Ticket nous

One route to cutting train fares is to buy consecutive tickets to cover successive parts of your journey.

The cost of my last journey was reduced by 20% – by

carrying four consecutive tickets. This method of travel is specifically permitted by section 14.1 of the 2016 National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

These rules state, ‘You may use a combination of two or more tickets to make a journey, provided that the train services call at the station(s) where you change from one ticket to another.’

There is no requirement to physically leave and rejoin the train at these calling points. Also, this method can at times overcome starting time restrictions on cheaper fares.

There are now specialist websites that can do the donkey work for you. They expect you to book the journey through their site for a very small fee, but you can print out the results and ask your local station to sell you the tickets required. www.splitticketing.com