Cheapest way to get to York from London

[Eager Beaver]

Hello, first time poster with a query about rail travel to York.

I have to go every few weeks now to visit an elderly relative, and it's getting expensive.

Even with a senior railcard, I am having to pay around £70-80 for a return journey from my home station (Chelmsford) via Kings Cross and on to York.

I have used Trainline and RedSpotted Hanky in the past to check for fares, and they don't vary by much.

I've heard about 'ticket splitting' but don't really understand it. Would I save money by doing this?

 

[BlueFox]

I have used Trainline and RedSpotted Hanky

The first way to save money is not to use these sites. They charge fees, you'll get the same tickets (sometimes cheaper) by buying directly from the train company.

You can look at split ticketing options here: https://raileasy.trainsplit.com/?brand=railukforums

How far in advance do you know you'll be travelling?
If you can book as soon as Advance fares become available you should be able to do the journey for less that £50

 

[Albion91]

If you're willing to travel the long way and are flexible with timing my instinct is that York to Birmingham (or Tamworth?) can be pretty reasonable, especially if split at Sheffield/Derby and then a super off peak London Northwestern to London. It would be considerably longer though...

 

[alistairlees]

Hello, first time poster with a query about rail travel to York.

I have to go every few weeks now to visit an elderly relative, and it's getting expensive.

Even with a senior railcard, I am having to pay around £70-80 for a return journey from my home station (Chelmsford) via Kings Cross and on to York.

I have used Trainline and RedSpotted Hanky in the past to check for fares, and they don't vary by much.

I've heard about 'ticket splitting' but don't really understand it. Would I save money by doing this?

If you put in "via" Ely (or March), you'll get fares routed via that way, rather than London. These are MUCH cheaper, especially Advance fares.

If you are able to commit to particular times, and are reasonably flexible about those times, then this is the way to go.

For instance:
- out on Thursday 24th May depart 09.03 arr. 13.30 for £10.45 with a Senior Railcard
- come back on Tuesday 29th May depart 12.02 arr. 16.21 for £14.65 with a Senior Railcard

Total price £25.10. (You can do it for £56.80 1st class on the same trains but I don't think that's obviously worth the difference - though you do get free wifi and some food and drink included).

Even next week it's the same price (for slightly different train back)
- out on Thursday 26th April depart 09.03 arr. 13.30 for £14.65 with a Senior Railcard
- come back on Wednesday 2nd May depart 14.02 arr. 18.21 for £10.45 with a Senior Railcard

Total price £25.10.

I haven't checked weekend prices, which may be more. The key questions are: when do you need to travel; how far ahead can you book; do you need to be flexible?

Cheers

 

[robbeech]

These routes as stated above can offer good value advances but there is an obvious time penalty. The fastest trains from King’s Cross to York are around 1hr50. Some of these options are over twice that length but do offer good value so it’s for you to decide. Maybe go the long way home but direct on the way there? Advances on the East Coast mainline with VTEC can be found for reasonable money if booking a fair way in advance. Try looking at the 2 hourly stopping service as that takes a little longer but often has the cheaper advances left. These are the 0708 0908 1108 1308 1508 from King’s Cross and 1002 1202 1402 1602 1802 on the southbound leg from York.

 

[alistairlees]

These routes as stated above can offer good value advances but there is an obvious time penalty. The fastest trains from King’s Cross to York are around 1hr50. Some of these options are over twice that length but do offer good value so it’s for you to decide. Maybe go the long way home but direct on the way there? Advances on the East Coast mainline with VTEC can be found for reasonable money if booking a fair way in advance. Try looking at the 2 hourly stopping service as that takes a little longer but often has the cheaper advances left. These are the 0708 0908 1108 1308 1508 from King’s Cross and 1002 1202 1402 1602 1802 on the southbound leg from York.

You're right that via Ely takes longer, but you then go on to compare the fastest journey from Kings Cross to York with a journey from Chelmsford to York (via Ely). Perhaps the matter is confused by the OP using a thread title of "from London to York" (on the assumption that via London is the only way to go?) but then stating the cost of his return journeys from Chelmsford to York.

Assuming that the OP does actually want to travel from Chelmsford to York, then comparable journey times are:

09.03 from Chelmsford via Ely: 4h 23m
09.04 from Chelmsford via London: 3h 28m (allowing for valid interchange time across London). The fastest I can see is 3h 9m on the 09.40 from Chelmsford (11.00 from Kings Cross), which is actually £24.10 with a Senior Railcard tomorrow, but is more expensive on most later dates (haven't checked all)

As with many things, there is a decision to be made between speed and price.

 

[Eager Beaver]

Wow. Thank you for the speedy and knowledgeable replies.

I know about my journeys roughly 2 weeks ahead (mostly because I have to book accommodation in York and as a tourist city gets very busy and booked weeks in advance).

I said London because, yes, that's the only route I knew (Kings X to York).

My closest station to home is Chelmsford, and I have without thinking made the connection Abellio to London and Virgin to York, not realising there were other options.


Edit to add: my travel is always mid-week, I don't want to spend too long on the journey because my time in York is in order to help an elderly person with shopping, chiropody, hairdresser etc. Time is important in my case.

 

[mildertduck]

As my partner's family are from Colchester, I have got to know the route pretty well. If my main consideration was cost, I would always consider the route via Ely - this is usually cheapest on one of the Express services destination Norwich, and then changing at Stowmarket for the trip across the Fens to Peterborough, before changing onto an East Coast train there. The disadvantage is that the Stowmarket - Peterborough train often lacks amenities, and the journey can be rather tedious, as it does often seem you're spending a long time not getting very far! The last time I travelled, there was no at-seat power and no phone signal for much of the route. On the flip side, it's probably really enjoyable if you have a good book with you!

 

[Eager Beaver]

How long is the journey though? If most of my day is spent travelling, then I would have to book an extra night in the hotel to compensate, so bang goes my money saving.

From what I have read so far, my speediest journey is the one I am doing already, but what I need to look out for is Advance tickets and buy direct from the train company. Have I understood correctly?

 

[_toommm_]

Wow. Thank you for the speedy and knowledgeable replies.

I know about my journeys roughly 2 weeks ahead (mostly because I have to book accommodation in York and as a tourist city gets very busy and booked weeks in advance).

I said London because, yes, that's the only route I knew (Kings X to York).

My closest station to home is Chelmsford, and I have without thinking made the connection Abellio to London and Virgin to York, not realising there were other options.


Edit to add: my travel is always mid-week, I don't want to spend too long on the journey because my time in York is in order to help an elderly person with shopping, chiropody, hairdresser etc. Time is important in my case.

So split ticketing is just that, it’s your journey split up over a few tickets, for example Kings X to Peterborough, Peterborough to Doncaster, Doncaster to York. You can find cheap itenaries with it that require you to change trains, however most sites will endeavour to keep you on the same train, so even through you don’t have a through ticket, the itenary will try and keep you on the same train.

Booking in advance will also help with the cost. While it does remove your flexibility it saves lots of money (I’ve gone Edinburgh to Doncaster first class for £30 with Virgin when booked in advance with my railcard)

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Wow. Thank you for the speedy and knowledgeable replies.

I know about my journeys roughly 2 weeks ahead (mostly because I have to book accommodation in York and as a tourist city gets very busy and booked weeks in advance).

I said London because, yes, that's the only route I knew (Kings X to York).

My closest station to home is Chelmsford, and I have without thinking made the connection Abellio to London and Virgin to York, not realising there were other options.


Edit to add: my travel is always mid-week, I don't want to spend too long on the journey because my time in York is in order to help an elderly person with shopping, chiropody, hairdresser etc. Time is important in my case.

Have a play around on TrainSplit - it automatically finds the best* ways of getting split tickets for a given itinerary. It's very flexible and you can add lots of "via"/"avoid" points in the Advanced menu, plus you can say the train companies you do/don't want to go with.

*It finds the best way of splitting tickets along the route of travel. It doesn't currently support finding combinations where it's cheaper to get a ticket to a station beyond where you're going, or from before where you're starting.

 

[Eager Beaver]

Never having done this, and not wanting to sound totally stupid, but how do you get the tickets if they are split (and potentially with different carriers)? At present I order online, get a code and then pick up at the machines or desk in the station. Presumably 'split ticketting' is as easy as that?

 

[Joe Paxton]

Never having done this, and not wanting to sound totally stupid, but how do you get the tickets if they are split (and potentially with different carriers)? At present I order online, get a code and then pick up at the machines or desk in the station. Presumably 'split ticketting' is as easy as that?

MoneySavingExpert has an explanation on split ticketing here.

TrainSplit offers an overview of the concept here, and there are further Q&As here.

(As an aside, I think TrainSplit could do a bit of a better job in presenting this information.)

And yes, if you order via TicketSplit or another such site then you also get a collection code and pick up the tickets at the ticket machine or ticket office the same as any other train ticket booking.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

At present I order online, get a code and then pick up at the machines or desk in the station. Presumably 'split ticketting' is as easy as that?

You can order multiple tickets as part of the same transaction.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Never having done this, and not wanting to sound totally stupid, but how do you get the tickets if they are split (and potentially with different carriers)? At present I order online, get a code and then pick up at the machines or desk in the station. Presumably 'split ticketting' is as easy as that?

Exactly - if you get tickets via TrainSplit then it works almost the same as any other regular train ticket booking website - you can either get them posted to you (if there's enough time before the journey), or pick them up at a ticket machine with the payment card and an 8-digit code. If you're using split tickets it will tell you what restrictions (if any) there are on the train(s) and the route(s) you may take.

 

[cuccir]

You could try splitting journeys on Advance fares at Newark - there's often a saving of between £5-20 for a return journey to be had doing that. Other than that if you're time-pressured, I don't think you'll save a lot of money on the prices that you're getting at the moment.

The easy way to do that is via TrainSplit; however I don't think that they offer the option of booking the same seat through the ticket split point?

If you're confident with it, you can book directly on the Virgin Trains East Coast website and use their seat selector to ensure you're booked into the same seat for the whole journey. First, create an account and log in so your journeys will get saved. Then, select your trains to Newark and then note the arrival/departure times at Newark; click 'book now' and then on the next page scroll down and click 'continue'. You'll then see the option to 'add journey'. Now book your journey to York: you should be able to work out which are the trains you're travelling on to/from Newark as these will have times 1 or 2 minutes earlier/later than your York trains. However, you could always have copy of the timetable to hand to double-check! Once you've selected continue on the second journey, you'll see the opportunity to select 'change' for the reservations on both journeys, which you'll find to the right of the screen. It can take a bit of cross-checking but you should then be able to use the seat selector to keep the same seat throughout from London to York.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

If you're using split tickets it will tell you what restrictions (if any) there are on the train(s) and the route(s) you may take.

Depending on the time of day you are able to travel, but retaining flexibility you might want to note that there are Super Off Peak fares from London to York, but only Off Peak fares from Chelmsford. Therefore if committing yourself to a specific train with an Advance doesn't appeal, then consider buying separately Chelmsford to London U1 and Kings Cross to York.

I find National Rail enquiries good for finding Advances and compare them to flexible but off peak ones. That will direct you to your choice of ticket vendor to purchase the actual ticket.

 

[John @ home]

there are Super Off Peak fares from London to York, but only Off Peak fares from Chelmsford. Therefore if committing yourself to a specific train with an Advance doesn't appeal, then consider buying separately Chelmsford to London U1 and Kings Cross to York.

That's not right. With Eager Beaver's Senior Railcard, there are Super Off-Peak and Off-Peak returns from both Chelmsford and London to York:

• £142.55 Senior Railcard Standard Off-Peak Return Colchester Stns - York Route ✠ ANY PERMITTED
• £87.55 Senior Railcard Standard Super Off-Peak Return Colchester Stns - York Route ✠ ANY PERMITTED
• £117.80 Senior Railcard Standard Off-Peak Return London Terminals - York Route ✠ ANY PERMITTED
• £72.60 Senior Railcard Standard Super Off-Peak Return London Terminals - York Route ✠ ANY PERMITTED

It's the Off-Peak Return Chelmsford - York route Not Via London fare which lacks a Super Off-Peak version:

• £69.10 Senior Railcard Standard Off-Peak Return Colchester Stns - York Route Not Via London