Book tickets NOW – or you will risk missing your train
RAILWAY passengers face a frantic race to book tickets for holiday trips or visits to family or friends this summer. Advance tickets are supposed to be released up to 12 weeks ahead of a journey – but research by The Mail on Sunday discovered in many cases train operators are releasing tickets for only the next four weeks.
They are then drip-feeding further seats over time. It means once tickets become available on popular routes, they are being snapped up almost immediately.
On some routes, t i ckets are already sold out for the majority of t rains scheduled t o depart in August and early September. The advice for customers is to be eagleeyed and fast-off-the-mark to avoid disappointment.
Deals and availabilities are changing all the time. So you must continually check the National Railway Enquiries website and go directly to the train company and explore travel websites such as Trainline to ensure you are not missing any tickets.
Flexibility is also necessary. You should try to be willing to travel on different times of the day and dates to be sure of getting a seat.
Due to social distancing rules only about half the usual number of seats are being made available over the next few weeks. Also consider travelling First Class and paying extra for a seat, as the best value Advance options are l i kely to already have been snapped up.
Mike Hewitson, head of policy at watchdog Transport Focus, says: ‘Rail fares are confusing at the best of time – but the coronavirus crisis has made planning worse than ever. If you are hoping to hop on to a train this summer you must book now.’
Most people are unaware of the booking problem until they try to buy their ticket. This is because although 85 per cent of trains are running, there is still only a fifth of the usual number of passengers.
All this extra space gives the impression that it should be easy to get a seat – when the reality is that it is now harder than ever.
A Trainline spokeswoman says: ‘Each operator’s booking horizon and restrictions concerning reservations to ensure social distancing is maintained are bringing challenges to travel plans – and they vary between different train operators. Customers need to plan well ahead. To help, consider signing up to the mobile app ‘Trainline tickets alerts’ – and this should then send you a message as soon as advance tickets are available.’
While advance tickets are supposed to be released up to 12 weeks before travel, under lockdown rules in many cases this is being slashed by a third. And although once they enabled you to pay as little as a tenth of the price of a sameday fare, now you may be lucky to even find a full-price seat.
An example of the travel problem can be found if you try to book for an LNER journey on Thursday, September 10, from the Yorkshire train station of Northallerton to take you into London King’s Cross. When using the website Trainline on Friday, The Mail on Sunday found ‘limited availability’ for £32 – including ‘only one left’ – but for the majority of options ‘not available’ all day.
But the following week – on Thursday, September 17 – a blank page of ‘not available’ showed up on the website. National Railway Enquiries appears to show more seats are available for sale – but when you try to book the seats are also often not available.
Another example is if you want to travel from Bristol Temple Meads to Leeds on Saturday, August 15, you have ‘limited availability’ at £61.80 on the website Trainline. But the following week – on Saturday, August 22 – has ‘not available’ all day for the same route by Arrivaowned firm CrossCountry.
If you just turn up for a long-distance trip you could be turned away at the gate if too many people have already got seats for the journey. You should check details of your specific journey before travelling using National Railway Enquiries.