How to Save Costs with Your Train Ticket in United Kingdom

When it comes to rail travel, the rule of thumb is simple:

The earlier you book your ticket, the cheaper it will cost you. As such, you need to accurately time your purchase in order to ensure that you save as much as you can on train ticket costs. Try to purchase your ticket at least 12 weeks in advance. In England, you will find that the Network Rail is contractually required to have a set timetable at least 12 weeks in advance. As such, this is normally, though not always when train tickets are released.

Booking your train ticket is cheaper when you buy it directly from the train station or via the websites of the rail companies. This is because you will not incur any booking fees, and you are also likely to come across the extra discounts on tickets available online. Cross Country Trains & National Express’ East Coast system rail franchise has the best online booking site as they sell tickets for all train routes, not just their own, and they also do not charge any booking fees for any card type. Aside from Cross Country Trains & National Express’ East Coast system, there are three other websites from which you can search and find cheap train fares in England, albeit with booking fees added; these are TheTrainline; Raileasy and National Rail. A great way to be first in line for the cheapest train tickets is by signing up to TheTrainline website. Here you will receive ticket alert system emails whenever advance tickets for a particular journey have gone on sale.

In order to find the best deals for cheap train tickets, you must make your way online to the relevant websites. For instance, you can find a full local promotions index listing all special offers on the trainline website. If you book early enough in advance on the Megatrain website, you can find a £ 1 train ticket for certain East Midlands and South West rail routes such as London to Exeter, as well as Sheffield to Derby. If you are travelling with Virgin Trains, be sure to use the Virgin farefinder located on the company’s website. This will enable you to find really cheap single train tickets from London-Liverpool as well as the London-Manchester routes. If you want to go from London-Birmingham, you could go via Chiltern Railways which normally sells their tickets really cheap via mobile phone.

If you are a regular traveler via the UK train routes, you can drastically reduce your train costs by purchasing a rail card or even season tickets. You will find that having a Railcard will slash your train ticket costs by up to a third. You can buy a Railcard online via the Railcard website. However, it is wise to always check before hand whether or not your train journey is eligible for use with a Railcard, as certain journeys such as those during peak hours may not be eligible.

More or less this basic how to get a cheap or discounted train ticket applies to most rail/train in the world.

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