Quick tips to help you save

Quick tips to help you save

•  Book in advance

  • Buying in advance is cheaper than buying at the station on the day and you could save an average of 43% on your train ticket.

    Advance tickets usually go on sale 12 weeks in advance, so the earlier you book the more likely you are to save.

    Ticket Alert

    The cheapest Advance tickets sell out fast so sign up to Ticket Alert and we'll let you know as soon as the tickets go on sale.

    Advance tickets are restricted to a specific train so you'll need to know exactly which day and train you want to travel on.

    Find out more

•  Singles can be cheaper

  • Single tickets are often cheaper than a return. Our website highlights the cheapest available end-to-end ticket so you know you're getting the best deal.

    You can purchase as many different journeys as you wish in one transaction, if you're booking a return journey our matrix will show you the best combination of 2 singles or return fares; if they're separate journeys, simply click on "Add another journey" before you proceed to payment.

•  Be flexible

  • Avoid travelling at peak times - very early, mid day and late in the evening tend to be cheaper.

    Best Fare Finder

    Best Fare Finder can help you find the cheapest fares, with weekly and monthly views helping you find the cheapest trains - give it a go here.

•  Use a railcard

  • Railcards can be used on thetrainline and you could save 1/3 off rail tickets, for more information on railcards, click here.

•  Buy onward bus and travelcards in advance

  • London Travel cards

    London Underground travel cards are offered as a ticket option for certain journeys arriving into or departing from London stations; you can search for an underground zone as your arrival or departure station where applicable.

    Travel cards can also be added to a standard ticket, departing from or arriving into London stations, as an add-on found on our travel options page. We offer travel cards for zones 1-6.

    Onward bus travel - PlusBus

    PLUSBUS is a travelcard that you buy with your train ticket. It gives you bus and tram travel to & from the station and around the urban area of the town that's at the start or end of your train journey.

    PLUSBUS is accepted on routes of over 200 bus companies and trams in Birmingham, Blackpool, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wolverhampton.

    Buy PLUSBUS on the 'Travel options' page of our website.

•  Last minute savings

  • Advance fares are usually available until at least 6pm the day before travel so it's still worth checking to see if cheap tickets are available.

    Tickets are ready 2 hours after booking and can be collected from selected self service ticket machines at over 900 stations.

•  Ticket types explained

  • Don't be confused by ticket types, make sure you are buying the cheapest ticket for your journey. To view our handy guide, click here.

Our Top Savings

Make use of these top tips and these are just some of the savings you can make on thetrainline.

* Savings on Advance fares vs purchase on the day. Selected routes only. Subject to availability. Hover over the price shown to find out when this was last checked. A booking fee will be applied to each transaction and is not reflected in the savings quoted as the fee is applied to the whole transaction, not the individual journey. To find out more about fees, click here.