Best Rail Prices ?

[RainbowPrism]

I am trying to get a return ticket between two destinations, but the prices are horrendous, even for a cheap open return....anyone have any suggestions for good prices rail fares or are the all of a similar price...thanks in advance...

[alavahalf]

Try here ... http://www.thetrainli...qXh6aMCFeFc4wodAUNV4Q

[Buenchico]

I've got to disagree with Alavahalf on this one. I used to run a railway station and we frequently had people turning up with train tickets issued by The Trainline.com and similar online companies which weren't valid on any trains at all. Further, many of those companies charge a booking fee.

Every available train fare (other than as below) should always be on the National Rail website:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
If it's not there it doesn't exist. Further, you can book by following the links from that site without having to pay any booking fees.

The only fares which don't always appear on the National Rail site are those offered by the Stagecoach group of rail companies under their 'Megatrain' branding. The relevant companies are Southwest Trains (operating out of Waterloo) and East Midlands Trains (from St Pancras). Their services can be booked here:
http://uk.megabus.com/default.aspx
(That really is the correct link, even though it says 'Megabus').

If you need help in finding the cheapest fares, tell us where you want to travel between, when you want to travel and what degree of flexibility you've got in your travel plans.

Chris

[spudqueen]

Try searching for destinations near to where you want to go to, but not the actual destinations.

A couple of years ago a friend wanted to travel to London to see us (we live in Lancashire and our nearest mainline station is Preston). The prices were really steep, so I did some searching and found that it was cheaper for him to book a ticket to Oxenholme, which is 40 miles north of Preston. It was for a train that stopped at Preston, so all he did was nip out when it stopped. I think it's because there are so many cheap tickets for each destination, and when they've all gone, they've all gone. But other places nearby may still have cheap tickets on offer.