More than 1m discounted train tickets bought during sale

More than one million discounted train tickets were bought during a promotion last month, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

The total of 1.01 million tickets purchased during the Rail Sale brought in £8.73 million in sales revenue, representing an increase of more than 70% compared with a similar scheme last year.

Some of the price reductions during the seven-day promotion were in excess of 50%.

The only operators in Britain which did not participate in the sale were Hull Trains, Lumo and Merseyrail.

The most popular route was from London Euton to Manchester Piccadilly, with around 18,000 tickets bought.

That was followed by London King’s Cross to York (around 12,000 tickets), Canterbury West to London Bridge (around 11,000 tickets), Cambridge to London Bridge (around 11,000 tickets) and London King’s Cross to Leeds (around 9,000 tickets).

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “This Rail Sale was the biggest one yet with millions of pounds saved by passengers, putting more money back in people’s pockets as part of our Plan for Change.

“This was about getting people back on the railways and supporting growth across the UK, and with nearly twice as many tickets sold as last year that’s exactly what it’s done.

“Initiatives like this mean more people can experience the wonderful things that the UK has to offer.”

Train fares will rise across England from March 2.

The DfT set a cap of 4.6% for increases in regulated fares, such as season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance routes and flexible tickets for travel around major cities.

The level of rises in unregulated fares is decided by operators, although these are likely to increase by a similar amount as their finances are closely controlled by the DfT.

All ScotRail fares in Scotland will increase by 3.8% from April 1.

No announcement on fare rises has been made by the Welsh Government.