More than a million train tickets are being sold at up to half price today in the Great British Rail Sale, but you may struggle to find cheap fares for the journeys you want to make.
The rail fare sale for travel between April 25 and May 26 launched at 10am on Tuesday. But with a limited amount of tickets on sale, customers face a race to secure the cheapest seats. And if you want to travel from the North East to London, you can not get discounted fares for Friday or weekend travel.
Each rail operator has been given an allocation of cheap tickets. LNER, which runs trains on the East Coast Mainline connecting Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Berwick, Newcastle, Durham, Darlington and York to London, only has 75,000 reduced fare tickets to flog.
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When ChronicleLive checked on Tuesday morning, there were still £19.80 singles available from Newcastle to London, although on some journeys there were limited tickets left at that price.
East Coast operator LNER does not offer the sale price on Friday or weekend tickets, so you will need to travel during the week if you want half-price tickets to London Kings Cross, or on LNER trains to Edinburgh and York. However, for travel from the North East to Edinburgh or York, rivals Crosscountry offer the discount seven days a week and Transpennine on every day other than Sundays.
If you want the cheapest fares, be quick and be flexible. The discounts apply to advance fares for specific trains.
Will you be picking up a reduced price ticket today? Let us know in the comments
Great British Rail Sale ticket prices from Newcastle
For travel between April 25 and May 26, these are the cheapest fares available from Newcastle to selected destinations under the Great British Rail Sale. Book here.
Further Railcard discounts can be applied to get even more money off.
Newcastle to London - LNER
Singles are available for £19.80. Limited tickets are left at that price for some trains and the discounted fares are only available for travel on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Newcastle to Edinburgh - Transpennine Express
Singles from Newcastle Central to Edinburgh Waverley are on sale for £5.40 through Transpennine for journeys on any day other than Sundays.
Newcastle to Manchester Airport - Transpennine Express
Singles from Newcastle Central to Manchester Airport are available for £11.80 through Transpennine for journeys on any day other than Sundays.
Newcastle to York - Transpennine Express
Singles from Newcastle to York are available for just £3.90, on Monday to Friday and Saturdays through Transpennine Express.
Why can't I find cheap fares in the Great British Rail Sale?
Each rail operator has a limited number of tickets to sell in the sale, so if demand is high on a train you want, you may struggle to find the cheapest advertised fares. Each company has set its own rules on which trains the discounts are available for. LNER will only offer the half-price fares on weekday trains, not including Fridays.
In a tweet to a customer, LNER wrote: "Great British Rail Sale tickets are available on the trains and routes that have more capacity to ensure rail travel is more enjoyable for everyone."
You also can't use the discount to combine fares for trains under different operators. So if buying a single that requires a change from, for example, a Northern to a CrossCountry train, then you won't get the discount. You may be able to save money by using a ticket-splitting service.
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