How to make your train journeys as cheap as possible: seven ways to avoid getting ripped off after experts discovered ticket machines are charging double the online price

Train ticket machines are known for overcharging customers – with prices sometimes more than double what you would pay online or at the ticket office.

Research this week by consumer group Which? discovered that the best rates were often unavailable or hidden among different options.

But instead of going against the machine, here are some useful tips to ensure you can travel by train as cheaply as possible.

Book at least ten minutes in advance

According to a report published today, the first obstacle to getting a cheap deal is that two-thirds of train ticket machines do not sell advanced tickets.

These tickets are usually cheaper because they are not flexible and you can only travel at a certain time.

If you book up to 12 weeks in advance, you pay just a tenth of what you would pay if you booked on the day.

The good news is that it is still possible to purchase cheaper tickets in advance, just ten minutes before the departure time of a standard ticket.

Consumer organization Which? said: 'Train station machines charge up to 154 per cent more – with the best fares unavailable or difficult to find.

'We visited fifteen different ticket machines and discovered that ten were not selling advanced tickets. This is worrying as railway companies have only recently been forced to scrap their plans to close large numbers of ticket offices due to public backlash.”

If you want a pre-sale ticket, the ticket office is the best place to start as they can advise you on the various travel costs. Alternatively, you can book a ticket online using a website service such as Trainline, to make or purchase the booking via the train company's own website or phone app.

With internet purchases you can collect tickets from a machine by sending an access code.

Be flexible when you travel

Ticket machines tend to withhold details about the price difference between peak and off-peak travel. Instead, they show you prices based on the time period you are in at the time of your search.

Machines rarely provide details about off-peak prices until that period arrives – perhaps after 10am.

This means that if you arrive at the station 30 minutes before the end of the 'peak time', you may not realize that by waiting for a slightly later train you can get a cheaper deal.

For information on the price difference you will still need to ask at a ticket office or scroll through train websites such as National Rail Inquiries.

In the modernized world of train ticket machines, off-peak and super-off-peak times – which can cost less than half the price of 'standard' peak tickets – are not always obvious.

Research by Which? found that a machine in Hitchen, Hertfordshire, was only offering an 'all-time single' to York for £133 at peak times. But by booking the ticket on the Trainline website, Which? found an off-peak ticket for the same trip for £55.

Buy travel tickets before March

Train fares will rise by as much as 4.9 percent from March 3 as railway companies hit travelers with price increases.

You may be able to protect yourself against this if you buy tickets in advance – season tickets or an advance booking made up to 12 weeks before the trip. If you book in advance you may get access to this year's lower prices for travel after March 3.

Buy as a group at the cash register

Another little-known trick to saving money – and one that no ticket machine will ever point out to you – is to travel in a group of three to nine people.

You do not need to buy a train ticket for this, but you must request a so-called GroupSave at the cash register or with your online purchase.

One of the passengers must book all tickets. By doing this you can save a third on the price of off-peak travel.

For example, four separate non-peak return tickets from Cardiff to Bristol cost a total of £128.80 using the Trainline service. But buying from the same website using the GroupSave option brought the total down to £84.80 – a saving of £44.

Buy a little-known train ticket

National Railcards have long been popular with the under-25s and over-60s, but there are a whole host of other lesser-known annual rail cards that also save a third on the cost of off-peak travel.

Machines should accept these – although recognizing the option to use these at checkout when making payment will require a magnifying glass.

If you're over 25 but under 30, you can buy a 26-30 railcard for £30 and get a third off eligible fares.

The Two Together Train Card is intended for couples or two people who often travel together, such as friends, colleagues or family. Said passengers will receive a third discount on train tickets when traveling together with the £30 rail card.

The Family & Friends train card covers groups of up to four adults and four children and also costs £30. Adults can save a third on train tickets, while children get a 60 percent discount. At least one adult and one child must travel together.

Go to the ticket office in a London Underground station with a Railcard and they can also apply the discount to off-peak travel on the London Underground for the duration of the railcard.

For those traveling in South East England, there's also a little-known £30 Network rail card, which can save you a third of the price of off-peak travel for a year. Holders can also purchase discounted train tickets for up to three others traveling at the same time as them.

Save with split tickets

Another money-saving trick thwarted by overly simple ticket machines is split ticketing. Here you buy separate train tickets for different parts of a journey, as this is cheaper than buying the whole journey in a single ticket.

But Mark Price, a train expert at website The Man in Seat 61, said the trick can still work if you do it right – and it applies even if you only take one train.

He said: 'Split ticket sales can work out cheaper. You do not have to change trains, but your carriage must stop at the station where you purchased separate tickets.'

The trick could save you even more if part of the trip then falls in an off-peak or super off-peak period, he said. This means that you may get a cheaper seat on one leg of the journey than another because it is outside peak hours.

A ticket machine can't handle such money-saving complexity, but a specialist website such as Trainsplit or Split Ticketing can do the legwork for you. These websites buy all the tickets you need for your trip in one go. Some websites may charge a small fee for this service, but will still likely save you money.

For example, a day return train journey from Manchester to London can cost £375.50, but if you buy split tickets with Trainsplit that stop in Crewe you will only pay £87.88.

Consider ranger and rover tickets

A ranger ticket gives travelers unlimited travel for one day in specific regions, such as the West Midlands, at a reduced price.

These are not advertised on the ticket machines and you should contact the ticket office to ask about options in your area.

Railway enthusiast Mark Haines, 47, is one of those who regularly uses a ranger ticket, traveling with his son Charlie to film trains.

Last year he paid £48 for the day for an adult and child ranger to travel between Leamington Spa and Crewe. If he had bought returns at any time it would have cost him £163.05.

A rover ticket is a limited period ticket that can be used for several days and works much the same as a ranger. Both Ranger and Rover tickets can provide additional savings if the tickets are also purchased with a rail card.

Fight for compensation

Rail passengers will miss out on £100 million a year in delay compensation if they don't make a claim. But the process can be simple if you fill out a form online, pick up a claim form at a ticket office or download your train company's smartphone app.

Under a 'delay repayment' agreement that most operators are associated with, you can claim half the price of a single ticket if you are delayed by 30 minutes to an hour. For delays longer than one hour, you can claim a full refund of one ticket. If you are delayed by more than two hours, you can claim the full price of the return ticket.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, said: 'The introduction of single-leg fares and the extension of contactless fares are important changes that will make fares easier and simpler for customers.

“We will continue to work with government and the rail sector to implement further reforms and deliver greater benefits to our customers.”