The best way to buy a train ticket is a subject which is uniquely complex due to a now outdated set of regulations.

Many regular train passengers have stories of how bizarre ticket options or buying multiple tickets for one journey can produce an unusually large saving. The strangest is when a first class advance ticket turns out to be cheaper (or only fractionally more expensive) than a standard class one for the same journey due to how the phone booking system works.

These odd tales mostly originate from regulations drawn up in an era when tickets were virtually all bought at the station, and a train website would involve a spider not a computer.

A consultation on reforming this outdated system has been launched and you can find out more by clicking here.