5 hours ago
5 
Scrolling through the timetable, my eyes began to water at the price of a return ticket.
There was a time when a 2.5 hour journey from London Paddington to my hometown of Malvern would have only set me back £38.80.
Now, however, that same journey was threatening to cost anywhere between £117 to £226.
With the government’s net-zero ambitions in mind, it begs the question: Shouldn’t it be cheaper and easier than ever to take the train?
Public transport is an essential service and it should be affordable for everyone. So why, therefore, are we pricing people off the railways?
I try to go home at Easter every year – just like at Christmas, but it’s nice to see them twice a year, in warmer weather. So, weeks in advance, I started searching for train tickets.
Right on cue though, in March, fares rose by 4.6% and what was already pretty unaffordable had now become extortionate.
One service provider was charging up to £226 for an anytime return. Even a single ticket valid only on a certain off-peak train was £103, without a railcard discount. I wanted to cry.
Unintentionally, I then found myself daydreaming about all the times I’d managed to get tickets for less.
There was the time I once bagged tickets for as low as £9 thanks to National Rail’s ‘Cheapest Fare Finder’ tool. Sadly, that’s since gone the way of the Dodo though and now lies in the train graveyard, in a joint-burial with affordable fares.
Even last year’s ticket only cost £45 – a bargain by comparison.
It’s no wonder then that, over the years, I’ve relied on all the tricks to secure cheaper tickets.
Cashback, split tickets, and my 26-30 railcard have all been lifeline’s at times. I’ve even tried to forgo train travel altogether and last summer I exclusively used coaches.
However, the savings weren’t great, journeys were exponentially longer, and they didn’t go anywhere near my family so I was back to where I started.
Despite recent cuts to discounts and a £5 increase, my railcard did bring the cost of a super off-peak return down to £77.90 – it was a start, but even this was money I didn’t have.
Hoping for a miracle, I then pulled out all my tricks and trawled multiple websites from Trainline, TrainPal, and SplitMyFare, to bring the cost down further.
Finding the best price is like being lost in a maze, with each site offering different prices, conditions, and routes. Even slower routes via Birmingham, offering minimal savings, proved pointless as half the route was closed for engineering works.
Sadly, nothing brought me closer to a more reasonable fare and I didn’t get to see my family.
I had to choose between seeing them or going to a specialist hospital appointment I had been waiting two years for, in Bath the following week – which was costing £58 for a day return using TrainPal with 3x split tickets each way and including a railcard discount.
This is becoming the pattern. And I’m afraid that, if we continue down this track, then I will no longer be able to afford to travel.
That’s truly heartbreaking because I love travelling by train.
Not only does it offer me creative sanctuary and rare time for reflection – I’ve written articles and produced music on my journey’s in the past – it can also be therapeutic.
Last year, when my nan was dying, I went back frequently to be with family and those journeys helped me process grief and escape from reality, albeit momentarily.
But now, all journeys feel like a luxury. Recently, one text from a friend captured my mood and the issue perfectly: ‘I feel robbed every time,’ they said. ‘The amount I spend on trains, I could afford a luxury holiday.’
The cost of living has hit millions of us hard, and while I’m sure those on higher incomes can better absorb rising prices, for people like me on a lower income, there’s little room for manoeuvre.
When a ticket costs more than a day’s income, I’m forced to choose between survival and seeing my family.
As a result, with every passing year I see family less and less. I’ve traded witnessing my nieces and nephews grow up in person for the virtual worlds of FaceTime and Facebook. We communicate as if we’re living in other countries, though we’re only a train ride apart.
It’s maddening and yet, I fear, things are about to get worse.
With my railcard expiry approaching, my last ticket to ‘cheaper’ travel is about to leave the station.
I’ve already cut back on everything I can just to get by but soon I won’t even be able to afford to board one last discounted train. It’s not fair.
Like many, I welcome nationalisation plans, but they need to happen sooner. We need cheaper fares now.
I just hope that, when we do, my niece will be eagerly waiting on the platform as my train pulls in.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Share your views in the comments below.
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·