The cost-of-living crisis is very real and no doubt you’ve seen at least some of your costs soar significantly. At TLC, we are keen to help passengers get the best value for money out of the railway.
Rail fares are too complicated and too expensive. So, we have done the hard work and have a found a way you may be able to offset the March 2023 price hike. As with everything, there are a million different ticket combinations and so you may be able to save more but we think lots of people can benefit from the tip that follows.
This tip uses the Network Railcard. Anyone can get a Network Railcard, but some passengers can get other railcards which may offer an even better detail. For a guide on all the railcards available, please read our excellent guide on railcards here.
A Network Railcard costs of £30 a year (you might also want to check cashback sites – I’ve ordered my railcard with 3.75% cashback via Quidco).
Before ordering one, you’ll need to work out your daily savings and see if it’s worth paying £30. For example, if you save £1 a day then you’ll need to do at least 30 journey’s a year to break even. There are so many combinations, but we’ve looked at some standard journeys later in this article.
If you use the train for more than just peak time commuting then a Network Railcard offers a lot of other benefits, which should be factored in. You’ll receive a third off all fares when travelling after 10am, subject to a minimum fare of £13 on weekdays. At weekends this minimum fare does not apply, so you can even use it if popping over to Tunbridge Wells on the train!
How having a Network Railcard saves on commuting in the rush hour
Generally, Network Railcards are promoted as allowing passenger to save money on leisure journeys rather than commuting. However, on Southeastern there are no peak fares in the evening, only in the mornings. This means that you can save money by buying a peak single for your morning journey and then an off-peak single for your journey back in the evening and discounting the off-peak single to £13 using the Network Railcard. Both tickets can be bought at the same time (for example, at a ticket office in the morning).
Most common journey guide and savings
This guide assumes that you travel in the morning peak and come back in the evening of the same day (or earlier on the same day, if you wish). The savings for our stations are substantial, but our friends further out may save even more.
| Journey | Standard Return (no railcard) | Peak morning single | Off Peak evening single with Network Railcard | Total Cost with Network Railcard | Daily Saving |
| Tonbridge to London Terminals | £37.10 | £20.20 | £13.00 | £33.20 | £3.90 |
| Hildenborough to London Terminals | £34.20 | £18.40 | £13.00 | £31.40 | £2.80 |
| Paddock Wood to London Terminals | £40.30 | £22.20 | £13.00 | £35.20 | £5.10 |
For this to work, the single fare needs to be more than £13. For a journey such as Edenbridge to Tonbridge (£8.60 return) it doesn’t help.
For those who travel up to London and use the Tube with zone 1, it will usually work out cheaper to use this method to get you to your London Terminal and then to use contactless/Oyster on the Tube.
My personal experience
I have ordered a Network Railcard and will be using this on my twice a week commute from Hildenborough to London Terminals. I found their railcard website to be quite fiddly and it initially told me that I wasn’t eligible for a card, which is incorrect. Our railcards page has a direct to buy link, which hopefully makes it easier.
I’ve worked out that at a cost of £30 and a saving per day of £2.80, it’ll take just 11 journeys to break even, which for me is just over a month. If I use the card at weekends with my wife and kids, the savings could come even quicker. I think this is infinitely better than the (in)flexible season ticket, which ties you into 8 journeys over 28 days.
If you give this a go, please let us know how you get on. The saving on a Tonbridge to London Terminals ticket is essentially the cost of a year’s membership with TLC! If you’ve got value from this page and would like to support our work, please consider becoming a member through our membership page.