Fare Variations

[SteveP29]

The golf society I run will be having their annual trip away in June.
I will be travelling from Edinburgh by train, the rest of the lads in cars from Newcastle.
I’ve been looking ahead to see what kind of price my train tickets will be.
Depending on where we play on the Saturday, I may need to get the train to Berwick, if not, it will be to Dunbar.
Having looked at the prices, I can get 2 singles to Berwick (and back) for £5.50 each.
However, Edinburgh to Dunbar (on the very same train as I’d be getting to Berwick) is £8
How is that possible? I know there are variations in fares all over the network, but £2.50 more, for half the distance seems strange.
I am thinking about just buying the 2 singles to Berwick and short stopping in Dunbar if that’s where I need to be.

 

[embers25]

The golf society I run will be having their annual trip away in June.
I will be travelling from Edinburgh by train, the rest of the lads in cars from Newcastle.
I’ve been looking ahead to see what kind of price my train tickets will be.
Depending on where we play on the Saturday, I may need to get the train to Berwick, if not, it will be to Dunbar.
Having looked at the prices, I can get 2 singles to Berwick (and back) for £5.50 each.
However, Edinburgh to Dunbar (on the very same train as I’d be getting to Berwick) is £8
How is that possible? I know there are variations in fares all over the network, but £2.50 more, for half the distance seems strange.
I am thinking about just buying the 2 singles to Berwick and short stopping in Dunbar if that’s where I need to be.

As highlighted in another thread one of the biggest I have locally is Woking-Luton Airport Parkway off peak return for £51.60 but from Guildford which is further away it is only £32.60 and from Beaulieu Road which is double the distance its £50.80. Sadly rail fares rarely make sense and well over 50% of the time it is cheaper to buy a ticket that either starts or ends beyond where you want to go...or both. However that does not apply to advance tickets as you can't stop short and there are some normal tickets you can't break your journey on so you do have to check.

 

[Romilly]

The reason is that you are not comparing like with like.

The £5.50 (or thereabouts) single fares between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed are "Advance" tickets valid only on the train specified when booking. There are only limited quotas of these tickets: when the lowest-priced tier sells out, the next lowest becomes available, and so on. Nearer the time of travel, the price of an Advance ticket can approach that of the flexible tickets discussed in the next paragraph, which can be bought as late as the date of travel.

An Edinburgh-Berwick one-way ticket valid on any train on the Saturday would be £22.80 (and a ticket for out and back valid on any trains on the day would be £24.60).

The £8 Edinburgh-Dunbar ticket corresponds to the £22.80 Edinburgh-Berwick ticket, and there is a £12.30 Edinburgh-Dunbar return ticket that corresponds to the £24.60 ticket.

Clearly, the train companies see no real commercial need to sell Advance tickets for Edinburgh-Dunbar. (Actually, Cross Country trains do offer Edinburgh-Dunbar Advance tickets on their services, but counter-intuitively prices start at £8.90!)

Please note that an Advance ticket is not valid for stopping short, so your plan to buy a £5.50 Edinburgh-Berwick ticket and alight at Dunbar could have unfortunate outcomes.

 

[SteveP29]

Thanks for the answers, after using trains regularly for 9 years, I thought I knew a bit about it, obviously there's much more to learn.

I know I'm not allowed to short stop, there are no ticket barriers at Dunbar, so I'd be prepared to take the chance, as awful as that sounds.

 

[bb21]

Just be aware that should the train run non-stop to Berwick for whatever reason you would be a little, well, stuck.

 

[Romilly]

Also, in the current winter timetable there are only 7 southbound trains on a Saturday that stop at both Dunbar and Berwick. By the time the OP travels, that number may have changed following the May timetable changes.

And only 6 northbound. The OP is quite likely to be noticed by the guard when joining an evening train to Edinburgh at Dunbar, who generally has time to make his/her way to those spotted joining at Dunbar in order to check their tickets. Doing Dunbar-Edinburgh on a Berwick-Edinburgh Advance strikes me as a high-risk approach, over and above the general risks that come with trying to travel on invalid tickets.

 

[LexyBoy]

I agree it's risky, especially if the train's not very busy (as I imagine Saturday evening wouldn't be). Surely not worth the saving of £11 versus £12.80 for a valid ticket - if it were me, I'd not consider Advances at that price even if they were to Dunbar - what if you're held up, want to stay for another post-game drink, or want to come back early cause of rain?

Just be aware that should the train run non-stop to Berwick for whatever reason you would be a little, well, stuck.

No more stuck than if he had bought a ticket to Dunbar surely? If it skipped Dunbar on the return then that could be problematic.

 

[reb0118]

Just buy an Off Peak Return ticket from Eskbank (valid to start/finish short at Edinburgh) to Dunbar - £14.60. I'm assuming that you are not returning on the same day but if so just get an Off Peak Day Return from Linlithgow to Dunbar at £11.40. Sorted.

Who says rail ticketing is complex?

 

[SteveP29]

Sorry, I haven't made myself really clear.
The journey Edinburgh - Dunbar (or Berwick will be on a Saturday morning)
I will be returning to Edinburgh on Sunday evening from Berwick, regardless of whether I get off at Dunbar.

 

[bb21]

No more stuck than if he had bought a ticket to Dunbar surely? If it skipped Dunbar on the return then that could be problematic.

Well with an AP to Berwick, he would be tied to that train whereas if he had a ticket to Dunbar, if the train were advertised to not call at Dunbar, he could get a different train an hour later.