The Student Room Group

Commuting to uni

I have to commute to uni but its kinda expensive in addition to my limited knowledge of transport and tickets.
So far I have a basic knowledge of railcard, student account w a bank to help w transport costs and some commuting support from uni.
But Its gotten abit complicated for me.
Any advice abt this would be appreciated 💞
Original post by Mvt083
I have to commute to uni but its kinda expensive in addition to my limited knowledge of transport and tickets.
So far I have a basic knowledge of railcard, student account w a bank to help w transport costs and some commuting support from uni.
But Its gotten abit complicated for me.
Any advice abt this would be appreciated 💞

It's not clear what question you're asking. Are you asking how to buy a train ticket? Or what ticket you should buy? Or if you should travel by train at all? Or something else?

Reply 2

Original post by DataVenia
It's not clear what question you're asking. Are you asking how to buy a train ticket? Or what ticket you should buy? Or if you should travel by train at all? Or something else?


Basically the way train tickets work and because I am a student commuting to uni I heard I get support from the university but not sure how it works
Original post by Mvt083
Basically the way train tickets work and because I am a student commuting to uni I heard I get support from the university but not sure how it works

OK. That's quite a broad topic, but I'll take a stab. Your going to need to do some research about the tickets available between your home and your uni. I'm going to be talking in general terms.

The simplest ticket is a single (one directional) ticket between two specific stations (i.e. from station A to station B). As you're likely to need to get back home again at the end of the day you might want to buy a return ticket (from station A to station B, and then back to station A). Two single tickets normally cost more than a return ticket.

In some parts of the country, each end of the journey can be defined in terms of a zone (from zone 5 to zone 2, for example) - but you'll need to check whether that applies to your area.

If you know you're going to be doing the same journey for an entire week or month, you might buy a "weekly" or "monthly" ticket.

You could also buy a travel card, which typically covers you for unlimited travel within a particular area or zone. Again, these can be daily, weekly or monthly.

You probably best to buy a "16-25 Railcard". This costs £30 for a year (or £70 for a year) and means you get 1/3 off most journeys. Note that this discount doesn't apply to Season tickets and period Travelcards, as they are already discounted. (You can find further details at https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/.)

You're going need to establish the fare between home and uni, decide how many days per week you'll be doing that journey (probably five) and then decide which tickets will be cheaper. A reasonable place to start, in terms of establishing what cards are available is https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/, or the web site of your local train operating company.

I'm not aware of any unis providing help with regular travel costs. Which uni will you be at?

Reply 4

Original post by DataVenia
OK. That's quite a broad topic, but I'll take a stab. Your going to need to do some research about the tickets available between your home and your uni. I'm going to be talking in general terms.
The simplest ticket is a single (one directional) ticket between two specific stations (i.e. from station A to station B). As you're likely to need to get back home again at the end of the day you might want to buy a return ticket (from station A to station B, and then back to station A). Two single tickets normally cost more than a return ticket.
In some parts of the country, each end of the journey can be defined in terms of a zone (from zone 5 to zone 2, for example) - but you'll need to check whether that applies to your area.
If you know you're going to be doing the same journey for an entire week or month, you might buy a "weekly" or "monthly" ticket.
You could also buy a travel card, which typically covers you for unlimited travel within a particular area or zone. Again, these can be daily, weekly or monthly.
You probably best to buy a "16-25 Railcard". This costs £30 for a year (or £70 for a year) and means you get 1/3 off most journeys. Note that this discount doesn't apply to Season tickets and period Travelcards, as they are already discounted. (You can find further details at https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/.)
You're going need to establish the fare between home and uni, decide how many days per week you'll be doing that journey (probably five) and then decide which tickets will be cheaper. A reasonable place to start, in terms of establishing what cards are available is https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/, or the web site of your local train operating company.
I'm not aware of any unis providing help with regular travel costs. Which uni will you be at?


Yes zones does apply to my area also I will be going to Huddersfield.
Thank you for your reply btw its very helpful

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