on cross country network

Is there anyway I could reduce the cost of that journey for example?

flaneurs_lobster

There's an article on this site

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets/

But generally, buy a Railcard if you are eligible, book 3 months ahead and avoid peak times.

Split ticketing may help, there are links to sites about it in the MSE article.

TadleyBaggie

Just did a enquiry via Trainsplit.com, that journey is as cheap as £23.07 (today) when using a Seniors Railcard.

olb81

OK so i will need 5 or 6 days a week a return ticket from Newbury to Reading.

It's usually about 12.80.

I'll be going 7 am approx and returning 4-7pm

Is it possible to get it cheaper?

With the bus I could pay for 3 months and it works out golf price of daily purchases.

martindow

A weekly season is £57.60, a monthly £221.60 and an annual just over £2304 which would save a bit. There's also a flexi-season for 8 days in a month. With a monthly season you can add extra days at the same rate which means you could make it align with booked days off or holidays which can be helpful. The disadvantage of seasons is that if you take days off sick or as leave during the validity of a ticket you lose out. The bus is quite a bit cheaper (£3 each way I think), but it is much slower.

olb81

Thanks Martin where do you find the season tickets??

olb81

The bus I'm considering because I can read on the journey and bring a cup of tea... the simply network season bus ticket is very good value

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82016985#Comment_82016985

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tickets-railcards-and-offers/ticket-types/season-ticket-calculator/

martindow

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82016986#Comment_82016986

I think single bus fares are capped at £3 per journey at the moment - a bit of a bargain for longer routes like no 1. If you don't need other connecting buses would that be cheaper?

I see that flaneur has beaten me to it although I found the fares of the GWR.com site On my desktop when you search for fares at the top there are buttons for Buy tickets, Buy seasons and Check your journey.