Trains & Prices

I always research through this site and buy directly from the train company https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.

Transport for Wales (whom you will be travelling on) open Advance Fares 8 weeks before travel- not all companies are 12 weeks before travel (Northern are another one on 8 weeks).

I believe that even the RS rail guide says a general 12 weeks- as does Man in Seat 61 last time I looked. The true story is more subtle.

By the way when Advance fares do become available you will often find that first class (on the trains which convey first class cars) is often the same price or sometimes even cheaper than standard class on that particular route. When it is more expensive the extra over is so small that it is a no brainer to take the first class fare.

Ok. This makes sense then. I know the rate was the same on all websites, but I just wasn't sure if based on the message it would be coming down. I'll put the 8 week mark on my calendar. Thanks so much!

Buying today to travel today, the fare is £28.00 or £33.60 1st class on most trains. Checking ahead for 12 March, the fare is £20.20 or £25.90 1st class - so that is roughly what you should be paying once the cheaper advance fares are loaded - non Railcard prices. The trains are hourly and those with 1st class are usually alternate hours.

Laurel, National Rail is not the train operating company, it is the brand name of the |UK's train system.
April, you sometimes get cheaper tickets from the individual train operators and these are often not loaded till several months out.
Trainline is a ticketing company which has an algorithm called split ticketing, which sometimes offers cheaper fares. For example, last week I booked a fare through them at £41, which was £49 on the train operator's site.

Laurel, National Rail is not the train operating company, it is the brand name of the |UK's train system.

I know. And when I find the route and schedule I can click on the buy tickets link and go to the specific rail company site to buy,

A word of warning for our foreign friends. www.nationalrail.co.uk does indeed take you through to the train company that will operate all or most of your trip. However, very often the price can be reduced by splitting the ticket and that is what trainline has done in the case mentioned above BUT, trainline charge a commission for making the booking and you can get exactly the same prices/split via Scotrail without the commission - see >https://www.buytickets.scotrail.co.uk

Some other sites work out multiple splits that can reduce the price even more but these will charge 15% commission of the amount saved. Check out :>https://www.traintickets.com/?/ and https://trainsplit.com

So, buyer beware! Also note that return tickets can often be only £1 or so more than one way tickets. Short journeys can be the same price of bought on the day.

By the way, I think that Trainline is pretty good at clearly coming up with schedules & prices for trains on the European mainland. Check it out for Barcelona to Madrid for example and compare that with RENFE - the Spanish operator.

Where are you going to when you arrive at Crewe, as that is pretty unlikely to be your final destination?

I'm not sure if this is the same trip as the one where you are visiting the Lake District, and picking up a car somewhere. Sometimes when doing the Marches line (this route) to the Lake District it is cheaper to route from Crewe via Manchester or Manchester Airport than on the Avanti direct service from Crewe to the Lake District. The benefit of changing at the Airport is that you get on the train when it is quiet, and have a quiet train from Crewe to the Airport as well, but you take longer.

You're correct: we're connecting in Crewe to Penrith and picking up our car there. I think i would rather save the time and effort and go direct from Crewe to Penrith (instead of Manchester) since we're already connecting in Crewe. As an American I always find the trains in Europe to be confusing as much as I try and try again to be prepared, pay attention, follow signs, ect. It's always a struggle, so I would like to minimize the connections.

I just use the Trainline website for information. I also use the National Rail website, but also the direct train company to book. I like to gather all info.

In that case book a through Advance Fare from Hereford to Penrith when they become available.

We've already seen that Hereford to Crewe is about £20 Advance. Looking in a month's time Hereford to Penrith (a further 90 minutes or so on is about £30 on most trains that day)- so effectively you pay £10 or so for the second part of the journey.

That is cheaper than buying the fare in two parts Hereford to Crewe and Crewe to Penrith.

In most circumstances the change at Crewe should either be same platform or cross platform and there are plenty of staff around to help you.

Good to know. I thought it was always better to book separate tickets, so apparently not always. Thanks so much!