Rail fares for many north-south journeys have plummeted as an unintended consequence of a new ticket trial.

LNER, the government-run train operator on the East Coast main line, has introduced new, cheap off-peak tickets that require no advance booking.

At present they cover only tickets between London and three key cities: Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

But because of loopholes in the UK’s arcane rail fares system, millions of travellers on entirely different lines can benefit – whether they are travelling from Sheffield to St Albans or Carlisle to Coventry. No need to book ahead, “split tickets” or do anything dodgy – just ask for the right ticket.

The new fares even allow travellers on the West Coast main line legally to circumvent the usual peak restrictions – cutting the cost of a peak-time train from London Euston to Manchester by 58 per cent.

These are the key questions and answers.

What has changed?

At the time of rail privatisation in the mid-1990s, John Major’s government sought to protect train travellers from excessive fare rises by imposing a host of rules and requirements.

As a result there are countless anomalies “baked in” to the pricing system. The rail industry has long espoused the wish to move to “single-leg pricing,” as practised by budget airlines: every journey has its own price, independent of any other elements.

At last a serious trial is taking place between London King’s Cross and the three key stations on the East Coast main line: Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

From 2 January, a raft of complexity has been swept away. The only tickets on offer between London and these cities are singles, in three flavours: Anytime, Advance and Super Off Peak. (No one has been able to tell me why the word “Super” precedes Off Peak, but never mind that.)

You already know about Anytime (let’s call them Super Expensive but completely flexible) and Advance, which are always one-way tickets. The new and exciting aspect is the ability, outside peak hours, to walk up to a ticket desk or machine and buy a good-value one-way fare.

An off-peak single to or from Leeds now costs £58.35; Newcastle, £72.85; and Edinburgh, £75.75. These fares, which came in on 2 January 2020, are almost 48 per cent lower than they were on New Year’s Day. Collectively, I call them “East Coast cheapies”.

Crucially, they are “walk-up” fares that require no advance booking and are not capacity-restricted.

That’s great for those cities – but I’m travelling elsewhere.

As long as you are making a long-distance rail journey taking in at least two of southern England, the Midlands, northern England and southern Scotland, and you need a flexible ticket, then there is a very good chance you will be able to save money with an East Coast cheapie.

The most obvious savings are on the East Coast main line, linking London King’s Cross with Yorkshire, Tyneside and Edinburgh. Almost any journey involving an off-peak, one-way ticket will be made cheaper if you go for. From Wakefield, Doncaster or Retford to London, buy the Leeds-King’s Cross ticket. From York, Darlington and Durham, you’ll need the Newcastle East Coast cheapie; and from Alnmouth, Berwick and Dunbar, it’s the Edinburgh ticket.

The same principle applies for every single station on the East Coast main line, from Finsbury Park (the first stop north of King’s Cross) to Mussleburgh (the last station before Edinburgh). You can change trains as many times as you like, and use any train operator on the line – including Great Northern, Thameslink, Grand Central, Hull Trains, CrossCountry and ScotRail, as well as LNER itself. And, subject to the off-peak restrictions, you can build in some stops to your journey – for example pausing for lunch in York and tea in Northumberland on your way from London to Edinburgh.

So I can use the ticket on other train firms – what about other lines?

Yes. Remarkably, LNER and the Department for Transport (DfT) have not chosen to impose any routing restrictions on the trial tickets. You might have expected them to specify “East Coast main line only”, but instead your ticket will say: “Route – any permitted”. This generosity opens up a cornucopia of possibilities, but the key benefits are on two train operators: East Midlands Railway from Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester to London St Pancras, and Avanti West Coast from southern Scotland, northwest England and the West Midlands to London Euston.

On the East Midlands line, any one-way off-peak journey from Leicester and stations north of London will be at least £10 cheaper if you buy the Leeds-London East Coast cheapie. On many intermediate journeys – for example between Chesterfield and Luton – it will also prove the best deal. Any portions of these journeys covered by Thameslink and CrossCountry are also fine.

On the West Coast main line, any journey between stations from London Euston to Carstairs in Scotland is covered by the London-Edinburgh East Coast cheapie. 

Crucially, this offers the biggest savings of all – because it removes the normal evening peak restrictions from London Euston to Stockport, Manchester, Warrington, Wigan or Preston.

So if you buy a ticket from London to Edinburgh using the 6pm from Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, and a notional connection from there to the Scottish capital on TransPennine Express, there is no problem using it to circumvent the normal £180 one-way fare to Manchester – saving 58 per cent.

How do I book an East Coast cheapie?

Just as you would any other ticket – go to a station booking office, buy online or via an app, or book by phone. You must buy a ticket for the journey you are using as “cover”, ie between London and Leeds, Newcastle or Edinburgh, rather than the journey you intend to make.

There is no need to cite a specific train or get a seat reservation, but you can if you wish.

I’m concerned about the off-peak restrictions – what are they?

The strongest restrictions are for journeys on the line to and from Leeds. On a weekday, the earliest you can arrive in London is 11.31am – whether you start in Leeds itself, Wakefield or Doncaster. That is the only southbound restriction.

Heading north, there are annoyingly two blackout spells. You cannot travel on trains timed to leave London before 9.06am, nor between 3pm and 6.59pm. It’s important to note that the London time is crucial; you might board a Peterborough-Leeds train after 7pm, but what is relevant is the time it left King’s Cross.

Other London terminal stations have slightly different timings, and the foolproof way to ensure you can travel is to use the National Rail Enquiries website. If it quotes the “East Coast cheapie” for the notional journey, eg London to Edinburgh via Manchester, then you can use it.

If you have plenty of time on your hands, you can identify the restriction code for your proposed journey (which will look something like 1K or 9D) and enjoy exploring all the permutations. Or you might instead want to get out more.

Can I use my railcard?

Yes, subject to the card’s usual time restrictions, as well as the off-peak criteria. The strictest rules prevail – so even if a journey is permitted by your railcard, if the fare conditions for your trip rule it out, you can’t use an East Coast cheapie.

Has this got anything to do with “split tickets”?

No, they require none of the usual kerfuffle involving buying multiple tickets to exploit anomalies in the fares system. But for destinations beyond Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh you can certainly use split tickets to reduce the cost of the trip. 

The profits from legally “splitting tickets” are immense: the walk-up fare on the 10am from London to Aberdeen will cost £178.40 if you ask for a through ticket, but almost £50 less if you buy one to Edinburgh and another from there. No need to leave the train, either.

The new system will incentivise apparently irrational journeys, too. Rather than catch a CrossCountry through train from Bristol to Leeds, the impetuous but impecunious traveller should head first for Reading on GWR (for which a separate ticket is needed) and change for Birmingham and again for Leeds.

Read More