Paying for a journey by public transport is now easier than ever! With a number of season tickets available in the area, contactless payments accepted on most services and even the option of purchasing and storing tickets on your smart phone you’ll find it super easy to find a payment method that suits you!
If you are a regular public transport user, make sure that you have spent some time exploring ways you could save some money. Paying on the day may be a quick and flexible option, but you could make some serious savings by buying a monthly or annual pass, or by booking your travel in advance.
Bus Ticketing
Many of the local bus services are operated by Blackpool Transport or Coastliner Buses, who both offer a range of ticketing options aimed at making your journeys as cheap as possible. They also now accept contactless payments on all of their services, which is ideal if you plan on paying for your bus journey on the day of your travel.
For further details on Coastliner Buses and Blackpool Transport tickets, including information on how to buy tickets via your smart phone, follow the links below.
PLUSBUS
If you often use the bus to travel to/from the local train stations then a PLUSBUS ticket may be for you. A Blackpool PLUSBUS ticket gives you unlimited bus travel on participating operators’ services, around the whole urban area of the Fylde, as shown by the travel maps (below). A Blackpool PLUSBUS ticket is valid on all Blackpool Transport services to/from Poulton.
National Railcard holders get 33% off and children under 16 get 50% off day ticket prices. There are also season tickets available for commuters for seven days, a month, three months and a year.
Train Tickets
Finding good value train tickets is easier than ever, with a number of great online tools available! Poulton-le-Fylde train station has a ticket machine making purchasing train tickets in person really simple. Alternatively, the Trainline or Northern Rail apps gives you the ability to purchase digital tickets to store on your smartphone, as well as giving you live journey information.
Season Tickets
If you’re making the same train journey three days per week or more, perhaps on your journey to work, then getting a regular season ticket could save you a considerable amount of money! Most season tickets of 7-days or longer can only be used by a specific person and will require a Photocard to validate them.
If you’re travelling between 2-3 days per week and need a little extra flexibility, new Flexi Season Tickets allow you to travel 8 days in 28 between specified stations, working out at 2.5 days of travel per week. The Flexi Season ticket will offer a minimum of 20% discount on an equivalent Monthly Season ticket, so definitely worth looking into if you know you’re going to be splitting your time between home and the office.
Use National Rail’s handy tool to calculate the cost of different season tickets by follow the link below.
Further Discounts
If you regularly travel by train it’s worth checking if you’re eligible for a Railcard. You could be saving 1/3 on all of your train travel!
There are a number of different concessions for seniors wishing to travel locally and nationally in England, across all types of public transport. For more information about eligibility and the concessions available check out Age UK’s guide by following the link below.