Cheapest train fares from London



If you are planning a journey to us from or via London, do you know about Megatrain? It provides – if you time your application right – the very cheapest of rail fares. For certain selected trains each day, Megatrain offers limited numbers of tickets at prices starting from just £1, as long as you book well ahead. You can book London to Weymouth and Weymouth to London.

The trick is to try and book as soon as they release the tickets, 45 days before the date of travel. But if you miss the £1 deal you may still find others for £3, £5, £11 etc. – a great deal cheaper than the standard fare.

And, another great thing about the Megatrain tickets is that you can change your booking up to 24 hours in advance and it only costs 50p - unlike most low-cost advance purchase tickets. (Note: There is also a 50p admin charge for every booking.)

One snag is that they insist you go the whole distance, so no getting on or off the train except at the terminus stations: Weymouth and London Waterloo. (If you do and are caught, you could find they charge you the full standard fare – ouch!)

For the best overview of this and other ways to get cheap fares, visit MoneySavingExpert and scroll down to Hardcore Trick Number Four (I kid you not). Or you could go straight to the Megatrain site and find your own way around.

Once you get to Weymouth, of course, you can catch an X53 bus. This will drop you either by our front entrance or – if the driver declines to do that – at the next stop along (where you can phone and ask us to collect you). Megatrain usually offers seats on the service leaving London at 11.35 and arriving 14.13, which leaves you an hour before the convenient 15.15 bus to Othona. As for trains leaving Weymouth when you go home, 11.03 and 13.03 are your likely Megatrain options (the later one is easier for bus connections from Othona).

If you miss out on Megatrain, remember that Advance tickets on South West Trains usually offer much better prices than buying on the day. Again, you can buy these tickets either by phone or online. Then they can be posted to you or you can pick them up from a self-service ticket collection machine when you travel.