RAIL users are being offered help to save money thanks to a computer code which finds cut-price fares normally hidden from the public.

Founders of TrainSplit.com are helping passengers buy cheaper split tickets, where they can break their journey into legs instead of buying one ticket, offering a lower combined fare while travelling on the same train.

But East Coast which operates trains out of York, labelled the process “confusing”.

TrainSplit.com works out the price for each leg of a journey, which often works out cheaper, than if users purchased one ticket to their destination.

As long as the train passes through the station during the journey, the tickets are valid.

A single ticket from York to London departing at 9am on Wednesday, March 4, cost £40 on TrainSplit.

According to the website, that is a saving of £56.80, which is 58.68 per cent compared to booking an equivalent journey at the station on the day of travel.

It is a split ticketing saving of £9.50, which is 19.19 per cent compared to buying a normal advance ticket.

Terry French, of the Selby and District Rail Users Group, said: “It’s well known that rail fares are quite often high especially if you haven’t got a season ticket and you are going on the day.

“I would imagine that people still don’t know about split ticketing, but it has been in the media for the last couple of years and I’ve seen things myself on TV that shows there’s a growing awareness of it.”

A spokesman for East Coast said: “There are several websites which claim to calculate discounts for specific journeys at certain times only, and in some cases, by breaking journeys several times.

“With a variety of websites and apps all claiming to save money and offer best value, knowing where to turn to find lowest priced fares can be confusing, especially to customers who don’t travel regularly by train and may not understand the ticket types on offer or the restrictions which may apply to their use.”