Beat the train fare hikes!

by Rachel Wait on 09 February 2009  |  8 comments
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Are you sick of paying through the nose every time you travel by train? Then follow these simple tips to help pocket some extra cash.

One thing that really gets my goat is when train fares rise. It particularly bothers me because I travel to work by train every day, so the costs really mount up.

And it looks like next year will be no exception, with speculation that train fares could rise by at least 5.8%. At a time when everyone is trying to tighten the purse strings, having to fork out more for your train travel is extremely unwelcome.

Under the existing formula, train firms can increase regulated fares each year by 1% above whatever the previous July's retail price index (RPI) inflation figure is. This July, the RPI figure was 4.8%, which translates into a 5.8% hike in train fares next January.

However, it gets worse. If the Department of Transport is hit hard in the government's spending review, it may change the formula to 2% or 3% above RPI - hence train fares could be nearly 8% higher!

So here, I'm going to show you how you can cut the cost of your train fares.

Season tickets and railcards

If you frequently travel by train, one of the first things to consider is buying a season ticket which can significantly reduce the amount you pay. You can use the National Rail Enquiries season ticket calculator to work out exactly how much you can save.

Season tickets can be bought for one week, or for any duration between one month and one year. The longer your season ticket lasts, the more you are likely to save. So buying an annual season ticket can be an extremely worthwhile investment. But there’s just one snag -- finding the funds to pay for it. To combat this, it’s worth checking whether your employer offers a season ticket loan scheme.

These schemes allow your employer to loan you the money to buy your season ticket, and then deduct a monthly amount from your salary to repay the loan (interest free). It's a really great way of paying for your ticket and saving cash.

Another cost-effective measure is to see if you qualify for a railcard which will deduct a third off your train fares throughout the UK. The majority of these railcards cost £26 for one year, or £65 for three years.

The 16-25 Railcard, for example, is valid for anyone aged 25 and under, or in full time education. Alternatively, if you’re aged 60 or over and use the train regularly, it’s worth applying for a Senior Railcard. And if you have children, a Family & Friends Railcard could be right up your street. As long as you travel with at least one child, you’ll get a third off adult fares and 60% off children’s fares. What’s more, up to four adults and four children can travel on the same card.

Finally, if you have a disability you may qualify for a Disabled Persons Railcard which costs £18 for one year (or £48 for three years) and again, you’ll get a third off your fare.

Just make sure you keep your railcard with you whenever you travel -- if you get caught without it, you may be charged the full fare.

Booking your ticket

It’s common knowledge that booking your train journey early is likely to get you a cheaper fare. But if you try to book too early, you’ll struggle as rail companies don’t release tickets more than 12 weeks in advance.

So to make things easier for yourself, you can find out exactly when the cheap tickets are released for your journey by signing up to the Trainline's email alert.

However, if you’re booking last minute, it’s still worth checking to see if you can buy ‘Advance’ tickets. Bizarrely enough, you can often still buy Advance tickets the night before you travel, so it’s always worth investigating.

And when it comes to booking your tickets, it’s always better to book at a station or on the rail company’s own website. That way, you’ll avoid the dreaded booking fees that many websites charge. The Trainline, for example, charges a £1 booking fee as well as £3.50 for credit card payments (per transaction). Outrageous!

The East Coast website on the other hand, allows you to buy tickets to all destinations in the UK without charging a booking fee. It also sometimes gives extra discounts.

Travel when it’s cheap

Thanks to the Trainline’s nifty Best Fare Finder tool, it has become a lot easier to find the cheapest ticket for your journey, without doing hours of research. Rather than asking you to state specific preferences for your journey (dates, times), all you need to do is enter rough details of your travel plans. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to view the lowest fares available over that week as well as up to three months.

Although this is a really useful service, there are limitations. For a start, it only tracks The Trainline's top 100 journeys, so you may find your route isn’t included. What’s more, you’ll need to be fairly flexible if you want the best deal. You may find, for example, that the cheapest deals are either late at night or first thing in the morning. But if that suits you, the savings can be huge.

Recent question on this topic

• sheila graham asks:

  hi i wish to travel to dublin by train from holywood co down how much would a return ticket be?

  • 
    tiensbenade answered "Try www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk, will be cheaper if booking in advance...."
  • 
    LoveKat answered "It all depends on when you travel, the line used and how you purchase your ticket.  The..."
  • Read more answers

Other tricks of the trade

If you’re prepared to spend some time on this, splitting your ticket can be a great way to save money. In other words, investigate whether it’s cheaper to buy two singles rather than a return ticket covering the same journey.

If your train stops at several other stations on your journey, it’s worth investigating buying separate tickets for each stretch of the journey. You might find this works out cheaper than buying a standard fare.

For example, if you were travelling from Birmingham to Basingstoke, you’d be paying out £56.40 (travelling offpeak and one way). But if you split your ticket at Banbury, you’d save yourself an impressive £30.50. That’s because a single ticket from Birmingham to Banbury costs £13.90, while a ticket from Banbury to Basingstoke costs £13 -- so in total, you’d be paying £26.90.

If your train stops at several stations, you can try splitting your ticket at all of them to see which one offers the best value. You can also split your ticket several times on one journey to see if that saves you money -- as long as the train stops at each station. This can take some time to work out, but it can be well worth it.

It’s also worth pointing out that if you’re travelling at peak time for only part of your journey, splitting your ticket will ensure you are only paying peak prices for the peak section of your journey. Take a look at unofficial consumer website Splityourticket.co.uk for more examples.

Finally, keep an eye out for special promotions. The National Rail website, for example, includes a range of special offers, such as its GroupSave scheme where three or four people can travel off-peak for the price of two adults to hundreds of destinations in the London and South East area.

And it’s also worth browsing the Megatrain website to see whether you can bag yourself a journey from just £1!

So hopefully by following these tips, you'll be able to fight back against train fare hikes.

If you have an opinion on this topic, why not start a discussion in our Travel & Holiday group about it?

This is a classic article that has recently been updated.