Football fan receives 56 separate tickets when he books split fare between Newcastle and Oxford

Rail passengers faced with eye-watering fares are having to carry piles of different tickets to save money on their journeys.

A football fan was surprised to receive 56 separate tickets when he booked a split ticket between Newcastle and Oxford for an FA Cup match on Saturday.

Tweeting under the name Jonny, he posted a picture of the tickets laid on his bed and jokingly thanked his friend:

He said he saved £56.

His tweet prompted other people to tell of their own thriftiness, including one football fan who posted a picture of a mound of tickets for a trip to see Southampton, which he said saved him £30.

Travel from one end of the country to the other sets rail passengers back hundreds of pounds.

An open return from Wick in Scotland to Penzance in Cornwall, leaving a week from now, is priced at £467.40 on Trainline.

From Shanklin in the Isle of Wight to Buxton in Derbyshire is said to be the UK's most expensive rail journey. An anytime return, leaving a week from now, costs £501.40.

The TrainSplit website claims to save users money by helping travellers buy a series of cheaper tickets for a route.

Giving the example of an off-peak fare between Birmingham and Leeds, the site says it can save passengers more than £20, with peak-time savings even higher.