I paid £20 for a railcard and I’ll save £174 travelling to Manchester this year

Rail travel can prove costly, particularly if you have to travel by train quite frequently, like me. Since April alone I’ve spent more than £125 on train tickets to Manchester, so I’ve been looking at ways to cut down my costs.

With the cost of living crisis and rise of inflation, it’s never been more crucial to save money where possible, and I discovered that a railcard could help me save around £174 a year on my weekly jaunt to the city.

When I heard that Trainline were offering a third off digital railcards , just days after I’d picked up an application form from the station to order one, I’ve never hit ‘add to basket’ so quickly.

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Currently, Trainline is offering 33 per cent off digital railcards if you use the code SUMMER33 at checkout, making them just £20 instead of £30. For some people who are strapped for cash, it may still feel like a big lump sum, but it will save you nearly nine times as much if you use it just once a week.

I ordered the 16-25 railcard, which is ideal for solo travel and a convenient way to save money on train fares. Of course, there’s also the 26-30, senior railcard, 16-17 saver, a two together railcard, a family and friends railcard, and a network railcard. You can work out the best one for you here.

The 16-25 railcard can be used at any time for peak and off-peak travel, however, there’s a minimum fare of £12 between 4.30am and 10am Monday to Friday. There is no minimum fare when you travel after 10am, at weekends, on Public Holidays, or during July and August.

Luckily, I usually get a slightly later train, and calculated that I can make some huge savings throughout the year.

Travelling