The Anonymous Widower

An Affordable Trip To Doncaster

If you want to get a train, the way to not get a cheap ticket was to turn up at the last minute and buy a single ticket to your destination.

But not any more.

On Wednesday, I needed to go to Doncaster.

• I knew that the latest train, that I could catch to get me to my meeting on time, was the 13:03, so I arrived at Kings Cross about 12:30.
• I tried to buy on the ticket machine, but I unable to complete the transaction.
• In the end, I got an Advance Single ticket with my Senior Railcard for £22.60 from the Booking Office.
• I had two backward-facing seats to myself, as the train, which was going to Leeds wasn’t very full.
• Coming South later in the day, I repeated the exercise in the Booking Office at Doncaster for £23.85.
• The train was full, but I did have a seat with a table.

I consider just under fifty pounds to be good value for the return journey.

I’m fairly sure, that this is a method being used by LNER to fill seats. as after all, forty tickets at an average of £25 a time is a grand.

I think we should applaud, what they are doing.

It should be remembered that LNER are facing increasing competition on the route, including against planes to Newcastle and Edinburgh.

I went to King’s Cross this morning and had a play with the ticket machine. I could have bought tickets as follows.

• Edinburgh – £52.10
  Hull – £27.05
  Leeds – £32.90
  Newcastle – £51.50
  All trains included a seat reservation and left within half an hour.

Note that the Hull ticket was a direct one on Hull Trains, that I could have bought on an LNER machine.

November 4, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Doncaster Station, LNER, Ticketing