The Know Daily - Thursday 18 January 2024

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The winning images from the fifth Close-up Photographer of the Year competition - which “celebrates close-up, macro, and micro photography” across 11 categories - have been chosen. One of our faves is Simon Theuma’s Dreamtime (see below), but the entire selection is well worth a gander.

🎫 Unfair fares 

Passengers are being charged twice as much for tickets purchased from train station machines compared to those bought online, new research from Which? has revealed.

Go on…
The consumer advice group Which? found that train fares bought online are cheaper around three-quarters of the time, with same-day tickets 52% more expensive on average when bought from a machine. 

There are “several factors” behind why tickets may be more expensive at machines, said the BBC. “Some may not offer cheaper advance fares or split-ticketing, or make off-peak fares less visible.” 

Give us an example. 
Which? sent mystery shoppers to 15 stations across England - each run by a different train operator - and checked the price of 75 journeys from ticket machines against those on Trainline. 

Perhaps the most eye-watering difference was a same-day, one-way ticket from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire to London. The fare cost £66 from a machine compared with £26 from Trainline, for a journey at a similar time of day. 

Why does this matter? 
The editor of the Which? Travel magazine called the price differences “simply astounding”, noting that those without internet access would have little choice but to pay the higher fares. 

Last autumn, the government U-turned on its plans to close the vast majority of staffed rail ticket offices following a “huge outcry”, said The Independent. Nevertheless, just one in six of the 1,766 stations controlled by the government currently has a full-time ticket office - meaning that many rail travellers are still reliant on using ticket machines.

MoneySavingExpert has this useful guide to finding the cheapest train tickets.