Updated: It transpires that Railcards can actually be used in conjunction with the 50% off sale tickets. Apologies for any confusion!
If you are looking for things to do in April and May, then the Great British Rail Sale might be just up your street with train tickets going on sale for up to half price. If you are a family looking for a day out or an enthusiast trying to spot somewhere new; off-peak travel is temporarily cheaper.
Grant Shapps has announced that from Today (Tuesday), discounted tickets will become available for travel between 25th April and 27th May. That, unfortunately means after the school Easter holidays and before – what would have been – the late May Bank Holiday.
Not great for families struggling to afford downtime during this Easter break, but then the Department for Transport probably knew that. The timing of the scheme is targeting the times that there is lessor demand for trains; off-peak times during school terms.
It’s not everything?
So the Government has said that there are 1 Million tickets on offer. Tickets are available from your usual ONLINE ticket retailers as well, so don’t try to get them at your local station.
Most of the tickets that are included in the offer are Advance tickets. You are tied to the train you book for (not withstanding cancellations) although in some areas Off-Peak tickets will be offered where there is not an Advance ticket offered.
The Government propaganda announcement also says that:
“the up to half-price rate applying to a huge range of off-peak tickets spreading the length and breadth of the country”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-one-million-half-price-rail-tickets-in-first-ever-great-british-rail-sale
This suggests not every journey will be eligible, indeed the announcement quotes Portsmouth Harbour to Penzance which is not a journey I would immediately think of as being a popular one! It will be interesting to hear what journey you managed to grab at 50% off.
Other Discounts
Of course, if you already have a railcard then the discount is going to be much less.
For £24 a year National Railcards offer a third off almost all rail fares within their validity, so you might find that you won’t save much at all.
This is not a marketing campaign tempting existing users to travel, hence why peak time trains are not included in the offer. You will also find that you are tied to a specific train and that won’t suit everyone.
For now though, there is a chance to get a discounted day out, probably at 11am on a Thursday to Weston Super Mare.
The terms and conditions of the offer say that usual railcard discounts apply, so you can combine the 2 discounts.