Martin Lewis has revealed how you can get cheap train fares using hidden tips and the split ticketing hack.
The Money Saving Expert shared 17 ways to save on fares.
This comes as many rail fares having increased by up to 2.8% in price this January.
We've picked some of our favourite tips and tricks to save you money on getting from A to B.
Booking your tickets early saves £££
Contractually Network Rail must - usually - have the timetable set 12 weeks in advance. So train operators commonly release cheap advance tickets shortly after. It's not always 12 weeks though, often more like 10 or 11.
Use Megatrain
Megatrain sells hundreds of singles from £6 plus a £1 booking fee, for routes between London and Chesterfield, Derby, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham or Sheffield.
It uses the same booking system as Megabus, which is operated by East Midlands Railway, so you'll be on the same service as people who booked their tickets elsewhere.
MSE found a ticket from London to Chesterfield for £20.43 with Megatrain. The same ticket booked direct with East Midlands Railway was £31.
Singles can beat returns
Returns should be better value, but often aren't.
Martin found that for a return between London and Manchester a standard anytime return ticket could cost £350.
However for the same journey, an outbound advance single ticket was £41, while coming back it cost £26 – a total of £67.
Split ticketing
Trainline, has launched a split ticket tool. Split ticketing lets you get the same train, at the same time, but pay less.
Martin explained: "Buying tickets for a journey's parts cuts cost, eg, a London-Penzance standard return is £257. Yet the train stops in Plymouth. Buy London to Plymouth & Plymouth to Penzance returns for just £50 in total. Saving £207."
However, Martin does not rate the Trainline's tool. Instead, he recommends TrainPal, TrainTickets.com and Rail Europe.
TrainPal
Cheapest for seven out of 15 journeys. On all fares you'll see a simple option of two tickets per journey if that's cheaper, but you may also see extreme splits with multiple changes or different departure times if that's even cheaper.
TrainTickets.com
Cheapest for two out of 15 journeys. If it's cheaper to split, you'll get one option on all fares and what you see will be the cheapest avail even if it's multiple tickets for the same train.
Rail Europe*
Cheapest for five out of 15 journeys. If it's cheaper to split, you'll get one option on all fares (except anytime fares) and what you see will be the cheapest avail even if it's multiple tickets for the same train.
To read Martin's full advice and tips, click here.
