off the track

Trying to get some train tickets the other day I went through the usual hassle of looking up prices on line, going through the myriad complications of considering the pros and cons of booking a particular train but what happens if you miss it in the end the cheapest fare was £77. Luckily I didn't buy them on line but got them at the station where the very helpful member of staff found a better price of £43 !  The irony being that had they said £100 I would have accepted that as the price of not booking in advance. 

I love travelling on railways - especially for long journeys, avoiding parking etc but it seems to me the railways operators are doing their very best to put me off. Indeed, passenger journeys are at high levels and some lines at or near capacity at peak times. All of which means the companies have little incentive to encourage people to travel. 

If one looks at season tickets one might expect that buying a month would be cheaper than buying a week, 3 months cheaper than a month, 6 months cheaper than 3 months and a year cheaper than 6 months.   You will soon conclude that the only advantage of buying a longer period is that you don't have the hassle of renewing your season ticket.