A new Secret Fare can allow rail passengers to save up to 50% off train tickets.
The new ticket has been launched by East Midlands Railway and Seatfrog and allows those that are flexible with their travel times to get the best price.
This means that passengers can travel with EMR between Nottingham / Derby and London for as little as £12, and Sheffield to London for £14 and finally Sheffield to Liverpool for just £4.
The Secret Fare can be booked between 3 months and 2 days of the travel day via the SeatFrog website.
“We’re excited to bring this innovative and money-saving fare to our customers.
“Secret Fare is all about making it even easier to find a great fare. It’s perfect for those with flexible schedules. Whether you’re planning a spontaneous getaway or looking for a budget-friendly way to visit family and friends, Secret Fare provides a simple, efficient way to travel.
“It’s also ideal for those who weren’t planning to travel but might have some spontaneous last-minute plans. So ditch the car and grab a bargain with Secret Fare.”
Philippa Creswell, Customer Service Director at East Midlands Railway
Responses
The Class 222s should be retain for other services such as Norwich-Nottingham and Nottingham-Manchester Piccadilly/Liverpool Lime Street.
I think the problem with “open & transparent fares” is that there’ll be one fare for every journey, whether you book it in advance or at the ticket office on the day of travel, and it will be HIGH!
People accept variable pricing for airline tickets, and large discounts for booking in advance, so why is this not acceptable for rail travel?
How does this square with impartial retailing, if certain fares are not available without going through one specific third-party site (which has a reputation for ripping passengers off, verging on defrauding them)?
If the ticket price was based on the number of miles travelled plus an administration charge and also forget all this off peak, super off peak anytime stuff then that would simplify fares and at the same time would end all this split ticketing as two tickets would cost two administration charges .. And at the same time withdraw all these silly named rail cards and have just 1 Railcard that anyone can buy to receive 50% discount .. The over complicated fare situation would in a stroke be streamlined
Better still. Bring back into public ownership.
I suspect that you are not old enough to remember the horrors of British Rail (the last time railways were nationalised), who did everything they could to shut railway lines down.
Public ownership of the railways is NOT anything like a panacea and will likely make them worse. That’s not to say that the existing arrangements don’t need improvement of course.
Please can we have open and transparent rail fares? The array of tickets available is bewildering and the last thing we need is “secret” fares, even if it’s just a brand name for advance fares.
The fact that split ticketing is a thing just exposes the dishonesty of the whole system.
Totally agree with this comment, secret fare my bum.