“Give up the coach and try us instead” Northern tells teachers looking to stretch school trips budget

It follows the new secretary of state for education, Bridget Phillipson MP speaking about the value of school trips at the Embassy Education Conference last month.

In response, the train operator has compared the cost* of popular school trips across its network and says teachers could organise ‘many more’ days out for their students each year if they switched from road to rail.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “Coaches are synonymous with school trips - but times change and there are significant savings that teachers can make if they will give the railway a go.

“Of course, there will be some visitor attractions that, because of their location, require a private transfer - but for those in town and city centres, rail would be a much cheaper option.

"Taking the train can also be an additional learning experience for students that don’t use public transport to get to school.”

It comes as the train operator launches a sale for group bookings offering up to 75%-off the standard ticket price. The sale opens tomorrow (Tuesday, 1 October) and runs until the end of the month for travel between Sunday, 6 October and Tuesday, 31 December 2024.

Powles added: “The discounts we offer to group bookings are significant – and teachers could organise many more days out for their students if they give up the coach and try us instead.”

For more information about group travel, visit: northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/group-travel

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.