Simple Ideas for More Affordable Train Travel
Train travel is a great way to get around England fast (though there’s no need for the disastrous HS2 high-speed rail that is destroying our countryside and wildlife).
But modern train travel can be crowded, delayed and hideously expensive (sometimes it’s cheaper to fly long distances, and nearly always cheaper to drive). Let’s wait and see if prices come down, if railways come back into public ownership.
GO-OP! is hoping to be England’s first community-owned train line, currently seeking funding from investors. Focusing on routes that connect poor routes, the first one is destined to be from Somerset to Wiltshire.
Read tips for train travel with pets. Animals must be kept on leads or in carriers (take plenty of water & treats).
Pets are not allowed on seats or escalators (must be carried). Never allow animals near trains.
Usually if you book your ticket in advance, you get cheaper fares. Split My Fare can (sometimes) save a lot of money. Just purchase your tickets online singly.
Say you are travelling from London to Glasgow, sometimes strangely it works out cheaper if you buy 10 separate tickets rather than one. You then get a code to print the tickets off at the station (take a wallet, so you don’t lose them).
If you’re travelling across continental Europe, check out Interrail (this offers good passes for one country or several, depending on what your plans are).
Simple Ideas to Improve Train Stations
Those who own train stations (or councils) can help, by making our train stations nicer places to wait.
Many are still housed in beautiful buildings, so give licenses to local street cards and independent cafes, rather than always house expensive branches of coffee chains and bakers, along with chain store bookshops.
Another great idea (also for bus stops) is to make use of talented graphic designers, to make timetables easier to understand. Most are poorly-designed and confusing, and often in minute print.
Confusing for most of us, so how can people with poor eyesight or dementia understand, if they have to take the train? This Canva sample template could easily be amended to an easy-read schedule.
Often train stations have a monopoly on prices charged, due to no nearby shops. So buck the trend and take your own reusable water bottle (campaigns for free water fountains have been refused) and pack your own sandwiches.
The more people do this, the less profits for those who seek to profiteer from people who wish to travel by train.
Make Train Stations More Accessible
Councils should also provide accessible toilets, especially for long waiting times. A good idea from Portland (Oregon, USA) is for local volunteers who walk disabled and blind people through confusing platform changes until they feel confident to travel by train alone. There, all train stations and platforms also have information in Braille.
Interrail – how to discover Europe by train
Interrail is a service that lets you discover most of Europe, without ever having to get on a plane. Here is a summary of how it works, and where you can travel. Also read our post on where you can sail to from England.
It’s unlikely most dogs are going to want to be getting on and off trains all over Europe. If you do take them with you, check policies of each operator before travel. If needing to take pets abroad (say emigration), Eurostar does not allow pets (bar guide dogs) from UK routes.
Le Shuttle offers a 35-minute crossing from Folkestone to Boulogne (your pets stay with you in the car, and there is a pet-friendly check-in, just follow the paw prints). Le Pet Express offers a pet-friendly shuttle service from Ashford. Byway has a good post on dog-friendly travel in Europe.
Explore the Interrail Passes
Interrail offers a number of passes. You just plan your route, choose a pass and then activate it, for travel throughout the continent. Any European resident can use them, non-European residents must use a Eurail Pass.
- Interrail One Country Pass is obvious!
- Interrail Plus Pass lets you travel in 1 or more countries, often with reserved seats.
- Interrail Global Pass lets you travel throughout 2 countries. Choose from 33 countries.
The idea is that Interrail is an all-in-one pass (a bit like London’s Oyster card). So once purchased, you can use it within your country of choice to travel on nearly all trains (and sometimes ferry companies), by simply showing staff the Pass (or on your phone). There are 33,000 destinations covered across Europe.
