Cheap rail travel: I slashed 60% off the cost of my train tickets

Rail travel can be extortionate, but with a few nifty tricks you can slash your costs by more than half, writes Lily Canter.

The cost of train tickets can be eye-watering.

But over the years I've learned various hacks to slash the price by more than 60%.

It has never been more confusing to find the best price for a train fare.

There are a multitude of ticket types including peak, off-peak, advance, anytime return and split ticket.

And then there are the plethora of apps which promise to save you money and find you the best deal.

But the truth is to get the best deal you have to do the work yourself.

This is something I have discovered over the past 10 years as I have commuted between Market Harborough in Leicestershire and Sheffield, several times a week.

A journey of just over an hour.

And the list of hacks I have developed can be applied to journeys across the country, particularly ones where you have to change trains.

Just last week I was helping a friend buy the best ticket from Market Harborough to Luton Airport Parkway which is just two stops away.

Even on a short journey, we managed to shave almost a third off the price.

Plan ahead

The first trick is to make sure you book as far in advance as possible. Even for a regular commute it pays to get tickets at least three weeks ahead.

Most advance tickets are available up to 12 weeks ahead of travel.

This gives you access to a limited number of advance single tickets which can save you a whopping 60% on the normal return price.

Buy an advanced single ticket for the outgoing journey and a separate one for the return journey, and you'll save a small fortune.

The only caveat is that you have to be on that specific train otherwise you will have to buy a new ticket.

You might think it would be better to just get a season ticket, which is what I used to do.

Instead of paying £84.70 for a peak return ticket for every journey, I paid £571.10 a month which for two journeys a week brought the price down to £71.

Another option is the flexi ticket which allows eight days of travel in 28 days, but this is not available on my route.

In hindsight, I would have been best buying advanced singles instead.

If you are travelling at least twice a week then season tickets can be worth it and they certainly save the hassle of buying multiple tickets for every journey.

But you still need to ensure an advanced/split ticket wouldn't be cheaper.

Ticket splitting

Splitting your ticket is definitely an art rather than a science and it has taken me several years to hone this skill.

Essentially you need to look at your route and then divide it up into different tickets.

So, if I am travelling from Market Harborough to Sheffield at 7am, I can get a ticket from Market Harborough to Leicester or Loughborough or East Midlands Parkway, or Derby or Chesterfield.

And then I get another ticket from that station to Sheffield.

This works even if you don't get off the train at all and is completely legal.

For my journey, the best combination is an anytime return from Market Harborough to Leicester, followed by an advance single from Leicester to Sheffield, and then an advanced single from Sheffield to Leicester.

It sounds like a faff, and it is, but it's worth it when it saves me £53.

It also means I end up with three tickets instead of one.

A peak return from Market Harborough to Sheffield would be £84.70, but my way brings it down to £29.40, a 64% saving.

Sometimes I also find a great deal on a first-class ticket for just £2 more than a standard advanced ticket for my journey from Sheffield to Leicester, so I always snap that up.

Again you can try this with any journey and can use a combination of peak and off-peak tickets depends on what time each section of your journey is.

If your train leaves at 8.50am and arrives at the first station at 9.05am, then you can get a peak ticket between the first two stations and an off-peak ticket for the rest of the journey to your final destination (depending on when off peak starts for that particular rail company).

Direct purchase

You may have seen the adverts for the trainline.com on the London Underground or on the television.

It promises to save you money and whilst it will save you some money, it won't save you all the money.

This app charges a booking fee and I have found its split ticket service doesn't always spot the best deal.

The same can be said for split ticket apps like TrainSplit.

It might work out the best way to split your journey but it charges a small fee for the service.

The best way to make the most complete savings is to buy direct from the train operator.

I use the East Midlands Railway app which has no booking fee and allows me to search for all the different ticket types and route variations.

Also consider...

If you can avoid going through London on a journey then this can save you money, although be aware that journeys may be slower.

Also trains in and out of London tend to operate on a longer peak period lasting up to 7pm on weekday evenings and up to 9.30am in the morning.

Avoiding peak times will reduce your ticket price.

Getting a railcard if you are eligible is also worth considering as they offer a third off the normal ticket price including standard class advance fares.

So, you can use the hacks above and then apply your railcard discount.

There are various railcards for young people, seniors, disabled persons and veterans, as well as two people travelling together.

Example: how I saved £50 on my train ticket

I travel once a week from Market Harborough to Sheffield on East Midlands Trains (EMR) leaving at peak time and returning off-peak.

These are some of my ticket options:

1. EMR Anytime return £84.70

2. Trainline.com 2x Advance Singles £44.60 + £1.50 booking fee = £46.10

3. TrainSplit £30.40 + £1.49 fee = £31.89

4. EMR Anytime Return Market Harborough to Leicester £14.60 + Advance Single Leicester to Sheffield £8.60 + Advance Single Sheffield to Leicester £6.20 = £29.40