[Closed] Cheap train tickets

Afternoon so outside of peak times? Probably not much cheaper as split tickets probably won't apply but worth a google though they are fixed tickets which are cheaper option normally so probably won't work.

Try  http://www.splitticketing.com/

Did you mean one way? If so that website can have that journey for £31.50.

There is no site that can offer tickets cheaper than any other*. It just doesn’t work like that - the only difference will be how the fares are displayed.

Be careful though, some sites do charge credit card fees (TheTrainLine is one of these I think)

*unless you go to the operator’s website and they have an offer that is for their trains only (for instance you go to Virgintrains.co.uk and buy a ticket that is valid on virgin services only)

As suggested you can split the ticket, although it is technically ‘illegal’. The operators have a hard time proving that you’re travelling outside of the conditions of carriage sonyoure likely to get away with it until the technology catches up.

returns for £42 on trainline.

Split ticketing might make it cheaper, but you're better off calculating the cost of splitting manually.

When the bigger websites detect someone scraping price details en mass to offer up split ticket prices, thier IPs generally get blocked.

Just checked on the GWR.com website. £54.20 return (1436 departure, 19:48 return)

As long as you have a valid ticket for any particular leg of a journey, there's nothing illegal about split ticketing.

^^depends. If you split your ticket at, say, Birmingham New Street and you don’t leave the station with the old ticket and then come back in using the new ticket for the next leg then the ticket you are using from New Street won’t have been validated through the barriers, so technically you haven’t broken your journey so therefore you are travelling outside the conditions of carriage.

Like I say, it’s difficult to prove so you’re highly likely to get away with it, but train managers do know that this is possible and are within the letter of the law to enforce it. Whether they do or not is entirely at their discretion.

blob on  a stick -that combo is £32 on trainline

If you split your ticket at, say, Birmingham New Street and you don’t leave the station with the old ticket and then come back in using the new ticket for the next leg then the ticket you are using from New Street won’t have been validated through the barriers, so technically you haven’t broken your journey so therefore you are travelling outside the conditions of carriage.

Does the barrier record or do anything? Heaps of times they are off anyway.

TJ: funnily enough I checked that: It’s £54.20 plus a £1.25 booking fee for the direct service on TTL according to my research. From GWR.Com it’s the same less booking fee. It would be illegal to sell it for anything less (unless it’s a GWR product for GWR trains only)

MWS: Yes, the barriers write to the magnetic stripe on  orange tickets and records QR codes into a database. The scanners that train managers are now using validate the tickets as well. Operators can now tell if a ticket has been through one or both checks. It’s only a matter of time (and inclination) before someone travelling on split tickets can be proven.

It’s only a matter of time (and inclination) before someone travelling on split tickets can be proven.

It's OK though as barrier stations are few and far between, and all you need to do is get off and on again on a number of prebooked tickets. Glad the rail companies are sorting that out rather than the 7 different versions of a fare between Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport

weird blob.  I checked it and £42 for an earlier return.  32 for that  one.  Some weird cookie thing?

Birmingham New Street and you don’t leave the station with the old ticket and then come back in using the new ticket for the next.

Well if you leave the station en route its technically against the terms... But why would you do that if you're not wanting to stay in town x?

The lass that runs the desk at my local station automatically sells everyone split tickets without being asked.  I’ve often heard her say that it’s perfectly acceptable to travel on split tickets. At the moment the TOCs are in no place to enforce anything.  Northern currently running at 35% of trains being cancelled on our line.

TJ: Maybe, but it’s  definitely against the rules for websites to offer anything different than what’s available through any other channel (unless - sorry to say it again - it’s a specific product sold directly from an operator for their services only). There’s a single database of fares offered nationally, the only way to beat it is for individual operators to offer their own fares on their own trains (they do this because they are guaranteed 100% of the revenue, all other tickets are subjected to a sharing split based on the likelihood of a journey being taken on different operators). Trainline only make their money from a commisssion percentage and their card transaction fee.

Matty: it’s illegal to break your journey (ie leave the station) if you have a through ticket, so on a journey through New Street on a ticket from Bristol to Sheffield you would not be allowed to leave the station. If you have spilt your ticket for the same journey at New Street then technically you have to leave the station and then come back in again. This is obviously difficult if you need to stay on the same train!

Matty: it’s illegal to break your journey

Legal or Terms and Conditions?

Seems like a lot of effort being put into the wrong thing here.

Aazlad: Understood and agreed! Station ticket office staff are obliged to sell the best ticket for the journey. Universally ‘best’ is interpreted as the ‘cheapest’, which is why they always ask if you’re travelling back at certain times etc.

i heartily welcome the news this evening that there will be an enquiry into the preparedness of operators for the new May timetable. The whole thing is an absolute fiasco not least because of a failing public infrastructure operator.

I’m merely pointing out that if the operators want to close down the spilt ticketing ‘hack’ then the technology is rapidly progressing to the point where they could do it. The letter of the law is already on their side.

That's what I'm saying, as long as you're passing through, and not stopping off, I. E. Leaving the station, then it's fine.

MWS: you’re right it’s about the conditions of carriage rather than legal/illegal. Apologies.

I’m merely pointing out that if the operators want to close down the spilt ticketing ‘hack’ then the technology is rapidly progressing to the point where they could do it. The letter of the law is already on their side.

Which law is being broken? Seems like a bad idea there really, how about selling the right ticket to the right person. I'm normally a defender of public transport but it doesn't need laws to protect it's pricing, the public needs them to protect them from the operators.

Edit thanks for the clarification there, be very careful calling things legal and illegal when they are not. It seems to be a way to scare people. terms and conditions are subject to legal challenge.

Matty: sorry don’t understand what you’re getting at. But as far as I know my explanation up there is accurate. Through journey = don’t leave at any intermediate station, spilt journey = should leave at the station where the split occurs.

its all theoretical at the moment anyway.

its all theoretical at the moment anyway.

It is you guys need to prove I didn't get off the train and back on again.

One of the reasons a nationalised railway makes a lot more sense

MWS: it’s getting easier, honest! And whilst I can see some very good arguments for re-nationalisation I can see plenty against as well.

Re-nationalisation of the railways seems to be the mantra for fixing every perceived evil the current system and it’s just not true. There are STILL fundamental flaws in the privatisation model that was set up in the 90’s that should be fixed whereas at the same time I wouldn’t trust the DfT to run a piss up in a brewery (look at the absolute hash they’ve made of franchising; and their centralised rolling stock procurement drive was a massive factor in the failure of the East Coast franchise recently)

anyway. I’m off to bed.

Well your ticket tracking might be getting easier but you will need a good amount of good will and pr capital when train companies try and defend over charging people and trying to fine them. 😉

The Australians have something called the pub test (walk into a pub and try and convince them you are right) , the T&C's certainly don't pass that.