Title: An insider's guide to cheap rail tickets | Travel | The Guardian
Headings: An insider's guide to cheap tickets
Travel
An insider's guide to cheap tickets
Patrick Barkham
@patrick_barkham
Six journeys, six tricks
Tactics

Content: But on Tuesday, faced with a 35% rise in the rail fare from Kingston (in south-west London) to central London, I'm afraid my customary sang-froid snapped. I was furious. I would have shouted at the poor clerk at Kingston station who had to pass on the absurd news - that a peak-time fare that used to be £6.80 was now going to cost me £9.20 - but he looked so sheepish and embarrassed by the rise that I couldn't bring myself to do it. I took a complaint form from him, intending to scrawl some abusive message, but in the end decided that would be childish and pointless. I rang the rail regulator instead. The temp in reception took an age to find anyone he thought might be able to help, and when I did get through to the assistant