'Ticket window' for cheap Advance fares on key rail lines doubled to six months

Exclusive: Virgin Trains extends 'booking window' on cheapest fares from 12 to 24 weeks

Simon Calder
Saturday 17 September 2016 20:49 BST
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Booking in advance and Advance tickets are not always the same thing
Booking in advance and Advance tickets are not always the same thing

Travellers on the key rail lines linking London with northern England and Scotland are now able to book Advance tickets almost six months ahead.

Virgin Trains, which runs long-distance services on the east and west coast main lines, has doubled its “booking window” on its cheapest fares from 12 to 24 weeks.

The UK industry standard is 12 weeks. A number of train operators allow passengers to book further ahead, but offer only more expensive flexible tickets rather than the cheapest Advance fares - so buying too far ahead can sometimes prove more expensive.

Booking in advance and Advance tickets are not always the same thing.

Virgin Trains aims to lure passengers from the airlines, which generally allow bookings up to around 48 weeks in advance and sell very cheap seats to people prepared to commit well ahead.

Graham Leech, the train operator’s Executive Commercial Director, said: “We’re confident that this extended booking horizon combined with everything else we have to offer will persuade more people to switch from the inconvenience of air travel to the comfort of our trains.”

The lowest one-way fares from London are £20 to Glasgow and £25 to Edinburgh. These are comparable with the cheapest tickets on budget airlines.

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But unlike airline passengers, Virgin Trains’ customers face significant constraints.

On the west coast, serving the West Midlands, the North West and southern Scotland, the extended booking horizon is available only for trains from Monday to Friday.

Weekend services are excluded from the 24-week window because of the chance that Network Rail might schedule engineering work on Saturdays and Sundays.

Travellers on the east coast, from the capital to Yorkshire, the North East, Edinburgh and beyond, have fewer options.

Virgin Trains says the extended booking window is available only “on selected journeys between London Kings Cross and north of York”.

Delays and cancellations continue to affect trains on the west coast main line, after Friday’s derailment near Watford Junction. All services, including local and freight trains are having to use the fast line.

Virgin Trains is cancelling around one-third of its services on Sunday to reduce the pressure on the line.

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