Is The Rail Sale Such A Good Idea?

[Envoy]

I see that over the next few days there is a Rail Sale.

Is it such a good idea to induce the public to purchase tickets for travel between 13 January and 25 March when nobody knows that far in advance what the weather will be like?

For example, tomorrow (8 January & Friday 9 January 2026), it looks like a storm is coming which will no doubt cause significant disruption with winds, rain & snow. Surely the last thing the railway needs is passengers who have pre-booked weeks previously to travel during such storms or in the days after while things get back to normal?

The risk of bad weather must also be putting many people off from buying the Sale Rail tickets so far in advance.

I contend that it would have been better to offer reduced fares right up to the day of departure, when the rail industry and passengers would have known what weather was expected.

 

[mickey]

Storms closing the network are very much the exception rather than the rule, and are minor in the grand scheme of things. On the other hand, filling extra seats at a generally quiet time of year, plus a halo of publicity promoting the railway at relatively low cost, is generally a good thing. Applying it to last-minute sales would dilute rather than stimulate revenue.

 

[Halwynd]

I see that over the next few days there is a Rail Sale. Is it such a good idea to induce the public to purchase tickets for travel between 13 January and 25 March when nobody knows that far in advance what the weather will be like? For example, tomorrow (8 January & Friday 9 January 2026), it looks like a storm is coming which will no doubt cause significant disruption with winds, rain & snow. Surely the last thing the railway needs is passengers who have pre-booked weeks previously to travel during such storms or in the days after while things get back to normal? The risk of bad weather must also be putting many people off from buying the Sale Rail tickets so far in advance.

I contend that it would have been better to offer reduced fares right up to the day of departure when the rail industry and passengers would have known what weather was expected.

I completely agree. I don't buy Advance tickets at all and, at least for leisure purposes, weather can be a factor. They also become even more restrictive when things go belly up on the railway. If Off Peak Returns or Day Returns had been included I would undoubtably have travelled by rail between now and the end of March for a few days out. As things stand, I have no plans to do so.

 

[Angmering1974]

The risk of bad weather must also be putting many people off from buying the Sale Rail tickets so far in advance.

Probably far outweighed by the people making journeys they otherwise couldn't afford, and people generally desperate to save all they can off travel costs, and the people willing to take the risk (who'd be mostly be in the right)

 

[AlterEgo]

I see that over the next few days there is a Rail Sale. Is it such a good idea to induce the public to purchase tickets for travel between 13 January and 25 March when nobody knows that far in advance what the weather will be like? For example, tomorrow (8 January & Friday 9 January 2026), it looks like a storm is coming which will no doubt cause significant disruption with winds, rain & snow. Surely the last thing the railway needs is passengers who have pre-booked weeks previously to travel during such storms or in the days after while things get back to normal? The risk of bad weather must also be putting many people off from buying the Sale Rail tickets so far in advance.

I contend that it would have been better to offer reduced fares right up to the day of departure when the rail industry and passengers would have known what weather was expected.

That's really an argument to limit sales for tomorrow, not in March.

 

[Hadders]

Where do you draw the line? Disruption happens in summer due to the heat, in autumn due to leaves, in winter due to storms etc. that’s before disruption due to signalling, breakdowns etc that sometimes happens.

The sale primarily uses Advance tickets to help manage the number of tickets available and the customer loadings on trains.

I don’t know if it’s revenue positive for the railway but in retail it’s quite normal to run loss (or near loss making) special offers from time to time.

 

[NER1621]

Frankly, it’s more the fact that the railway thinks I’m going to commit myself to a completely inflexible ticket two months in advance just because “it’s a sale” which makes this of no interest. If I had a journey already planned and in the diary then I’d take advantage - so all that the sale has achieved in that case is depriving the railway of revenue. As it happens, I do have one, but my return leg is on yet *another* of the Saturdays when Kings Cross is closed for this never-ending engineering work, so I need a flexible off-peak single to give me the option of using the MML, and they aren’t in the sale.

 

[Envoy]

Well, it’s good to read that some people agree with me and will not commit to pre-booking trips for weeks ahead just because of a ‘Rail Sale’. I certainly would not want to drag out on a cold and wet day in the future just because I have a pre booked rail ticket. What’s more, you have to be on specific trains so if you wish to return home early (or later) you can’t and have to hang around (or rush) for your particular service. These restrictions do nothing to encourage new leisure customers. I will be sticking to the flexibility of my car.

I suspect that people who would have made future journeys in any case are making Rail Sale bookings and thus reducing the income that the industry would have received.

 

[AlterEgo]

Well, it’s good to read that some people agree with me and will not commit to pre-booking trips for weeks ahead just because of a ‘Rail Sale’. I certainly would not want to drag out on a cold and wet day in the future just because I have a pre booked rail ticket. What’s more, you have to be on specific trains so if you wish to return home early (or later) you can’t and have to hang around (or rush) for your particular service. These restrictions do nothing to encourage new leisure customers. I will be sticking to the flexibility of my car.

I suspect that people who would have made future journeys in any case are making Rail Sale bookings and thus reducing the income that the industry would have received.

"The Rail Sale doesn't appeal to me personally so it must be bad for everyone and in fact will lose the railway money". Totally unfounded wibble.

 

[The exile]

Well, it’s good to read that some people agree with me and will not commit to pre-booking trips for weeks ahead just because of a ‘Rail Sale’. I certainly would not want to drag out on a cold and wet day in the future just because I have a pre booked rail ticket. What’s more, you have to be on specific trains so if you wish to return home early (or later) you can’t and have to hang around (or rush) for your particular service. These restrictions do nothing to encourage new leisure customers. I will be sticking to the flexibility of my car.

I suspect that people who would have made future journeys in any case are making Rail Sale bookings and thus reducing the income that the industry would have received.

That’s a bit like criticising DFS for marking down white sofas by 80% because you’d never buy one because they stain too easily.
Some people who would be making future journeys are getting them a lot cheaper (but being steered onto less busy trains, one assumes) but certainly to judge by the onboard conversations I was hearing yesterday, others are making /planning additional journeys.

 

[campdave]

I've booked several journeys I wouldn't otherwise have made because of the sale, and my partner's brother has booked an extra trip to visit his mum because of the cheap fares.

It's a shame it doesn't suit all people, but I've certainly benefitted from it and try to do so every year.

 

[Snow1964]

We had been mulling a UK city break and have booked one for midweek later in January. Only booked it because of the sale

We had considered also booking weekend away but on the dates we picked every single option we looked at involved a rail replacement bus for part of at least one leg of the journey. And like many if it is a RRB we will always drive instead.

So that brings up a variation of Ops theme, why hold a sale to try and get new travellers, when can't provide a diverted train instead of dreaded rail replacement bus.

 

[317 forever]

For my social evening out in Manchester later this month, I have booked singles each way from Heaton Chapel, for £1 each! The cheapest rail fares I have paid for many years.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

For my social evening out in Manchester later this month, I have booked singles each way from Heaton Chapel, for £1 each! The cheapest rail fares I have paid for many years.

Decent enough that! What's the normal Off Peak Day Single fare? Something like £2.70, but with Metrolink Zone 1 validity included?

 

[Trainman40083]

Unless it has changed, the sale only really included trains that had enough spare capacity on a regular basis. You really wouldn't want to offer discount fares for a train that is normally full of people paying normal fares.. I suspect there is some disappointment from some that they can't travel on every train at any time of their choosing.

 

[317 forever]

Decent enough that! What's the normal Off Peak Day Single fare? Something like £2.70, but with Metrolink Zone 1 validity included?

Yes, £2.70 off-peak single with Metrolink Z1 or £2.00 normal advance single without.

 

[Starmill]

A crucial reason for applying a booking deadline of three or seven days is that they want people travelling on business to use expensive tickets. Most business travel needs aren't firmed up in time to commit to a non-refundable ticket seven days out, and certainly not the several months in advance. Of course there will be some outliers where the expenses policy is so tight-fisted this is the only way to make the journey.

 

[James H]

The sale has prompted me to switch some planned journeys from Flixbus to rail

 

[xotGD]

I save on my commute by buying Advances, usually a couple of weeks ahead of time. I'm saving even more with the Rail Sale.

Even if I end up not using my tickets sometimes (it happens) I'm still quids in compared to purchasing on the day when all the low price Advances have gone.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I save on my commute by buying Advances, usually a couple of weeks ahead of time. I'm saving even more with the Rail Sale.

Is the main idea behind this latest 'Rail Sale' to enable folk to save money on their commuting (albeit it's good for those that can), or is it more to get 'bums on seats' on relatively lightly loaded services, rather than carting fresh air around half the day?

 

[Joe Paxton]

Let me posit an alternative complaint about the Rail Sale...

Tickets should not have gone on sale on a Tuesday (or any weekday) morning, but instead have been released on a Saturday or even a Sunday, and perhaps not even in the morning but say maybe in the middle of the day...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I can’t add much to the discussion but in general , sales like this are usually considered good marketing. I think they are a good idea. Anything that puts railways in a positive light is good as far as I am concerned.

 

[Bald Rick]

It never ceases to amaze me some contributors’ incapability of seeing beyond their own experiences or opinions. That the rail sale doesn’t attract them does not mean it doesn’t attract anyone.

I don’t know if it’s revenue positive for the railway but in retail it’s quite normal to run loss (or near loss making) special offers from time to time.

It is revenue positive.

 

[Magdalia]

It is revenue positive.

Am I right in recalling, possibly from one of your previous posts, that the period between New Year and Easter is usually the quietest time of the year for rail travel?

If so, then, from an economic perspective, now is the best time of the year for a promotion such as this.

 

[Bald Rick]

Am I right in recalling, possibly from one of your previous posts, that the period between New Year and Easter is usually the quietest time of the year for rail travel?

If so, then, from an economic perspective, now is the best time of the year for a promotion such as this.

January is certainly the quietest time for long distance traffic. And February is only 90% of a full month most years

 

[The Planner]

Is the main idea behind this latest 'Rail Sale' to enable folk to save money on their commuting (albeit it's good for those that can), or is it more to get 'bums on seats' on relatively lightly loaded services, rather than carting fresh air around half the day?

This. Any extra revenue during a lower usage period is better than none. Hence why TOCs want NR to flood it with engineering work if they can.

 

[Mikey C]

It's a quiet time of year for leisure travel, and encourages people to take extra journeys.

And if by the time my February or March journey comes around, and the weather is atrocious or something comes up, well then I just will write off the small cost of the ticket. So the railway gets free money.

 

[xotGD]

Is the main idea behind this latest 'Rail Sale' to enable folk to save money on their commuting (albeit it's good for those that can), or is it more to get 'bums on seats' on relatively lightly loaded services, rather than carting fresh air around half the day?

I would have assumed the latter, but then they offer tickets for £1.10 on services arriving and departing Leeds in the morning and evening peaks, respectively.

 

[Envoy]

It's a quiet time of year for leisure travel, and encourages people to take extra journeys.

And if by the time my February or March journey comes around, and the weather is atrocious or something comes up, well then I just will write off the small cost of the ticket. So the railway gets free money.

And people who have pre-booked ahead risk losing their money due to bad weather or even the fact that they may be ill. (Surely the last thing the railway wants is ill people spending germs on trains but making pre-booked journeys so as not to lose money).

 

[Dr Day]

Is it really a ‘sale’ or just a national promotion of the bottom tiers of advances, which may have been available anyway, subject to usual yield management algorithms?