Surprising ticket pricing

[Justin Tyme]

There are various ones or used to be on that line, to do a day return from Birmingham to Sheffield which I used to do regularly, other than splitting at Derby the cheapest way to do it was a Day Return from Birmingham to Saxilby which was valid via Sheffield or Nottingham and you could get a Day Return whereas it was only a Saver Return on XC.  Haven't done the trip now for a long time so don't know if that still works out or not.

I recall years ago needing to go from Doncaster to Kiveton Park, the fare was priced via Northern so was cheap being within SYPTE but the ticket also was valid via Retford it seemed so went via GNER instead of a long journey on a Pacer...

Another cheap way to do a day return from Birmingham to Sheffield is to split at Burton-on-Trent.  Day return Birmingham to Burton then Derbyshire Wayfarer (£13.40 adult) Burton to Sheffield.  Down side - Derbyshire Wayfarer can only be purchased in the area of validity (although that does include Burton Station).  Up side - also valid on buses throughout Derbyshire and a little beyond, including via Sheffield, so good to reach the Peak District.

[windy miller]

   I heard West mids trains were losing £million a week through strike
   action?. there is a way they could save money .... simply
   cut their fares by 50% . then they would only be losing  half a million

                                                                                 (Dave Allan classic)

[Stu]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread with a bit of an 'anomality' I just found!

I've booked myself a stay in Borth, Wales at the end of April, and was just looking at rail ticket prices.

A return journey from New Street to Borth on Transport For Wales will cost me £64.10.

However, for my companions who will be joining me and travelling from Wolverhampton, the return journey cost is £45.90?

It is therefore cheaper for me to book a return from Wolverhampton, then pay £4.20 x2 to travel to Wolverhampton from Birmingham New Street. From New Street, it would of course be the exact same train, so there's no physical change required.

This makes no sense to me?

[mesub]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread with a bit of an 'anomality' I just found!

I've booked myself a stay in Borth, Wales at the end of April, and was just looking at rail ticket prices.

A return journey from New Street to Borth on Transport For Wales will cost me £64.10.

However, for my companions who will be joining me and travelling from Wolverhampton, the return journey cost is £45.90?

It is therefore cheaper for me to book a return from Wolverhampton, then pay £4.20 x2 to travel to Wolverhampton from Birmingham New Street. From New Street, it would of course be the exact same train, so there's no physical change required.

This makes no sense to me?

I'm pretty sure that's a concept called ticket splitting. You can basically "split" your tickets to from your starting station to a "middle" stop and then a middle stop to your end destination, which ends up being cheaper overall. It's perfectly legitimate as long as the train stops at this middle station.

It can be cheaper due to how they calculate rail fares.