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The cheapest fares on train
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Which days are the cheapest to travel by train? and what times? Like when are the off peak times for trains?
Post edited by JustV on
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Comments
Prebook tickets are normally the cheapest way to go. Book as far in advance as you can and you should be able to save. The most cheap prebook tickets can be found between 10-4 and later in the evening. Sundays are the worst, a combination of engineering work and high traveller numbers.
It's hard to get advance purchase tickets on a Sunday afternoon because of a high number of travellers and a smaller number of trains. For that reason Sundays are often the busiest day for Intercity operators.
Different types of walk-on ticket are not valid during certain times, for instance you cannot arrive in London on a Saver return before 10am, and you cannot arrive in places like Leeds, Manchester or Birmingham on a Saver return before 10am on Virgin. Young Persons' Railcards are subject to minimum fares before 10am, and are also not valid on some services arriving in London or other cities before 10am.
For short distances, cheap day returns are not valid before 9.30am, and railcard discounts are subject to a minimum fare before 10am.
Basically the cheapest time to travel is during the middle of the day or late evening, on a weekday.
Also, I find that if you book single fares each way it can work out a lot cheaper than return tickets (sometimes). For example: to london from leicester the return was something like £40, so I got two singles at £6 one way and £8 coming back.
I suppose I should give you the useful link http://www.youngpersons-railcard.co.uk/
You can buy online now as a trial, alternatively print off the form, and take it along with a photo and a birth certificate to any manned station.