UK train tickets: the great rail sale is on – but is there a catch?
One million half-price rail tickets are up for grabs in the first Great British Rail Sale, which was announced earlier this week. The offer is designed to tempt back travellers to using the train, after the coronavirus pandemic led to a big drop in passenger numbers.
A million off-peak, mostly advance, train tickets have gone on sale, discounted by up to 50%. To get the lower prices you have to book by 23.59 on 2 May, and travel between 25 April and 27 May.
Before you get excited, you need to be aware that not all routes and journeys are being discounted, and the period does not include half-term (schools break up on 27 May). It does include the early May bank holiday weekend.
Some rail companies are being more generous than others, while some are barely taking part.
The Department for Transport says: “Great British Rail Sale tickets are not available on all routes, are limited and subject to availability and exclusions.” It also warns that the discounted ticket “may not represent the lowest available fare” for a particular journey.
Advance tickets are single tickets, so you need to take that into account when looking at the headline offers.
On LNER, one-way Edinburgh-London tickets have been on sale on some trains at a price of £22.
The flat rail sale fare between London and Leeds is £15. GWR is selling Cardiff-London Paddington tickets for £25 one-way, and has tickets between Bristol and London at £18.
Avanti West Coast, which runs trains from London Euston all the way to Scotland on the west coast mainline, is offering some one-way fares between London and Glasgow for £26 and London-Manchester for £23. Trips between London and Liverpool are £17, and it costs £8 to get from London to Birmingham.
Between Southampton and London
Read more on theguardian.com
