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Rail cardsAnnual reduced train-fare passes can be bought by under-26s, over-60s and anyone for family travel. These give a third off the fare you would have paid without the pass. There are some restrictions - for example the discounts don't apply to sesason tickets or rush-hour travel in south-east England. The following links give the full official details but DO NOT use the link to buy an online Senior Rail Card: you can buy one for only £19.oo direct from Uttlesford District Council. Phone 01 799 510 510 or call at the office in London Rd, Saffron Walden young persons railcard, senior rail card, family railcard.
Train fares - how to get the best dealsThe trick is to use the online national-rail website to find all the fares available for the journey you want and then (assuming there is some flexibility in when you travel) search for trains on which it is possible to book one of the cheap tickets. Usually, for long-distance journeys, it is cheaper to buy two singles than a return ticket. Also, if your journey is to a smaller station, it is sometimes cheaper to book a ticket to a nearby major train station and then an onward ticket to where you want to go. There are a number of things that seem to make no sense about rail fare structures. Why is a cheap-day return from Auidley Endo to London with a travel-card for bus and tube travel in London, £20 but the same ticket from Cambridge £18? Railway regulations forbid you to buy a Cambridge to London ticket and use it from Audley end. What you are allowed to do is bu a cheap-day return from Audley End to Bishops Stortford and another cheap day return from Bishops Stortford to London (including the Travelcard). This costs only £18.50 and you should be able to buy both tickets at the Audley End ticket office! Do not buy a railcard unless you are certain you will use it enough to recoup its cost: remember the best value book-ahead fares are no cheaper with a travel card. If you are going to buy your ticket at a station ticket office, check the available prices first online. Somey#times ticket office staff quote a higher price by mistake and will check the price if you challenge it. Plus Bus (bus and train together)Plusbus gives a day's bus travel in the environs of a railway station that is part of the scheme: you buy the bus ticket wen you buy the train ticket. Although Uttlesford railway stations arew not PlusBus stations themselves you can buy PlusBus ticketrs if you are travelling to any station which is part of the scheme. Bishops Stortford, Sawbridgeworth & Cambridge are all PlusBus stationas as are many oters all over the UK. Full details are available here.
BAA Stansted Travel PassAnyone working at the airport (for BAA or any other employer) can buy fantastically good value travel passes giving complete freedom of the local train and bus networks. A £1000 annual pass includes Audley End to London travel at anytime and a whole range of other train routes (as far as Oxford & Norwich) - compared with £3200 for a second-class annual season ticket that just gives travel to and from Audley End. If you commute by train to London it is probably worth seeking a part-time job at the airport for a few hours a month, in order to save £2200 a year in travel costs. Full details of the passes are available here. |
young persons railcard, senior rail card, family railcard. . PlusBus .
young persons railcard, senior rail card, family railcard. . PlusBus .
young persons railcard, senior rail card, family railcard. . PlusBus .
young persons railcard, senior rail card, family railcard. . PlusBus .
This page last updated: © David Corke/ Sustainable Uttlesford |
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