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Get Cheap Train Tickets To London

Get Cheap Train Tickets To London. Save between 40 to 80% on your London train tickets from anywhere in the UK and beyond. Why splash out on regular tickets when you can save tons? See top tips on how to get cheap rail tickets to London as well as routes and train times before you buy your tickets here.

Travelling to London by train is certainly not cheap.

With year to year increase in rail fares across the UK beyond the rate of inflation and rise in real wage, commuting to or from London by train - whether for work, business or leisure is taking a huge toll on all budgets and pockets.

But you can get trains to London for a tiny fraction of the standard cost of travel by applying one or more of the following top tips on how to get cheap train tickets to London.

With proper planning and forethought, you could avoid spending as much as forty percent or more on the cost of travelling from any where in the UK to London by train. 

How To Get Cheap Train Tickets To London

1. Book Your Ticket Well In Advance

Train tickets across the various UK railway networks are solid in a tier system. All tickets for a particular route are released in batches up to 180 days before their due use date.

They come as:

  • Advance Tickets. These are the cheapest tickets types. They are available for purchase online, generally up to 12 weeks before the planned journey date, but on some rail way lines, you can get advance ticket sup to 6 months before your proposed travel date. They usually come with some restrictions. You can only use them for the time and route indicated on them and they are none refundable. They can bring you significant savings on your train journey, saving you on average, 43% on the cost of your train journey, compared to buying that same ticket at the train station on the day of travel. You can buy advance cheap train tickets to London up to 6pm on the evening before your departure day.
  • Off-Peak Tickets. These are cheap refundable tickets that are sold in advance or on the day of travel. They are the next cheap category of tickets. They are for travel during off peak periods as shown on the ticket. Off peak times or periods are typically from 09:30 in the morning till 16:30, and then from 18:30 till 04:30 in the morning. They could be off-peak single for single journeys or off-peak returns. Buying two off-peak singles could sometimes be cheaper than getting an off-peak return ticket. Always check and compare for optimal savings.
  • Anytime Tickets (or Standard Tickets). These are fully flexible train tickets  that come without any time restriction on when you can travel with them. They could be Anytime single, or open return. They are also refundable. They could be bought anytime before travelling and up to the day and time of travelling. 

You can always use theTrainline Best fare Finder to get the very best ticket for your planed destination and for that day.

2. Get A Railcard

If you travel rather frequently to or from London, then get a rail card. Railcards are discount cards that saves you up to a 3rd (30%) on the cost of your train journey.

There are different types of railcards. Everyone should be able to get one. There are student railcard, senior railcard, family railcard, disabled railcard and 16 to 25 year old railcard.

If you do not fall into any of the above category, you can still buy a railcard for about £37 for a year and save a third on your travel cost every time you travel. If you where to spend £1000 on your rail journey over that one year period, getting a railcard for your journey for £37 would bring you a savings of about £300. You see how it quickly pays for itself and over and over again? You will be amazed to find out how many people do not know of this facility or use it. It gets even better. If you have up to three adults travelling with you, each of them can also get a 30% of the cost of their ticket discounted. What are you waiting for? Get you rail cards today. You can apply here online at the Railcards Website.

3. Travel Off Peak

If you do not have to be in London or leave London before 09:30, then scheduling your journey to start or arrive before those times will help knock of a lot from your travel cost. 

A Standard Peak Anytime Return journey ticket from Chelmsford  to London Liverpool street for example, would cost about £31 if done during peak or rush hour (between 06:30 and 09:30 in the morning week days). 

That same journey an hour later on a Off-peak return costs £19. That is a massive £12 savings just by waiting to travel an hour later. That is like being paid twice the minimum wage just for delaying your travel for a few minutes more. You can also get cheap train tickets to London by deferring your journey to over the weekend rather than travelling on week days.

4. Get Your Ticket Directly From The Train Operating Company

There are about 26 train operating companies in the UK. Each of these train companies ply different rail routes.

Buying train tickets from them directly saves you booking fees and credit card administrative fees in most cases. If you are planning a trip to or away from London, train operating companies that run that route and from whom you could get tickets without having to pay additional credit card or booking fee include:

5. Travel Megatrain

Have you heard of Megatrains before now? This is a UK wide inter city no-frills rail service provided by Megatrain, the owners of Megatrain, a low cost bus and train company run by the Stagecoach group.

If you are really looking for very cheap train tickets to London, it couldn't get better than this. You can get really cheap tickets to many many destinations across the UK and beyond on this train services. From £1.00, you can get train tickets from many destinations in the UK to London and back.

And if you are really lucky, you could even get one of the periodic offers of 100,000 free seats to travellers on the English and Welsh routes. Whether you are looking for cheap student travel or just money saving tips on train travel to or from London, here is it.

MegaTrain Routes To London

There are over 120 routes on Megtrain to London. Get your tickets really really cheap by booking your trip up to 6 weeks ahead. You would be surprised that you could travel from Paris to London for less than a fiver!

Popular destinations on MegaTrain to London include but not limited to:

  • Aberdeen to London
  • Aberystwyth to London
  • Amsterdam to London
  • Antwerp to London
  • Aviemore to London
  • Axminster to London
  • Bercelona to London
  • Bath to London
  • Bath Spa to London
  • Bessines-sur-Gartempe to London
  • Birmingham to London
  • Birmingham International Airport to London
  • Bolton to London
  • Boulogne to London
  • Bournemouth to London
  • Bradford to London
  • Bridgewater to London
  • Bristol to London
  • Bristol to London
  • Bristol UWE to London
  • Brive-la-Grailaerde to London
  • Brussels to London
  • Burnley to London
  • Camborne to London
  • Cardiff to London
  • Carlisle to London
  • Carmarthen to London
  • Castleford to London
  • Cheltenham to London
  • Chester to London
  • Chesterfield to London
  • Chippenham to London
  • Colne to London
  • Cologne to London
  • Corsham to London
  • Coventry to London
  • Cumbernauld to London
  • Cwmbran to London
  • Derby to London
  • Doncaster to London
  • Dublin to London
  • Dunfermline to London
  • East Midlands Parkway to London
  • Edinburgh to London
  • Exeter to London
  • Falkirk to London
  • Gent to London
  • Glasgow to London
  • Glastonbury to London
  • Gloucester to London
  • Halbeath Interchange to London
  • Halifax to London
  • Harrogate to London
  • Harrant to London
  • Holyhead to London
  • Hiniton to London
  • Huddersfield to London
  • Hull to London
  • Inveraray to London
  • Reighley to London
  • Kinross to London
  • Lampeter to London
  • lacaster to London
  • Leeds to London
  • Leicester to London
  • Lile to London
  • Limoges to London
  • Lochilphead to London
  • Loughborough to London
  • Macclesfield to London
  • Manchester to London
  • Milton Keynes to London
  • Nelson to London
  • Newcastle to London
  • Newport to London
  • Newquay to London
  • Norwich to London
  • Norwich University of East Anglia to London
  • Nottingham to London
  • Oban to London\
  • Oxford to London
  • Paignton to London
  • Paris to London
  • Pembroke Dock to London
  • Penzance to London
  • Perth to London
  • Pitlochry to London
  • Plymouth to London
  • Preston to London
  • Redruth to London
  • Roseelare to London
  • Rotterdam to London
  • Rugby to London
  • Salisbury to London
  • Scotch Corner to London
  • Scunthorpe to London
  • Sheffield to London
  • Silverstone to London
  • Skipton to London
  • Southampton to London
  • St Erth to London
  • Stirling to London
  • Stockport to London
  • Stroke-on-Trent to London
  • Sunderland to London
  • Swansea to London
  • Swindon to London
  • Tarbert to London
  • Tauton to London
  • Torquay to London
  • Wakefield / Wolley Edge to London
  • Wells to London
  • Worcester to London
  • Yeovil junction to London
  • York to London.

Just imagine. You can potentially travel from any of the above places to London on Megatrain for a £1 plus booking fee of £0.50p, if you book your ticket well in advance. Even if you are not paying £1.50, you will still be saving loads compared to taking the regular trains. Cheap train tickets to London couldn't be cheaper than this. Well, unless it is free.

6. Buy Annual Travel Card

Another great way to find cheap train tickets to London if you travel into or out of London for work regularly would be to buy an annual ticket or travelcard.

Depending on where you are travelling to or from, you could save upwards of 8 weeks worth of fares by getting yourself a travel card instead.

Typically an annual travel card is priced at 40 weeks travel card rate, giving you 12 weeks bonus on your travel cost. Even with a 4 weeks holiday off, you still have 48 weeks paid for, at the price of 40 weeks commute.

What is more? With the almost guaranteed annual rise in train ticket cost, you could lock in some savings if you bought your annual ticket anytime after January, buy not being immediately affected by the usual January 1st rise in ticket price.

Every Little Things Certainly Helps

Just imagine combining all the above tips and tricks when buying your next train ticket to London? Can you begin to see how much you could potentially save?

Whatever you can do to get cheap train tickets to London or indeed for travel across the UK would be worth it, as you could invest any such savings into the zillions of other commitments needing your precious dinero.

Cheap UK Rail Ticket Tips, Queries & Reviews: Have Your Say!

Do you have a great story, tip, or experience about getting cheap UK rail tickets? Or do you have a query about the best way you can save on a proposed UK train journey? We would love to hear from you!

Please feel free to respond to comments or questions asked by other users below.

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