I am getting very confused when trying to purchase tickets from London to Tiverton Parkway and back. There seem to be so many different sites that are all offering to sell me tickets, but some do have a seniors option and some do not. Some charge a fee and some do not. I have sent an email to Southwestern Rail, but have not yet heard back. Would it be best to wait until we are actually in London to buy these tickets or do you have recommendations for the correct sites to use?
Posted by
UK
1 posts
Hello! Trains in the UK are run by 20+ private companies which operate in different regions of the the country but each one can sell you tickets throughout the country for the same price as the company you actually travel with. I'd recommend making an account for one company, in my opinion TFW (Transport for Wales) have the easiest app and website to use. (And no booking fees)
GWR run the trains between London Paddington and Tiverton but TFW will sell you a ticket for the same price as GWR or anyone else would. There is no senior discounts for trains In the UK unless you buy a senior railcard which costs £35 for a year and will get you a third off all train fares.
I'd look to book about 8-10 weeks ahead of a long distance train trip for the cheapest prices.
Hope this helps a bit.
Edit - I'd recommend reading through The Man in seat 61's guide to trains in the UK if your still a bit confused. That'll have everything you need to know. https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-britain.htm
Posted by
Cornwall
671 posts
Trains to Tiverton Parkway leave from London Paddington and are operated by GWR.
Tickets can be bought from the GWR website or Nationalrail.co.uk, or any other train operating company (TOC) without fees. Trainline and other brokers charge a fee.
Senior discounts require the purchase of a Senior Railcard. If this is your only trip it may not be worth purchasing this for £35. If you are making more journeys it may be worth it.
See the seat61 website for everything you need to know.
Posted by
Lake District, England
9259 posts
South Western Railways won't help you- while they run trains from London to Exeter (which are often crazy cheap) they run via a different route, not via Tiverton.
Any website selling tickets will have the senior railcard option hiding somewhere.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Thank you so much for this valuable information. I had no idea that there were quite so many different train lines. Your advice regarding trains and reading materials has been a big help.
Posted by
Warrington, England
116 posts
There is only one line that you need to be concerned with for your trip GWR (Great Western Railways) although all the others sell tickets. Running from London Paddington station.
Using the Avanti app, I am seeing the cheapest next week for around £56 one way and around £115 for a return ticket the same day. I'm not aware of any discounts for seniors on our trains. There are however Railcards that give a third reduction on off peak travel. These cost £35 and last for a year. So if you are spending more than £105 on rail travel, they are worth buying. You can buy a Senior one or if there are two of you, a two together railcard still costs £35 for the two of you and gives you both a third discount.
With a railcard, the prices above drop to around £75, (plus the cost of the railcard £35).