British travellers are routinely banking big savings when buying their train tickets, reducing the cost of travel by up to 69% according to new data from Trainline, Europe’s leading train and coach app. Trainline has analysed 40 popular rail routes across the country, comparing the average price that travellers actually paid for their journey with the price charged for a walk-up ticket and peak and off-peak times. For each of the eight cities surveyed, passengers are saving more than half the cost of an upfront ticket on at least one major intercity route.
The biggest savers are people travelling between Glasgow and Leeds, where travellers save more than two-thirds (69%) on the cost of an off-peak single ticket – netting a saving of £83.03 (approx. USD 100.90) on the £120 (approx. USD145.82) price of an off-peak single. Other top off-peak savings are made on journeys between Newcastle and Glasgow (57% saving, paying £32.81(approx. USD 39.88) on average when an off-peak single is £77.10), (approx. USD93.72) and between Birmingham and Bristol (53% saving, with just £29.78(approx. USD 36.20) paid on average when an off-peak single costs £63.10(approx. USD76.70)
At peak times, the biggest savings are made travelling between Leeds and Nottingham, with travellers paying on average 68% less than the cost of a peak single – saving £35.73 against the £52.90(approx. USD 64.30) ticket price. Other big savings can be found between Edinburgh and Newcastle (67% saving, with travellers paying £21.56(approx. USD 26.21) when a peak single is £65) (approx. USD) and Newcastle and Sheffield (60% saving, with the average price paid being £31.16(approx. USD 37.88) and a ticket costs £77.60(approx. USD 37.88) ).
Mike Hyde, Chief Data Officer for Trainline said: “There are huge savings available on UK rail fares, and our data shows savvy Brits are successfully banking them. Trainline customers save an average 35% on their rail travel and we aim to help travellers save effortlessly by utilising our tech to cut through the complexity and find the best possible price. Whether it’s by automatically applying rail card savings, by making smart choices about returns and singles, or by using our SplitSave technology to find hidden savings, our whole system is designed to find you the best possible price for your journey”
The biggest saving found for each of the eight analysed cities was:
| Origin | Destination | Peak or Off-Peak | Walk-up single price | Average price paid | Saving
(£) |
Saving
(%) |
| Glasgow | Leeds | Off-peak | £120 | £36.97 | £83.03 | 69% |
| Leeds | Nottingham | Peak | £52.90 | £17.17 | £35.73 | 68% |
| Newcastle | Edinburgh | Peak | £65 | £21.56 | £43.44 | 67% |
| Manchester | Nottingham | Peak | £49.60 | £20.61 | £28.99 | 58% |
| Cardiff | Leeds | Peak | £151.40 | £62.88 | £88.52 | 58% |
| Bristol | Manchester | Peak | £105.50 | £48.04 | £57.46 | 54% |
| Birmingham | Bristol | Peak | £66.60 | £30.80 | £35.80 | 54% |
| London | Newcastle | Peak | £175 | £85.70 | £89.30 | 51% |
The main ways savvy passengers are saving money on their rail fares are:
Buying Advance tickets, which offer discounts for buying ahead in return for reduced flexibility, such as committing to a specific train. Buying a Railcard, which saves one-third off the cost of eligible fares. Utilising Trainline’s SplitSave feature, which breaks a journey into a combination of tickets to produce a cheaper cost, such as only paying a peak fare for part of a long-distance journey.
