Buying train tickets from machines at UK railway stations could cost travellers more than double what they would spend by booking online, according to new research from a consumer group.
Many of the best-value fares were “unavailable or hidden” among a “bewildering” range of options, Which? found after sending mystery shoppers to stations across the country.
The price of 75 journeys were checked on the ticket machine at every station – each run by a different train operator. The would-be passenger attempted to buy the cheapest one-way ticket for travel that same day, the following morning and in three weeks’ time.
Which? found that fares purchased online were cheaper around three-quarters of the time, and that, on average, same-day journeys cost 52 per cent more from machines.
One of the biggest price differences seen was in a same-day, one-way ticket from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire to London, which was an eye-watering 154 per cent more costly when purchased from the station’s ticket machine – which charged £66, compared with the £26 online split-ticket option from Trainline.
A same-day, one-way ticket from Northampton to Cardiff can be bought online for £43 but costs £107 when bought from the machine – a 148 per cent increase.
In 2022, 12 per cent of tickets were purchased from a machine, around 150 million journeys, said Which?.
Just one in six of the 1,766 train stations under the Department for Transport’s control has a full-time ticket office; 40 per cent are staffed part-time, and 43 per cent don’t have a ticket office at all.
A huge outcry against the plan to close the vast majority of rail ticket offices saw the government U-turn on the proposals.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said that the need for modernisation of fares and ticketing was raised in the consultation on ticket office closures and will “seek to support the industry to modernise ticket machines”.
During their research, Which? found the services offered by different ticket machines could vary significantly, with passengers often facing restricted choice and as a result, higher prices.
One of the reasons tickets from machines are often more expensive is because most don’t offer “advance” fares, cheaper tariffs that are available for buying in advance of travel. Depending on the route, these can even be available up to 10 minutes before…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…