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TSR Wiki > University > Student Life > Travel and Getting Around > Travelling by Train

Basic Guide

Britain has a large network of railways crossing it at various points. It is easy to see the positions where the railway lines cross on maps placed around train stations. These are usually colour co-ordinated to show the different routes that trains may take to reach a destination, this helps people to decide which route is most convenient. For those who have travelled by train before, many of the hints and tips can make travelling by train cheaper and much less stressful.

Young Persons Railcard

This is the easiest way of reducing the cost of train fares. Costing just £24 [it went up at the at the start of 2008] for a one year railcard, it saves a third off most rail tickets. If you regularly travel by train. you may want to take advantage of the Natwest Student account, which offers a 5 year railcard for free. Alternatively it is a good idea to buy train tickets in advance as sometimes this can more than halve the cost of train travel (see the advance ticket buying section). More details of the railcard are available here. Young Persons Railcard

Time of Travel

First of all, a little bit of timing can help.

Use a timetable planning system like National Rail and you could be printing off details of possible trains within 60 seconds.

These do have their disadvantages though. The systems tend to give a large amount of time (10-15 minutes) to transfer at big stations. Now at a station you don’t know, that is quite reasonable, but if you have not got any heavy luggage and you know the station, it is probably a little too much. Put in the details from the Station that you are changing trains at and you may find a train available that could get you home up to an hour earlier. However, trains do get delayed and most of the time it is better sticking to the suggested timetable and getting something to eat at the station whilst you wait.

This will give you a good estimate of the time it takes to travel. If you are pretty liberal on travelling departure and arrival then choose a time after 09:30. This is because a lot of the fares fall after this time. They are usually called savers or cheap day returns

Also, there are a lot of stations where the ticket offices close fairly early (18:00 for instance), with these stations you have to simply get on the train anyway and purchase a ticket when on the train. Assuming any one comes to collect tickets!

Booking in Advance

The majority of the time it is possible to find very cheap train tickets online if you book in advance of your travelling date. Not only does this get you cheaper tickets, it also allows you to book seats on busy services, ensuring travel is as simple as possible. A simple google search can find you train times and the national rail services homepages to purchase tickets online; alternatively, see here The Trainline.

Some companies such as National Express East Coast and Virgin Trains offer advanced tickets that can only be bought from their websites. Virgin Trains and Stagecoach run a website called Megatrain, which sell cheap tickets. National Express East Coast sell their really checp tickets directly through their website.

Pre-booking your tickets also means that you should be able to reserve seats as well. This is strongly advised if you have a long journey in order to avoid spending the journey standing up (it happens a lot on Virgin Trains). However, be warned that train companies regularly screw up their seat reservation systems and you will probably find you will have to negotiate your way into your reserved seat.

Most reserved seats are marked by a ticket at the top of the seat but Virgin Trains, as well as CrossCountry on their Voyagers [the ones originally ran by Virgin] put their reservations on an LCD display above the seat.

Catching the right Train

Many people seem initially to worry about or struggle to catch the right train, as many planners/printouts, etc. do not show the train’s final destination.

However, the key to catching the correct train lies in the departure times: trains are timetabled to the exact minute, it is highly unlikely that more than one train wll be departing at an exact time. Therefore a simple method of deduction will undoubtedly set you on the right course.

On the rare occasions when two trains are scheduled to depart at the same time, another simple deduction will easily help you tell which train is yours. For example, if you are at a London Terminal, and heading North, then looking at the the last stop of a train will easily benefit you. If you want, for example, Leicester, then the terminal stop will be one of numerous stations (Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby or Leeds, invariably). Its pretty conclusive that a train terminating in Luton, or Cambridge, isn't going to get you there. It's all about being sensible.

Obviously the best help for you are the station departure boards, and these are, even for newcomers, relatively easy to use. They provide times, terminals, and a list of all the stops on the way. Link your time and destination, and you're set.

Ensure the ticket you have is eligible on the train however, for, especially if you book online, some tickets are for specific companies only; some will say "any route permitted" meaning any combination of trains/companies are available for your journey.

Booking Tickets

If you feel completely overwhelmed, remember the following. The Train Company doesn't really matter. You are looking for the cheapest/quickest way from getting to one point to another. Travel down to a manned station with where you want to go and rough ideas of when you want to travel and they will help you with your booking.

Booking advance in online is remarkably easy once you've registered with the site. You simply put in the dates and estimated times you want to travel, in addition (obviously) to your destination and departure location, and it will give you a list of times to choose from. Select and pay (via debit/credit card etc).

Train Companies

A list of the present train companies can be found here