Rip-off rail journeys – they are the perennial gripe of commuters across Scotland. Now train companies are in the sights of a leading transport watchdog, which wants railway bosses to eradicate ticket anomalies and make prices the same for everyone.

However, clever passengers can get around rip-off rail fares by exploiting a little-known quirk of the train system in order to save a small fortune on their fares. And in case you are in the dark, then we are going to tell you how to use the loophole and make the savings yourself.

Those in the know are regularly saving up to one-third, with some saving almost 50 per cent, on the cost of the ticket by using a system called “ticket splitting”. Ticket splitting works by buying tickets for different sections of a journey, which can work out cheaper than buying one direct ticket. 

For example, a passenger travelling from Dumfries to Stirling will pay £50.90 for an anytime return ticket. However, if they were to buy a return ticket from Dumfries to Glasgow and another from Glasgow to Stirling they would only pay £26.80 – saving a massive £24.10 – and they would be able to take the same train as the customer paying the full price.

Glasgow Times:

Picking up on the absurdity of the price anomalies, the independent commuter watchdog Transport Focus wants rail companies to simplify the entire system so that passengers don’t have to “ticket split”, and make all rail fares standardised.

The ticket-splitting system works so well, a website has even been set up to help others exploit the loophole. 

Mike Richardson, founder of Trainsplit.com, is a regular ticket splitter, and said more and more people are learning how to save money on their fares. “In the past it was the train geeks who knew how to do it,” he said. “I set up the website with some guys who had some insider knowledge who were programmers, so we could turn it into a service for everyone.

“The website is really growing in popularity. As word gets out, more and more people realise there is a way to get cheaper fares than they would find on National Rail or ScotRail’s website – you don’t get splits on there.

“It’s about finding the anomalies. Certain bits of a route might not have as much demand so prices are lower, while other bits might be more popular so have higher prices. The anomalies have obviously been created by the train operators as they are looking to maximise the amount of money they get. All we’re doing is finding where there are these anomalies and showing the consumer how to take advantage of them.”

Transport Focus is pushing for fare options to be streamlined, making them the same price for everyone, not just for those clever enough to exploit the system.

Mike Hewitson, head of policy at Transport Focus, argues that fares should be the same for all passengers.

He said: “We have long argued that train operators should have to ensure that the [the cost of a single-journey ticket] should never cost more than ... fares for individual bits of the journey.”

In 2012, Transport Scotland and ScotRail vowed to tackle the fare anomalies through a fare review. However, four years later passengers are still using ticket splitting as a means of saving money.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Setting ticket fares is a matter for the ScotRail franchise holder. However, the terms of the franchise agreement state that the franchisee will continually review fare anomalies in order to remove them where possible, and will not create or agree to create any future fares that cause an anomaly.

“The franchisee is also delivering a contracted price promise scheme, whereby information on best value fares is made available and refunds are issued where a cheaper alternative can be found.”

A ScotRail spokeswoman said a fare review carried out in 2013 eradicated more than 1,500 fare inconsistencies, helping to reduce ticket splitting. 
She added it is usually cheaper for a passenger to buy a direct ticket rather than two separate tickets for the same journey. 

The spokeswoman said: “Working alongside Transport Scotland, we’re committed to tackling fare inconsistencies to ensure customers have easier access to best value rail fares.”