[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Exactly like that Tom. Still pays if you travel to London enough. But useless for short hops (which for me are either towards Gatwick / Lewes or Worthing). So doesn’t really encourage off peak rail use for short journeys (which is where we really need to get people out of cars)

Christian Wolmar is an excellent rail journalist – The Teams at Rail magazine and Modern Railways really know their stuff. Used to read every edition when younger but now more of an occasional read to keep me in the loop as to what is happening. Gives much more through insight into things like HS2 and HS3 (Transpennine upgrade) – and Crossrail when that was under construction – and how it is funded / planned than any of the other press on this matter.

[craigwatson]

In the summer we were flying to Canada from Gatwick. Car parking was £250, and the train for 2 adults and 2 children from Leeds to Gatwick was £110 in total. Journey time was quicker as well. That £110 was with a family and friends railcard. Very good value.

[MikeReading]

The £13 minimum applies to Network Railcards, not Senior Railcard.

[TonyR]

An extra money-saving tip for travel on trains in London. Don’t believe TfL adverts that paying contactless with your credit card is the same as paying with an Oyster Card. If you have a railcard you can have it added to your Oyster Card and get the discount on train journeys in London. With your credit card you can’t so for railcard holders TfL’s adverts encouraging you to use your credit card are, shall we say, economical with the truth.

On train journeys in general there are lots of tricks to get lower fares for those in the know. For example it is much cheaper from Southampton to London Waterloo by buying a Southampton to Brighton via Clapham Junction ticket and a Clapham Junction to Waterloo one. As long as the train stops at Clapham Junction (most did) you could stay on it all the way to Waterloo on the two tickets.

The bargain of the year, which has now been removed, was you and a companion could travel in First Class on a Standard ticket at weekends (including Fridays) on Network Rail if you had a Gold Card Season ticket. A season ticket from the stations at the start and end of Ryde Pier in the Isle of Wight cost about £100

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Tom Otley

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