Raileasy.com or TrainSplit.com

These are designed to find and take advantage of anomalies in the rail fare system which may make buying two tickets to cover a single journey, dividing at some intermediate point (but not actually changing trains), cheaper than buying a single ticket all the way through. I haven't used any of them specifically but it does work.

So you think if I purchase a ticket on TrainSplit I can count on it being a legitimate ticket? I found that I could get two flex fare tickets for 42 GBP vs. 2 non flexible tickts for 64 GBPs on one of the regular sites. That's a huge savings! Its also very helpful because we aren't totally sure about the time we want but buying a flexible fare on the regular site was cost prohibitive for us.

they will be legitimate tickets though you could buy the same two tickets from the train companies once you've identified which ones you want

I would use www.nationalrail.co.uk to firstly identify what trains run on your route & at what price. (Remember that you can Advance purchase low cost fares by inserting dates in the future - say 10 weeks ahead). Now, note the price that you can get for a specific train on your chosen date for the entire journey. (The cheapest fares might not appear on the system more than about 11 weeks ahead).

On the trains on the above website, you will see 'details'. This shows you the stopping points for the trains. On the Bristol to London run, nearly all trains stop at Swindon & some stop at Didcot. The websites to which you refer will probably tell you that by buying 'split' tickets with the split at Swindon, you will save money. Should you choose a train that also stops at Didcot, then you may even find that an additional split of ticket here will save you even more money = so you end up with tickets for 3 stages of a journey on the SAME train throughout.

First Great Western are the train company on this route & there is nothing to stop you ordering the split tickets from them. The only rule is that the train must stop at the 'split point' - something that you find out from the National Rail website (details). You may well find that by breaking the journey down into shorter 'hops', that you are are not tied to specific trains.

So, the websites to which you refer are definitely legitimate and helpful in telling you how you can save money should split tickets on a route be advantageous. (They don't seem to be able to always tell you about more than one split point for a journey and they do not always seem to know the cheapest option - but, they are pretty good in most cases).

Note that if you do travel on split tickets and have a requirement to travel on a train that stops at the split point and you get one that doesn't then you have an invalid ticket combination and are required to buy a new one at the minimum. FGW enforce this for both DID and SWI splits if you are caught. If you have a split at DID this approximately halves the number of trains you can take.

You don't have to buy from particular sites for these as any ticket website will sell you the combination(s).

When using third party websites be sure to check for any additional fees that they may put on for delivery or profit. They have to make money somewhere.

Many of the real train companies don't charge extra for delivery and have no fees.

Thank you all for taking the time to answer and for the detailed information.

James, I see were the train splits (I am assuming that split and stop mean the same thing) in the details but I'm not clear on how to order the tickets that way. Are you saying that I should purchase more than one ticket if they add up to less than the regular ticket?

In any case, the price on FGW is very reasonable from BRI to PAD (in fact, it was 3 gbp less this AM than yesterday afternoon and so only a few gbps more than trainsplit price). What I was really interested in, however, was the flexible fare available on TrainSplit which I don't see even as an option on FGW. Since the train runs every half hour or so I would really like to not be tied down to that one time if I don't have to be. That's where the TrainSplit fare seems most beneficial to me.

Nigel, they do charge to mail the tickets to you but the cost is minimal. They also let you pick them up at the train station for free. That suggests to me that they are getting a cut from FGW and that's how they make their money. Sounds like a typical business that we call a "start-up" in the US - - a few smart and ambitious twenty-somethings see the need, figured out how to write the code for the app and convinced the train companies that it would be good for their business.

One last question: how close to my travel date can I purchase the ticket and still expect to get a good price?

Reading through your last post I think you may be being confused by technology.

Say you want a ticket on a train which goes from A to Z, which makes stops enroute at D and S.

You can buy a ticket that is simply for A to Z.

However, it may be cheaper instead to buy separate tickets from A to D, D to S and S to Z. These are referred to as 'split' tickets as you have 'split' your journey into 3 parts. These tools calculate cost effective splits, although intimate knowledge of the routes can often find even cheaper splits, using esoteric tickets, route easements etc.

Take care about thinking these are totally flexible as the tool will take account of the time of travel you input. If you are late for example one or more of your tickets may be for off-peak or super-off peak when peak may be required at your new time.

Beware promises or assumptions that may either not be what you think they mean or are difficult to fulfil.

I have heard of a lot third party train ticket resellers in the UK, with The Trainline and Red Spotted Hanky being the two biggest. One of those is actually owned by a train company holding company.

Nobody (with the one exception of MegaTrain/MegaBus which is itself owned by Stagecoach, one of the big 4 or 5 train company holding companies) can charge less than or offer more than the actual operator of the train, in this case FGW.

What you are looking at is a trick of the ticketing system. As clearly explained above, the train you are on must stop in the station of every split point on your tickets. If it doesn't call at that station, because you boarded a train which doesn't by mistake, your ticket is still not valid and you will be liable to lose whatever you previously paid plus at least a new full priced ticket for the journey. That can be a very expensive mistake. Even more expensive if they deem you liable for a penalty fare which is the greater of £20 plus the full time fare for the rest of your journey / or double the full price fare to the next stop plus a full price ticket for the rest of your journey; and your details may be recorded.

There is nothing wrong with splitting a ticket - it is done very day by many people in the know, but you must be absolutely certain you understand the rules. If you do, be had.

What concerns me is the concept of semi-flexible, which is not something offered on railway tickets in England.

Either it is restricted to a particular train (and probably seat), or it isn't. There's no half way.

There are effectively only 4 types of tickets (with variants).

"Advance" tickets are usually cheapest, highly quota controlled, not available on some flows, restricted to one and only one train (and often only one seat), non changeable, non refundable, and must be purchased before the day of travel if still available. They tend to rise in price the nearer to travel day.

"Anytime" tickets are usually the most expensive, because they do what they say on the tin - you can use an Anytime ticket on any train on the route written on the ticket, from the start of service to the end of the day, and usually up to 5 days until used. These are generally used by commuters who have to get to work before the cheap tickets are valid and get home during the evening peak when the cheap tickets aren't valid.

"Off-Peak" tickets are always restricted during the week to not be valid in the morning rush until a particular time which varies by train company, direction of flow and destination or origin. Many train companies also highly restrict Off-Peak tickets by similar criteria in the evening peak. They can be used on any train on the route or company endorsed on the bottom line of the ticket during the valid times. Those times are not written on the ticket and it is your obligation to know the rules for your station and route. They should be explained when the ticket is purchased, but might not be by third parties.

"Super Off-Peak" are even cheaper but come with even tighter restrictions which should be explained when the ticket is issued. They are often only available for a very few hours each day.

On weekends most restrictions come off - but restrictions never come off Advance tickets.

Expect Off-Peaks to be valid all day on weekends and bank holidays. Super Off-Peaks may or may not be, depending on route and company.

See, you ask what time it is and I tell you how to build a clock...

Nigel --

Learning how to build a clock is very helpful, thank you! I am just now trying to figure out my transportation options within England and Wales, and this tutorial is very useful.

Thank you.

Emma - you are just finding out how bonkers the pricing structure is for British train travel. If you find that by splitting the tickets, that you have the freedom to use any train, then go for that and order the 'split' tickets. (My guess is that Swindon is the split point & I think that every train from BRI to PAD stops at SWI).

My feeling is that the rail companies want people to pre book specific trains for longer journeys at 'cheaper advance' prices so they can spread their loadings. Clearly, if you travel at commuting time, you will pay far more - & be on very crowded trains. With short hop journeys, they seem to still charge high fares for peak time travel and lower ones for the off peak times but the prices do not seem to change much (if at all) between buying on the day or weeks in advance. Go on www.nationalrail.co.uk & play around with different dates to see what happens to the prices. So, we have frequent trains but have to put up with all this book yonks ahead / split ticketing nonsense. Goodness knows why they can't just break the fare structure down into Peak & Off-Peak fares with a shoulder fare if a train journey traverses the two?

You order by debit card & can either have them posted to you or collect from a fast ticket machine when you arrive. To collect from a fast ticket machine, you must insert the SAME card into the machine that you used to pre-order from home. You must also insert the booking number that you will be given with your order. (It is a good idea to print out your booking number & bring it with you. If you don't want to use the machine, staff at stations will also print out your tickets if you give them the booking number - but they are not so keen on this as it takes staff time and you may have to queue. I would suggest that you get your tickets prior to day of actual travel.

Now I am going to tell you how you can get by train from Bristol to London for £12 - providing you pre-book a specific train well in advance. It so happens that South West Trains operate 3 trains a day from Bristol to London (Waterloo) via the longer route via Salisbury. This will take 3 hours as opposed to the direct route taking 1 hour 41 minutes on (strike prone) FGW. The SWT trains leave BRI at 8.51, 12.49 & 15.51.
Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and do this:> From BRI > WAT. Insert your date. Select 'More Options' and from the drop down box put travel via SAL. Where it says 'Choose Company' put South West Trains and tick the box below for Direct Trains. GO
Now, are you getting fares of £12 for these SWT trains? If you wish to use this service, I suggest you pre-book on their website:>
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk

By the way, just to show how bonkers the rail pricing is, if you put in for a fare from Salisbury to Waterloo (SAL > WAT) , you get a price of £38 - no matter how soon you pre-book. Wonder why the railways dislike the people of Salisbury. Perhaps they think they are all millionaires?

To MJ in Texas - another train company operates in Wales (along with First Great Western & Virgin). They are :> http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk and usually, in the autumn, they have a special deal for over 55's who can buy on the day tickets for about £20 return to any destination on their network. More info on Wales at www.visitwales.co.uk
England = www.visitengland.com

Note that RS has a separate forum for Wales. (I think it would have been better to have had a Great Britain forum).

I was out of easy internet access (heavens!) over the weekend and am just now seeing all these great and comprehensive replies. I just wanted to say thanks for all the valuable information.

Nigel, from my American perspective, the UK train system is more complicated than building a clock but both you and James have helped me toward a better grasp. Thank you both!!

As for the train...I'm only making one journey at this point and I think I'm making much too big of a deal about it (as I am frequently wont to do). I don't really know what I was looking at with regard to the "flexible fares" I was talking about (was it wishful thinking?) because it seems that what I thought was offered is not. I'm just gong to book the darn ticket the quickest and least expensive way that pops up when I check on the national rail website and hope that the time I choose - sort of arbitrary at this point - works out for the best.

Raileasy is a licensed (by ATOC) Third Party Retailer of UK train tickets and has been operating since 2007. Trainsplit.com has been produced by a partner of ours and is designed to make the "insider knowledge" about split ticketing savings available to the general traveller. When it finds a split, you won't find/get cheaper prices anywhere else.

He does not make it clear but the immediately above poster Mike Richardson is the founder and Director of the companies he speaks of.