‘Splitting tickets’ can halve the cost of Christmas train trips

Exclusive: Independent rail retailers can exploit anomalies in the fares system, saving passengers money

How much? LNER Azuma train to London King's Cross at Newcastle station (Simon Calder)

Christmas rail trips may be cheaper for travellers if they book through a third-party retailer rather than directly with the train operators: that is the conclusion from research conducted by and for The Independent.

Savings are made by “splitting tickets” – exploiting the many anomalies in Britain’s rail fares by using more than one ticket for a journey.

An “anytime” ticket from London Paddington to Bristol costs £137.50. But buying one ticket from the capital to Didcot Parkway in Oxfordshire and another from there cuts the cost by one-third to £91. The only condition is that the train stops at Didcot; there is no need to change trains.

Train operators do not advertise such savings, but independent ticket vendors often do.

The organisation Independent Rail Retailers (IRR) has checked a series of mid-morning journeys on Monday 22 December 2025, one of the peak days for pre-Christmas travel.

• LNER 10.03am London King’s Cross-Edinburgh: £142.50 on the rail firm’s website, but £110.90 through Railsmartr website – saving 22 per cent. The saving is achieved by splitting tickets at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
• East Midlands Railway 10.32am departure from Derby to Manchester via Sheffield; £21.80 on East Midlands Railway, but £13.59 on Trainline, saving 38 per cent. The tickets are split at Sheffield.
• CrossCountry 10.33am Bristol Temple Meads-Sheffield: £106.20 on the rail firm’s website but £65.49 through Trainsplit – saving 38 per cent. The tickets are split at Worcester Parkway and Birmingham New Street. A further £7.40 can be saved by leaving the train at Derby, waiting 22 minutes and catching the following train.

IRR is the membership body for Britain’s third-party ticket retailers, representing the giant Trainline as well as Assertis (and its Railsmartr subsidiary), Atomised, Evolvi, Fast Rail Ticketing, My Train Ticket, Omio, OnTrack, Raileasy and Trip.com.

A spokesperson for IRR said: “These alternatives may involve longer travel times or more changes, but they typically offer lower fares. This approach puts greater choice in passengers’ hands, allowing them to decide onthe balance between cost and convenience that best suits their needs.”

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, said: “The rail industry has been actively working to simplify fares, improve accessibility, and offer flexible, cost-effective ticketing options. We remain committed to modernising ticketing and ensuring all passengers – regardless of where they book tickets from – can access the best value fares.”

Tickets for immediate departure may also be cheaper through a third party, according to research by The Independent. On Sunday 16 November, the 11.30am LNER train from Newcastle to London was being sold at £200.80 by the rail firm – but only £95.90 on third-party retailers. Booking through Uber, which offers a permanent 3 per cent saving on train tickets, reduces the cost to £93.02 – a saving of 54 per cent.

The LNER option is any anytime ticket, which is much more flexible than the Uber option – allowing unlimited breaks of journey on the ticket date and the two following days.

An LNER spokesperson said: “Through our website and app, we offer the best available fares for our customers and often have great value advance fares available up to five minutes before trains depart.

“When trains are very busy, especially on a weekend, our best value fares can sell out and occasionally there are no seats available for the full duration of a journey. The anytime fare is always available and provides customers with the most flexibility, including the option to break their journey.”

Passengers using split tickets can encounter problems with seat reservations, or if they inadvertently take a train that does not actually stop at the station where the tickets are split.

All fares researched on 14 November 2025, except for Newcastle-London ticket – checked on Sunday 16 November for immediate departure.

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