Passengers be aware of train ticket prices

With two thirds of railway station clerks failing to quote the cheapest fare, the poor advice on train ticket prices is leading to some passengers paying more than double the cheapest train fare.

Which? research also revealed that when there’s a choice of rail company, over 50% of the time the more expensive train ticket prices were quoted and the cheapest ignored.

Over half the rail staff who were asked about rail travel near to the end of a peak period did not raise that by delaying the time of departure, sometimes by just a few minutes, could result in savings.

Lost property is also not very well handled with 5 out of 16 train stations failing to contact the owners of a coat that Which? handed in with cash inside – despite the fact that the coat was clearly labelled with the owner’s name and phone number.

As Martyn Hocking of Which? magazine commented ‘If you want to know the cheapest way to get from A to B, you’d expect staff at the station ticket office or on the end of the rail enquiries helpline to be able to tell you.

It’s not acceptable that passengers could be paying well over the odds because of poor advice.’

Perhaps you need to double check as you buy your rail tickets to ensure you do pay the cheapest train ticket prices?