Got to go to London for a day next week, work so have to go peak time…

So i look up the prices, Cheltenham to Paddington, £166….

Someone suggested trying Evesham instead. £78…

Anyone care to offer an explanation? Is this simply “market forces” does the Evesham train consist of open sided cattle trucks? Just a little surprised that two similar length journeys from similar places to the same place can be that different.

kiteboarding is expensive?

should add both are First Great Western as well, so same operator!

its simply pricing against demand ie trains more in demand get higher fares

Stupid and ridiculous but thats the UK rail network for you

Quicker journey too by the looks of it

consider split ticketing your journey at somewhere like Didcot (you stay on the same train), be careful that your intended train stops at the station where the split is….

consider split ticketing your journey

like dundee-glasgow is almost twice dundee-perth-glasgow. fortunately, the staff at the train station here are very helpful and tell you about these things.

just checked looks like Cheltenham to Didcot is c£100, so suggests that they have adjusted the fair to make that option pointless

Pisser is that i live 10mins walk from Chelt station or 30mins drive from Evesham.

If part of your journey is at peak times then it’s worth splitting things so that you get to some intermediate station just before the end of the peak fare period then get a continuation journey at off-peak rates.

It can be worth checking if there’s APEX fares available – I went Leeds to Knighton for £18 rather than the £63 I’d have paid if I’d just turned up. Well worth the ten minutes at the ticket office.

Mafia ‘in awe’ of UK train companies

https://www.splitticketing.com/ – all down to time of day – go after 830 and it’s 50quid…

There was a period when a peak day return to London from where I live (Hampshire) was £55. However a day return to Kettering that went via London was £18 booked a week ahead and you got on the exact same trains to and from London. There was no week ahead option for the London ticket. Just bought the Kettering ticket and lobbed the bit beyond London in the bin.