“You won’t find cheaper tickets anywhere else”: that is the bizarre pledge from rail retailer Trainline, which charges fees on top of fares on about one-third of transactions.
A poster campaign outside one of the UK’s busiest railway stations creates the impression that the market-leading ticketing firm is at least as cheap as other sources.
In fact, unlike Trainline, train operators and many retailers are content with the 5 per cent standard commission they earn from online ticket sales and do not add extra charges.
Finding cheaper tickets than Trainline is simple. Train operators always sell at face value, whether at a ticket office or online. They are not permitted to charge booking fees.
In addition, many of the 40-plus other ticket retailers do not levy fees, including Trip.com, Virgin Trains Ticketing and Uber.
A Trainline advertisement makes the bold price claim outside King's Cross station in London, hub for the East Coast main line to Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland,
The poster adds the text: “Or we’ll refund the difference.” It also specifies: “Valid 6 Jan-28 Feb 2025 for in-app purchases of LNER, Grand Central, Lumo and Hull Trains only, if a lower price than the price on train line is found for the same train.”
The Independent made a test purchase for a London to Leeds LNER train at 8.03am on Monday 24 February. The standard fare booking direct with the train operator is £68.20.
On both the Trainline app and website, passengers pay £2.79 more than LNER – an increase of 4 per cent.
The traveller could claim a refund of the difference, but it would be much easier booking direct with state-run LNER. Doing so allows the passenger to earn a further 2 per cent credit under the “Perks” loyalty scheme, making the total saving 6 per cent compared with Trainline.
Unlike most platforms for booking tickets, Trainline has a useful feature known as SplitSave. This function exploits the anomalies in Britain’s labyrinthine fares system to provide savings. On routes such as Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington, buying one ticket to Didcot Parkway and another to the capital usually saves cash.
But there is no need to use Trainline; ScotRail has exactly the same SplitSave system, but without the fees, and can be used for journeys anywhere in Britain.
Sakshi Anand, UK general manager for Trainline, said: “We are proud to be the UK’s most popular and trusted travel app for buying rail tickets for our 12 million monthly users. Our constant innovation and investment in our technology helps our customers identify the best value journey, balancing price with ease and convenience for hassle-free travel.
“While we have featured a ‘best price guarantee’ for on-the-day transactions more broadly for a while, we are excited to currently trial this for all journeys on certain routes until the end of February.
“This means that if customers on relevant routes find the same ticket cheaper elsewhere, we will simply refund the difference.
“We don’t charge a booking fee on almost 70 per cent of transactions. We know it sounds cliché, but these fees really do go towards improving our products and services like SplitSave, Fare Prediction so that we can give customers great value and hassle-free purchasing for rail.”
On the Trainline website, the messaging about pricing is significantly different, specifying it applies only to tickets bought on the day.
In addition, there are some cheap tickets that Trainline – and other sources – are unable to sell at all. Such “limited-distribution fares,” as they are known, include Avanti West Coast’s Superfares. These include London to Birmingham for £9 and Liverpool to London for £15.
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: “The rail industry has been actively working to simplify fares, improve accessibility, and offer flexible, cost-effective ticketing options.
“We want to offer customers more ways to find the best fare. Pay-as-you-go expansion, Flexi Season tickets, and digital ticketing are all ways we are making changes now so they can.
“Third-party retailers help navigate ticketing options, but rail operators and other platforms also provide competitive pricing and personalised choices.
“We remain committed to modernising ticketing and ensuring all passengers – regardless of where they buy tickets from, can access the best value fares.”
Regulated rail fares in England and Wales will rise by 4.6 per cent on 2 March.
