What is split ticketing in the UK?

The British rail fare system can be complex, but with different ticket types and railcards, you can find ways to efficiently save money. Nowadays, one of the ways savvy travellers in Britain cut costs on train tickets is through a method called split ticketing. In this helpful guide, we will be explaining what split ticketing is, how it works, and, most importantly, further insight into why it can save you money.

What is split ticketing?

Split ticketing involves buying more than one ticket for a journey, rather than buying one through-ticket.

This strategy takes advantage of individual journey pricing within the UK rail fare system. This is due to it sometimes being cheaper to buy separate tickets for each segment of a journey than it would be to buy a single continuous fare.

For instance, if you were to travel from Shrewsbury to Liverpool with a change in Chester, purchasing one Anytime ticket may cost £31. However, when you buy one ticket from Shrewsbury to Chester and another from Chester to Liverpool, you may save over £10 - more than a third of the total price!

Split ticketing can also work on direct trains where you don't need to change. For example, an Anytime ticket from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads costs £118.40. But if you split your journey at Didcot Parkway, you could save over £40.

How do I find split tickets and how does split ticketing work?

While long practised by seasoned travellers, technology has made the process even easier. Our app automatically works out the optimum mix of Advance, Off-Peak and Anytime fares to make journeys cheaper. The principle is simple: "Stay on the train, just switch tickets."

Is split ticketing on trains legal?

Yes, split ticketing is perfectly legal.

One important factor to take into account is that the train must be scheduled to stop at all the intermediate stations where you've bought tickets, to pick up and set down passengers.

So, for example, most London to Bristol trains call at Didcot, so you can split the ticket there. However, if your train skips a station, as some do - for example, the Parkway stop on London to Cardiff routes - you may receive a fine if you don't have the right tickets.

Can I save more money with Advance tickets?

Advance tickets are cheaper than Anytime fares, but carry some conditions, such as specifying the time of travel.

Find out more about our Advance tickets here.

On more complex journeys, like Swansea to Aberdeen, savings can still be spectacular if you split the journey into multiple tickets - but only if you're comfortable with the restrictions noted above.

What about rush-hour travel?

Another plus of split ticketing is that it helps you beat the peak/off-peak ticketing system.

Take a journey from Hitchin to Brighton at rush hour as an example: by splitting your tickets, you may find that you're saving money on the overall fare by having some peak and some off-peak sections.

What is the risk of split ticketing?

While split ticketing can save you some money, it is not without its challenges.

First of all, it calls for a certain degree of awareness and also some effort, since finding the best splits is not always straightforward. If you don't comply exactly with the regulations - for instance, should you have split your ticket and the train happens to not call at the intermediate station - you will have to pay a penalty or fine.

Also, there is this issue of how much you value your time: ticket-splitting services charge booking fees, and access to multiple tickets, whether on paper or electronically, will burden the journey.

What’s more, even though technology has made it easier to find and book these split tickets, not every train operator or route is covered by the ticket-splitting tools, so in every case it is worth checking these train regulations before travelling.

Check out our train ticket types guide.

Train split ticketing with Grand Central

Want to see if you can save some money on your next journey with Grand Central ticket splitting? Check out our app to get started or contact our friendly team for information about the different ticket types we provide.

Or contact our friendly team for further information.