Hi everyone! It’s Denise again, coming to you from my humble abode. This post is going to be about the rail, because you might or might not know how the trains function here in the UK. I’m splitting this into 4 sections: railcard, tickets, trains and do’s/don’ts, just to help you through this LONG POST.
Railcard
Now then, you probably won’t have your railcard immediately when you arrive in the UK, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply for one. Apply for it here.
The process should be rather simple. It doesn’t ask for much information. However, you have to be between the ages of 16 and 25 to apply for this, that’s why it’s called the 16-25 railcard. Now obviously you must be wondering, why the heck should I get this? The reason, dear, is simple. You will probably end up travelling A LOT. You might decide to take weekend trips with your friends to go see various parts of the UK. You might join a sport and make the team and represent your Uni, meaning that you have to go for competitions at venues around the UK. You might decide to visit close family friends/relatives around the UK often. You might decide to follow your British friends back to their homes. Whatever it is, you will probably, no- DEFINITELY travel by train.
York is quite a big station, which means that there are regular trains to London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham and other big and some small stations. The nice thing is that most of the time, these destinations are 2 hours away. But the railcard doesn’t really serve any purpose here.
The 16-25 railcard comes in when you’re paying for your ticket. A typical day return to Manchester can cost upwards of £30. If you book with a railcard, you can get the same ticket at around £24. (Yes, I just tried booking the trains) If you book in advance, say a month in advance, you can get singles for almost half-price. Imagine travelling around the UK for the next 3 years. You’ll save a lot of money with this railcard.
Now then, you can choose to pay for the railcard a year at a time, but if you apply online, you should be able to apply for the one that lasts for 3 years. Sounds unbelievable right? I got the one for 3 years, believe me, it’s worth the money.
In short, GET A RAILCARD.
Tickets
So obviously you shouldn’t be riding a train without a ticket. There are several ways you can get a ticket.
Buy one in advance. This is usually the most common way of buying tickets because it is usually the cheapest. You can book it through the various rail companies, or if you want to make it easier for yourself, book it through trainline.com. Note that you’ll need to pay a booking fee of 50p I think. When you purchase the ticket, you will need to either print the ticket yourself, or, with the reference number and the card that you used to pay for the ticket, collect your tickets from the self-service machine at the station. Some stations don’t have the self-service machines, so keep that in mind when buying tickets originating at small/obscure stations. York has plenty of machines so you’ll be fine.
Buy it from the self-service machine at the station. If you’re faced with this decision, then you are probably travelling due to some emergency or you just forgot to book in advance. Just buy a ticket, whichever type you need and pay using card. If you’re paying by cash, sometimes paying at the ticketing counters (those manned by people) will be better for you. Alternatively, York station has self-service machines that take cash and are located outside the self-service area. They are opposite the information counter, if that helps. Note that this machine is a devil and will give you £12 change in £1 coins.
Buy it from the train conductor. This is the most undesirable way of getting tickets. You pay full price for the tickets you buy from the conductor. I’ve had to do that once because, after a weekend competition, there wasn’t enough time to buy a ticket on the platform so I just jumped on the train along with my team. We all ended up paying full price for the tickets just because the competition ended late. Just tell the conductor what ticket you wish to purchase and everything will be good.
But wait wait wait. Then how do I use my railcard?
Easy. As you are booking your tickets, there will be an option right at the beginning to select a railcard. For trainline.com, it’s right at the beginning under “Add railcard”. At the ticketing machine, there is a button at the bottom of the screen that says “Add railcard”. If at the ticketing counter, or if you are purchasing a ticket from the conductor, just show him your railcard. Your railcard should be with you at all times when you travel. The price will automatically change once you have indicated that you have a 16-25 railcard. Please select the right railcard…
Okay, but how do I know what ticket to get?
Darg… Here’s where it gets a little bit complicated.
Single. Singles are just one-way tickets. You pay for the train to take you to XYZ station. Singles are usually bought from the conductor, or on the day of travel at the self-service machine.
Advanced Singles. Advanced Singles are singles that are booked in advance, duh. You usually buy them when booking tickets online. Advanced Single tickets means that the ticket is only valid for that train at that time on that specific route that you booked. So if you booked a 1745 train to Manchester Airport on the Transpennine Express, then you can only take this train. This is usually the most common ticket you will book because you’ll have your itinerary planned so you can book which trains you want in advance. Booking 2 Advanced singles (there and back, duh) is usually, if not always, cheaper than getting returns.
Anytime Day single. This is a single for you to travel at any time of the day. I don’t know why you would want this, but yeah.
Off-peak day return. This type of ticket is usually for people who are taking day trips to a certain place. For example, going to Leeds to shop for a whole day (not that I did anything like that before… AHEM AHEM >.>) This ticket is valid for any off-peak train. If you are travelling during Christmas or Easter or any other major holiday, don’t get this ticket because these are peak travel times. This ticket means you get to travel to XYZ place and return back to York on the same day on any off-peak train. I usually buy this when I take day trips and don’t know how long I want to stay there for.
Anytime day return. This ticket is exactly what it says. You usually wouldn’t buy this.
Off-peak return. This ticket is valid for any off-peak train, as long as you return within 1 month. So if you buy this ticket and are travelling to London, You can go to London, but the ticket is valid for 1 month after you get to London.
Anytime return. You can use this ticket for any freaking train at any freaking time so long as you return in 1 month.
Standard class. Just means normal train. You ride in a normal carriage. There is a window and and aisle seat, and then the aisle, and then another aisle and window seat.
First class. If you want to travel in style. First usually means you get a seat to yourself. No pesky weirdo next to you, falling asleep on your shoulder or whatever.
Trains
Right. You should arrive at the station around 10-20 minutes before your train is due to leave (yes, the timing printed on your ticket is the time that the train LEAVES the platform). This gives you enough time to collect your tickets from the self-service machine as there is sometimes a queue, or grab food, go to the toilet, find your platform which can be quite a hassle at bigger stations.
When you get to the station, you should always check the board/screen for your train. Note that there may be several trains leaving the station at the same time that may even go to the same place, so it’s important to check your ticket to see if you are limited to any routes. Chances are you’ve probably booked advanced singles, so your ticket is actually limited to the train that you booked it for. Don’t just look for the stop that you are getting off at, take note of which stations your train calls at (i.e. which stations does it stop at). Note which station your train terminates as well. For example, if you are taking a train from Manchester Airport, the train usually calls at Manchester Piccadilly, Huddersfield, Leeds and finally York. Once you’ve identified your train, just wait at the platform for your train to arrive.
Now then, when the train arrives, check that you are actually getting on the right train! Especially in the evening, train delays actually stack up so much so that trains that were supposed to leave earlier actually only arrive on the platform at the time that your later train was due to arrive. As such, always look out for where the train is headed. Use your powers of observation. At the front of the train, there will be a small little screen that displays the terminal station, which is why I say it’s important to note which station the train service terminates. A group of us actually wound up in the countryside after getting on the wrong train from Leeds, but thankfully we got the last train back to York.
Now then, once you’ve gotten on the right train, you should look for your seat. If you have booked tickets in advance, then you should have reserved a seat (for no extra charge, so hooray! 😀 😀 😀 ). Look for your coach and your seat. If someone is sitting in your seat, which might happen, just politely tell them that this is your seat and that you have reserved it. Trust me, you don’t want to stand on the train. It’s not like the MRT.
But wait… WHAT IF YOU DIDN’T RESERVE A SEAT? Just board the train, don’t worry. Just don’t go to the first class section and you’ll be fine. Look out for little slips of paper that the train company sticks onto the seats, or for Cross Country trains, look at the little screen above the seats that tells you if the seat is reserved. If the seats aren’t reserved, then you can take it. Typically the seats will be reserved by people, but there is a very good chance that said people will not turn up for reasons unknown to you and I. The slip of paper/screen will display which stations they are reserved for. For example, if you are taking a train from York to Edinburgh, it might say something like “London Kings Cross—Peterborough York—Darlington Berwick-upon-Tweed—Edinburgh”. This just means that someone else has reserved the seat, got on at Kings Cross, then got off at Peterborough, then someone else gets on at York and has reserved the seat from York to Darlington, and the same for the last 2 stations. Which means that from Darlington to Bewick-upon-Tweed, the seat is free and you can rest your tired legs in this seat. Alternatively, just look for seats that are free. Of course you could just scrap all that and just sit down anyway. If the person turns up then you just have bad luck. Alternatively, wait till the train leaves the platform. If the seat is still empty, then take the seat, there’s a good chance that guy is a no-show, or he might just be walking up and down the carriages looking for his seat. Whatever it is, unless the train is super packed and bloody crowded (which does happen, mind you) you’re probably able to find a seat. If it is slightly full, you might have to swap between seats. If it is bloody packed, and I’ve experienced this on many occasions (mostly Sunday evenings), you’ll just have to make do with standing. I will say, I’ve had the experience of half-squatting outside the toilet on a train back from a tournament in Huddersfield simply because the train was so packed that there was literally no room left to stand, but the whole team was suffering together so it was fun while it lasted.
And of course, at some point in time, the train conductor will come along. Even if the train is packed like sardines in a can, he will still squeeze his way past you. You will need to let him check your tickets. When he comes along, just give him your tickets, and if you’ve used a railcard to get cheaper tickets, you will need to present that as well. If you don’t have a ticket, now is the time to buy one off him. Show him your railcard so you don’t pay actual full price, but just the discounted full price. 😛
At some other point in time, the trolley will come along. You watched Harry Potter? Yeah, the lady with the trolley full of goodies? Yeah, same thing here. The trolleys usually have water, soda, coffee, tea, snacks and sandwiches, so if you feel peckish, feel free to order something.
Do’s and don’ts
Always be polite. Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, even if you aren’t actually sincere. The conductors are still people and they are quite tired. Make their day more pleasant and don’t make your day miserable. Kind words make everyone happy.
Don’t talk in quiet coaches. Sometimes, if the train is very packed, you will end up on a quiet coach. Be considerate and put your phone to silent and don’t talk so loudly. On normal coaches it’s awkward enough having two old ladies yapping away about their grandsons, but on a quiet coach, it’s just rude.
Don’t panic if you’ve missed your train. Get on whichever train that will still take you to where you need to be. When you get on, pretend like you know your shit. Note that you would probably have lost your reservation because you’re taking a different train, so just take an available seat, or follow my above advice on sitting in reserved seats. When the conductor comes round, hand him your ticket. He might not notice that you’re on the wrong train, in which case, yippee for you. If, with very little probability, he does notice and asks, explain to the conductor nicely that you’ve missed your train. Make up something really heart wrenching, like you fell and missed the bus or something. Don’t tell him you were out drinking last night and overslept. He or she will be very understanding. Look really pathetic and pitiful and they’ll just let it slide. There has only been 1 time that someone I know has been asked to buy a new ticket. Many times conductors don’t even bother asking, and even if they do they usually let it slide.
Get to the platform slightly earlier. The time printed on your ticket, say, 1438, is the time that the train leaves the platform, which means that you should be getting there at least at 1433, if not earlier. This gives you enough wiggle room so you don’t end up in an Old West film, with you, as the protagonist, running desperately after your train. But the thrill of jumping on the train as the doors close is something I don’t regret experiencing, especially with your beloved teammates.
If there is an empty seat next to someone, ask him/her if it’s taken. Sometimes, couples/friends like to sit together, so even if both seats are available, they might decide to sit together and one of them probably went to the toilet. Ask if the seat is taken before you claim that territory with your butt.
Don’t sit in First class coaches if you’ve bought a Standard ticket. It makes you look like a sotong.
So there is is, really. More or less everything you need to know to take the train. Again, questions can be directed to the comments section or email!
~:Denise
Comentários