Going to London by train from Melksham? Heard that it's expensive? Well it can be - but it can be cheaper too if you don't need full peak flexibility.

An anytime return ticket - allowing you to travel to and from London via Swindon (back within a month) costs [82][c2]ã160.00. You'll save money by buying single tickets each way if you're going peak one way and off peak the other - Singles are [82][c2]ã80 anytime, [82][c2]ã37.90 off peak and [82][c2]ã29.70 super off peak.
Superoffpeak from Melksham is valid on the 10:03 and later trains (Monday to Friday) and any time on Saturday or Sunday. Returning on the 19:00 from Paddington to connect into the last train to Melksham on a Monday to Friday is offpeak - you'll need to come back in the middle of the day to travel superoffpeak in that direction on the train to Melksham.

Melksham is outside the railways's "South East" area, and there are no day return fares available to London. However, if you're travelling out and back on the same day you can get a day return fare to a station just inside the South East zone, and another day return from there to London. If you're going to do this, the rule is that you must travel on a train that calls at the "Spltting" station - the best choice is usually Didcot Parkway. An anytime day return from Melksham to Didcot costs [82][c2]ã47.60, and a day return from Didcot to London [82][c2]ã60.00 - so if you're doing a day trip to London, peak both ways, you can save [82][c2]ã52.40 over what you would pay travelling "up" one day and "down" a few days later.

Using Advance tickets (specific train tickets bought ahead of time), Groupsave (3 or more adult fares together - 34% reduction), railcards (available for many groups, and "Network Railcard" available to all in the South East area - http://www.network-railcard.co.uk ) you may find that you can make further savings - please ask for help if you would like help to cost a specific journey. A superoffpeak period return costs [82][c2]ã51.00, but for a day trip for 1 person you can cut that to [82][c2]ã39.70, or [82][c2]ã32.30 with a Network Railcard. And provided that you stick to the conditions on each ticket, all of these suggestions are allowed - indeed why should you pay for a more expensive anytime return if you're coming back offpeak?

Data checked 21st June 2015. All tickets (except "Advance") can be purchased on the day / at your departure station or on joining the train if no ticket sales facility is available.
(written 2015-06-21, updated 2015-06-24)

 

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