
Train tickets are set to be slashed by as much as half as the Government looks to address cost-of-living pressures with cheaper travel in April and May.
In what is being dubbed the Great British Rail Sale, the Transport Secretary said more than one million train tickets would be reduced this spring.
The Department for Transport (DfT) is hoping the move will help hard-pressed households, facing rising bills and soaring inflation, to afford trips across the UK and boost domestic tourism.
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The sale, said to be the first of its kind, is expected to bring some Manchester to Newcastle journeys down to a little over ยฃ10, while seats on some London to Edinburgh services will be slashed from ยฃ44 to ยฃ22.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, referring to the end of coronavirus restrictions in a video to advertise the sale, said: โWeโve had two years of living life virtually.
โIt is time to get real and visit our beautiful country.โ
Discounted tickets will go on sale from Tuesday, April 19, with passengers eligible to travel for less on off-peak fares between April 25 and May 27.
Officials said offering half-price rail tickets was โone of the waysโ the Government was helping to support families with the cost of living, having previously announced measures to defer energy costs and offer council tax discounts for some households.
Tickets were set to be available on selected advance fares from 10 am, with passengers able to purchase them from the National Rail website, the Rail Delivery Group said.
In a statement, Mr Shapps said: โFor the first time ever, operators across the rail industry are coming together to help passengers facing rising costs of living by offering up to 50% off more than a million tickets on journeys across Britain.
โThereโs no better time to visit friends, family or just explore our great country, so book your tickets today.โ
Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said: โWe want everyone to be able to benefit from travelling by train because itโs more than just a journey, itโs a way to connect everyone to the people, places and things they love.
โAs part of the Great British Rail Sale customers will enjoy over one million discounted tickets, so they can explore some of the fantastic locations that are accessible by rail.โ
Other journey savings expected include a single from York to Leeds being reduced to ยฃ2.80 from ยฃ5.60, London to Cardiff being cut from ยฃ47 to ยฃ25 and Portsmouth Harbour to Penzance going down to ยฃ22 from ยฃ45.70.
The DfT said reforms to the rail sector through the so-called Williams-Shapps plan for rail will mean that network-wide sales of tickets should be able to take place more easily in the future.
Labourโs shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the discounts this spring will be โsmall comfort to passengersโ after years of โsoaring faresโ.
โA decade of brutal Tory fare hikes have priced people off our railways,โ she said.
โThis temporary respite will be small comfort to passengers who had thousands taken out of their pockets from soaring fares since 2010.
โAnd the decision to end the sale just before half-term will mean many families face the same punishing costs over the holidays.
โWorking people are facing the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, and the Conservatives have chosen to hike up taxes and reject a windfall tax on the soaring profits of oil and gas giants.
โLabour would help working people โ with a fully-funded plan to cut up to ยฃ600 off of household bills.โ