Train companies have angered passenger groups with plans to raise fares by up to 11% to pay for improvements to the rail network — at a time when travellers can least afford it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to cut costs, whether you commute daily or take the occasional long-distance trip.

Here is our guide to cheaper train travel.

Use a voucher

One of the easiest ways to reduce ticket prices is via voucher-code sites such as Myvouchercodes.co.uk, which is currently giving visitors access to a discount code that cuts fares booked through Thetrainline.com by £5. There is also a code that allows you to upgrade a standard fare bought through the same website to first class for a flat fee of £15.

Cashback sites Rpoints and Cashback Kings offer discounts on Thetrainline fares, too.

Buy two singles, not a return

It seems like common sense to request a return ticket if you are planning a return journey. However, two single fares can often work out cheaper.

Take a next-day return from London to Manchester through Railsaver.co.uk. When booking late, only full-price returns are generally available, meaning a ticket price of £247. However, saver singles may still be on sale at that point, bringing the cost down to £112, or two times £56.

Split your ticket

One innovative way of cutting the cost of a train journey is to split it into two or more parts and buy separate tickets for each part of the journey.

According to Martin Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com, you can save in this way even if you remain on the same train for the entire journey.

For example, while an anytime day return from London to Penzance costs £257, you can cut this to just £50 by buying four singles to and from London and Plymouth and Plymouth and Penzance.

Find out whether you can save in this way by checking out where your train stops using Transportdirect.info and looking at the prices of tickets between various destinations.

Book ahead

One of the main reasons why long-distance rail journeys can prove so expensive is that ticket prices shoot up on the day of travel.

Tickets can generally be booked 12 weeks ahead, from the time when the latest rail timetables are released. And the further ahead you book, the more choice of fares you will have.

You could, for example, cut the £183 cost of an anytime Birmingham to Edinburgh return to £35.50 on the way up and £15.50 on the way back if you buy 10 weeks ahead.

Websites such as Nationalrail.co.uk and Thetrainline.com are a useful way to view all the times and fares available. However, they do not always display the cheapest tickets. It is therefore worth checking individual train-company sites to see if you can get a cheaper fare.

Be flexible

Travelling off peak is another easy way to save if your arrival and departure times are flexible. Thetrainline.com has a “best fare finder” that gives information about when you should travel to get the cheapest tickets.

You will be able to get a cheaper ticket if you can specify exactly which train you will be on as advance and off-peak tickets tend to require you to travel on specific trains.