Mystery shoppers discovered that many train operators have outdated ticket machines that don’t sell the cheap fares available online
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said millions of tickets are bought each year meaning that huge numbers of us are potentially paying significantly more than we need to.
Analysis has found that railway station ticket machines are charging passengers more than twice as much as a major online retailer for some journeys.
Train station ticket machines are charging up to 154% more than booking online, with the best-value fares unavailable or hard to find.
Industry figures indicate that more than two out of five stations in England do not have a ticket office, while tickets for around 150 million journeys were bought from machines in 2022.
Which? We sent mystery shoppers to 15 train stations across England – each run by a different train operator – to discover the cheapest single fare for a journey that day, the following morning and in three week in order to compare the price of tickets for 75 journeys offered by machines with those from online retailer Trainline.
Around three quarters of the time, tickets bought online were cheaper.
Researchers attempted to purchase the cheapest one-way ticket for travel that same day, the following morning, and in three weeks’ time.
Which? Discovered fares purchased online were cheaper around three-quarters of the time, with travel on that day costing an average of 52% more from machines.
Same-day tickets were 52% more expensive on average when bought from a machine. A one-way fare from Northampton to Cardiff was priced at £107 from a machine, but just £43 from online retailer Trainline – less than half the price.
Though rail companies recently scrapped plans to close almost all ticket offices in England following a huge public backlash, several rail travellers are still reliant on ticket machines or online booking. While only one in six of the stations within the Department for Transport’s control have a full-time ticket office, 759 stations don’t have a ticket office at all.
In 2022, around 150m rail journeys were purchased from ticket machines.
Consumer group Which? said its investigation found that the best value fares are either unavailable or hidden among a huge number of options on many machines.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel magazine, said that millions of tickets are bought each year meaning “huge numbers of us are potentially paying significantly more than we need to when we commute to work or visit friends and family across the country”.
He added that significant numbers of elderly people do not have internet access at all which leaves them with little choice but to run the gauntlet of ticket machines which either don’t offer the best prices, or make it difficult to find the appropriate fares.
A journey from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire to London was found to cost £66 by a machine, whereas Trainline offered the same trip for £26.
A journey from Northampton to Cardiff was priced at £107 from a machine, but just £43 online.
Also read :
Several factors account for the price discrepancies, such as some machines not offering cheaper advance fares or split-ticketing, or making off-peak fares less visible.
A spokeswoman for industry body the Rail Delivery Group said that since the industry set out the case for fares reform in 2019, there had been some good progress, but that more could be done.
Trainline charges booking fees, whereas passengers are able to purchase tickets for no extra cost from many other websites and apps, including those belonging to train operators.
A planned widespread closure of railway station ticket offices in England was scrapped In October, in the face of widespread opposition.
Mark Harper, Transport Secretary asked train operators to withdraw their proposals, which were brought forward due to pressure from ministers to cut costs.
operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER) launched a two-year trial on Tuesday, for some of its routes, which involves reducing the number of fares and pricing tickets based on demand.
