Commuters pay the price

I WOULD like to draw your readers attention to the fact that they may well be seriously out of pocket if they try to purchase advance tickets from Audley End railway station. I had to take a day trip to Leeds from Audley End and went a week in advance t

I WOULD like to draw your readers' attention to the fact that they may well be seriously out of pocket if they try to purchase advance tickets from Audley End railway station.

I had to take a day trip to Leeds from Audley End and went a week in advance to purchase the tickets. I was told the cheapest fare I could get was £146 - second class return!

I queried this but was assured that to get booked seats on the trains I wanted this was the cheapest fare. I grumbled and paid.

Next day at work I checked on the web. There were many cheaper tickets available. So I went into Cambridge station and asked the price for the same journey on the same trains, with reserved seats.

The total price was £37 pounds - yes, £109 pounds difference in price! I got a refund and new tickets.

When I complained to One Railway I was told that Audley End station was not set up to offer cheap advance tickets. This is not told to you when you go to book nor did I see a warning notice in the station.

Why should Saffron Walden people be expected to put up with this? What happens to people who don't have the internet or who are unable to travel into Cambridge to buy their tickets?

Jane Clarke

Nightingale Mews

Saffron Walden