Just when I thought UK rail fare pricing couldn't get any more inexplicable ...

[IaninSheffield]

If you travel further (on the same line) it should cost more, right? Err, no.

For a change of scenery, I sometimes enjoy taking a train out and cycling home. Sometimes I'll ride out and catch the train home. On Thursday I took a train from Worksop to Nottingham, then headed out in the sun for a pleasant ride across through Newark to Lincoln. Just north of Newark I hit a 'Road Closed' diversion which, unusually, I couldn't negotiate through and had to take the extra couple of miles. Back on course, as I headed towards Lincoln, I realised I'd probably miss the train I'd been intending catching by a few minutes. Although waiting almost an hour for the next one wouldn't really be a big deal, a cunning plan sprang to mind. The Lincoln - Worksop train travels through Saxilby which was a little closer to me at that point, so with a small increase in pace, I could probably head it off at the pass, so to speak. I arrived at Saxilby station just as the train was pulling in and caught it by a squeak. Phew!
I didn't have the chance to get a ticket from the machine so had to buy one from the conductor - £8.05 for a single journey, with Railcard. It was only later as I was mulling it over that it struck me that I seemed to recall a single from Lincoln back to Worksop was cheaper than that. When I got home I checked at an online ticketing site:
(The date is for next week, but the outcome is the same)

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What on earth is going on?! How can a shorter journey on the same train operated by the same company over the same route cost almost twice that of the longer journey?!
Being a bear of very little brain I'd be really grateful if someone could explain to me the rationale behind this.

 

[Donger]

I have long since given up trying to understand rail fares. A friend of mine regularly buys a ticket to Maidstone every time he wants to travel to London (from Gloucester). Always cheaper than paying to go to London. He just never gets the connecting onwards train and saves money by paying to go further than he wants to. Crazy.

 

[KnittyNorah]

It seems to depend - at least to some extent - on which train company/ies operate on the line and if/how much/what sort of competition there is on the route.

 

[DaveReading]

I have long since given up trying to understand rail fares. A friend of mine regularly buys a ticket to Maidstone every time he wants to travel to London (from Gloucester). Always cheaper than paying to go to London. He just never gets the connecting onwards train and saves money by paying to go further than he wants to. Crazy.

Airlines often do something similar, except that they tend to come after you in such circumstances.

 

[ColinJ]

I found it cheaper to travel from Hebden Bridge to Leeds to Exeter, than just catching the same train from Leeds to Exeter! And then I discovered it was cheaper still to travel from Todmorden to Hebden Bridge to Leeds to catch the Exeter train!

Last time I did the trip I ended up buying 6 tickets each way for maximum savings...

PS It is even cheaper to go via Manchester, Chester, and Wales, but I can't be bothered with multiple trains, multiple connections to miss, and a longer journey just to save another £25.

 

[Jameshow]

Possibly because the conductor gave you a standard fare whilst the fare you researched was a saver fair?🤔🤔🤔

 

[IaninSheffield]

Possibly because the conductor gave you a standard fare whilst the fare you researched was a saver fair?🤔🤔🤔

You're spot on! Subsequent to my post I made the same query to @northernassist on Twitter and got a fairly prompt reply, even on a Saturday night, so kudos for that. The cheaper ticket was an Advance single and the more expensive an Anytime single.
However, what I then wondered was why the Northern Rail (that's the service operator on that route) online ticketing system didn't offer the same type of ticket for both requests.
If I get a further response I'll provide an update.

 

[ColinJ]

I use TrainSplit to tell me the cheapest combination of tickets on my rail journeys.

 

[IaninSheffield]

And the update is:

View: https://twitter.com/northernassist/status/1573904342297583617?s=20&t=o90qZFyRrEB2arY_2poSNg


So I checked multiple dates in advance. If you're travelling from Saxilby, one stop down the line from Lincoln, on exactly the same train as someone from Lincoln, you can't get an Advance ticket!
For my one-off journey it mattered little, but how can that be fair on the good folks of Saxilby who might have to use the line regularly?

 

[IaninSheffield]

I use TrainSplit to tell me the cheapest combination of tickets on my rail journeys.

Gave it a shot for this specific journey and unfortunately, like the standard ticketing sites, it couldn't unearth the cheaper 'Advance' options.

I have found cheaper Advance tickets available for the above journey, but they're just not presented through conventional search channels.

 

[byegad]

I spoke to a guy who had travelled by train from 'Somewhere in darkest Cornwall' to Lancashire. As a regular user of the train he showed me his return tickets, all 7 of them! Apparently the total cost for the journey this way was just over 50% of the cheapest return ticket. Utter madness, and I'm glad I can drive.

 

[newts]

When I travel Exeter to Birmingham on an early peak train with an anytine return it's £220.00. Buying 3 separate tickets, staying on the same train is £107.00, over 50% saving. The sweet spots for prices are Exeter - Bristol Parway, Bristol Parkway - Cheltenham Spa & Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham New Street. I might get 3 different seats with each ticket but rarely have to move.

 

[oldwheels]

My wife wanted to go from Oban to Helensburgh but had no option but to buy a ticket for Dumbarton 8 miles further on. The train stopped at Helensburgh Upper and she got off to be told passengers were only supposed to board there and not alight. She got off on the understanding she would not do it again.

 

[KnittyNorah]

FWIW, I've long enjoyed spending (wasting?) time on rail (and air) timetable/fare directories and websites, for both this country and overseas.
When I lived in the Middle East, long long before the internet, I was much better than most agents at finding interesting routings for both flights and rail journeys in the paper directories of the time.
Working in the UK and Europe I regularly worked out journeys, connections and costings for colleagues - and now I'm retired I find I'm doing it again for a small group of people more locally. I'd like to extend and organise some longer days, or even multi-days, away by train. Have to do my own recce's first though ... great!
I've also been a contributor to the much admired and recommended Man in Seat 61 website, when I was visiting the Thai/Malay peninsula regularly a few years ago. I think a couple of my more general contributions are still on there.
I still love planning 'imaginary' ( a few possibly to be realised one day) journeys by rail and seeing if or how I can get round all the many limitations and restrictions which crop up and can change between stations, countries, services and rail companies ...

 

[Jenkins]

I use TrainSplit to tell me the cheapest combination of tickets on my rail journeys.

Doesn't always give the best result. For a trip to Stoke on Trent later in the year, that website (and the Trainline & Greater Anglia's) gave me various options routing through Birmingham, Leicester, Derby & London, varying from £100 to £130 return. None of them offered the simple routing of Felixstowe - Peterborough (GA), Peterborough - Nottingham (East Midlands Railway) on one ticket from GA then Nottingham to Stoke on Trent with EMR on a second ticket for £65 return.

Also, why can I get a ticket to Peterborough from Felixtowe for £22.20 single with a railcard, but Felixstowe to Leeds (which involves a change at Peterborough) can be had for £18 with no railcard?