Sky-High Train Fares Keep Me From Seeing My Family – And It’s Getting Worse

Scrolling through the timetable, my eyes began to water at the price of a return ticket.

There was a period when a trip lasting 2.5 hours took place from London Paddington to my hometown of Malvern would have only set me back £38.80.

Now though, that identical trip was poised to expense somewhere in the range of £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.

Exactly as expected, in March, prices went up by 4.6%, making something that was already extremely expensive even less affordable. now become extortionate .

One service provider was pricing returns as high as £226 at any time. A solo journey permit allowing travel only during non-busy hours cost £103, excluding discounts from a railcard. This made me want to weep.

Unintentionally, I then found myself daydreaming about all the times I’d managed to get tickets for less.

I remember scoring tickets for just £9 using National Rail’s 'Cheapest Fare Finder' tool. However, that option has become extinct like the dodo bird and now rests alongside reasonably priced fares in the railway tomb.

Even tickets from last year were priced at just £45 – quite a steal compared to today’s prices.

It comes as no surprise that, over the years, I've depended on all the ways to snag more affordable tickets .

Cashback, splitting tickets, and using my 26-30 Railcard have often been saviors for me. I've also considered avoiding train travel completely and opted to use coaches solely during the past summer.

Nevertheless, the savings were minimal, trips took much longer, and they did not lead me close to my family, leaving me right back at square one.

Even with recent reductions in discounts and an additional £5 price hike, my railcard brought the cost of a super off-peak return ticket down to £77.90 — it was progress, yet still beyond what I could afford at the time.

Eager for a miracle, I subsequently took it out. all my tricks and trawled multiple websites from Trainline, TrainPal, and SplitMyFare, to bring the cost down further.

Locating the most affordable deal feels akin to navigating a labyrinth, where every website presents varying costs, terms, and paths. Similarly, taking detours through slower pathways via Birmingham, which promised slight reductions, turned out to be futile since part of the journey was blocked due to maintenance work.

Unfortunately, none of the options got me any closer to a fairer price, so I missed out on seeing my family.

I needed to decide whether to visit them or attend a specialist hospital appointment I'd been anticipating for two years, scheduled for the upcoming week in Bath—a trip that cost me £58 round-trip using TrainPal with 3x split tickets and included my railcard discount.

This is turning into a recurring issue. And I'm worried that if we keep going down this path, I won’t be able to manage traveling anymore.

That's really devastating since I enjoy traveling by train so much.

It not only provides me with a creative refuge and precious moments for contemplation — I have penned articles and composed music during my travels before — but it can also serve as therapy.

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.

However, nowadays, every trip seems like an indulgence. A recent message from a friend succinctly encapsulated both my sentiment and the dilemma: “Every time I travel, I feel cheated,” they mentioned. “The money I shell out for train fares could easily cover a luxurious vacation.”

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.

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Consequently, each year goes by and I find myself seeing my family less frequently. Instead of watching my nieces and nephews mature right before my eyes, I now experience their growth through digital platforms like FaceTime and Facebook. Our interactions feel akin to those between people who live far away in different nations, even though we're merely a short train journey from one another.

It's frustrating, and yet, I suspect, circumstances are soon going to deteriorate further.

As my railcard expiration date approaches, my final opportunity for 'affordable' journeys is soon departing.

I've already reduced spending everywhere possible just to make ends meet, but soon I won't even be able to afford the cheapest available ride. This isn't fair.

Like many, I welcome nationalisation plans , but they should occur earlier. We need cheaper fares now.

I simply wish that, upon our meeting, my niece will be anxiously anticipating me as my train arrives at the station.

Would you like to share your story? Reach out via email for more details. jess.austin@.co.uk .

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