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The easy way to make your train travel up to 40% cheaper

Split ticketing helps you find cheap train tickets by simply splitting your journey across two or more tickets. Thousands of people now enjoy rail travel that's up to 40% cheaper—and you can too!

Take your journey with you on our app

How does split ticketing work?

With our site it’s quick and easy. Imagine you're travelling from Birmingham to Leeds:

• A return ticket costs £75.50*.
• With TrainSplit you can buy a train ticket from Birmingham to Derby, another from Derby to Sheffield and finally one from Sheffield to Leeds, all for just £49.30.
• That's a remarkable saving of £25.80.

*All fares quoted are Off-Peak (returning the same day) and accurate as of July 2023. Saving at peak times can be even greater.

What do I need to do to get cheaper train tickets?

Using TrainSplit is speedy and simple. Our powerful search engine will find you the cheapest train tickets ready for you to make your booking.

Will I have to get on and off the train with split ticketing?

You can relax and enjoy the journey! Even with multiple tickets, you stay onboard. If you’re in First Class, you may have to move seats (but not disembark the train) if they have been pre-allocated.

Cheap train tickets

Are you on the lookout for cheap train tickets ?

Given the complexity of the UK rail fares system, finding  cheap train tickets can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. To give you a helping hand we’ve put together some of our top money saving tips…

Book in advance and you can save up to 80% on the usual cost of day of departure tickets, provided you don’t mind limiting yourself to travelling on a specific train. Advance train tickets are released up to 12 weeks in advance of the date of travel and sold on a first come served basis so you need to get in there quickly to get the cheapest fares. That said, advance fares are often available until 6pm the night before travel so even if you’ve left it late, you may still be able to get a good deal.

Anyone who’s serious about saving money should get clued up about split ticketing. Split ticketing savings are found on 70% of journeys and save consumers an additional average of 30% if a split is found. You’ll find split savings on both fixed time advance fares and more flexible off peak and anytime fares.

Complicated though it sounds, thanks to the TrainSplit site, which works out where to split the tickets and books them for you Splitting train tickets or breaking a journey down into smaller bits with an individual ticket for each part of the journey. It’s an easy way to get cheaper train tickets with very little effort.

Any savings gained from split ticketing can be combined with a railcard discount to give you an additional third off the cost of your train fares. Railcards are available for travellers aged 16-25, 26- 30, seniors, families, disabled passengers, two people who travel together regularly, members of HM forces and those on Jobseekers allowance. Savings can be made on both cheap advance train tickets and more flexible fares. A railcard costs around £30 and lasts for a year so you need to be spending £90 a year or more to benefit from the saving.

If you’re happy to travel for longer for less, try searching for slower/overtaken trains along the same line or comparing alternative routes, for instance travelling via or avoiding London. It’s often a good way to bag a bargain.

While we always recommend booking your cheap train tickets up to 12 weeks in advance to secure the most significant discounts, there are still opportunities for savings even if you're planning closer to your travel date. So, whether you're a planner or a last-minute traveller, it's worth checking for cheap train tickets and potential savings as your travel date approaches.

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How to Book Break Journey Rail Tickets

Are you planning for a long journey and also want to utilize break journey feature provided by Indian Railways for us so that in the same ticket we can halt over some stations only to continue later?

Why would we want do a Break-Journey? It saves lot of money. If you were to book separate tickets then the fare will be way more than the break-journeyed tickets. Indian railways charges you for a telescopic distance in case of break journey tickets. Additionally you save yourself from booking multiple tickets and additional burden of Rs. 40-60 cancellation charges per person on separate tickets.

Break Journey Rules

My break journey.

Here I want to show you how I’ve booked break journey ticket for a journey for my family in Sept., 2011 from Vishakapatnam- Nizamuddin - Dehradun. So along with break journey it looks like Vishakapatnam- [Durg] - Nizamuddin - Dehradun. That means I want to do a break journey at Durg which is more than 600 km from source station Vishakapatnam. Also Durg falls into the train route. Please keep in mind the Nizamuddin is in New Delhi only so we'll get down at Nizamiddin station and board the train for Dehradun from New Delhi station.

Ok so you want to book it quickly as soon as possible? We can’t book it from IRCTC. We need to book it only from the reservation counter. Let me show how I booked my tickets and it’ll then be clear to you.

So my trip looks like this: Vishakapatnam- [Durg] - Nizamuddin - Dehradun:

• Board at Vishakapatnam
• Get down at Durg ( this is called break journey)
• After two days catch any other or the same train from Durg to Nizamuddin
• Get down at Nizamuddin(this is actually in New Delhi)
• Go to New Delhi station
• Board train at New Delhi for Dehradun
• Reach Dehradun

A limitation seems to be that your all tickets should be in the same class. That is you may not travel in Sleeper in one hop and 2AC in another.

How I filled the Ticket Booking Form

I filled two forms. In the first, boarding station is Vishakapatnam and next journey is from Durg to Nizamuddin. See the red circled portions in the ticket for below.

In the second form I’ve just filled my journey details from Nizamuddin to Dehradun.

The rail clerk made the booking, booking a ticket, noting its reference number and using it in the next tickets. So finally I got 3 tickets whose fare was calculated at discounted rate as per Indian Railways Telescopic distance calculation and I saved lot of money.

The Final Tickets

Here are those tickets with number written by the booking clerk.

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Could Mexico's Chepe Express be the ultimate slow rail adventure?

Take an epic rail adventure into the Copper Canyon for river kayaking, zip-lining and opportunities to learn from remote Indigenous Rarámuri communities.

Travelling 220 miles through northwestern Mexico from the coastal city of Los Mochis in Sinaloa to the mountain town of Creel in Chihuahua, the Chepe Express is one of Mexico’s few long-distance passenger trains –– and an epic one at that. The train travels through ravines, deserts, gorges and rivers, via 37 bridges and 86 tunnels, to reach the Copper Canyon, a chain of six UNESCO-protected rocky canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Often referred to as the Sierra Tarahumara because of the Indigenous communities that live here, combined they form a gorge that’s four times larger than the Grand Canyon in the US.

The Chepe Express has six modern passenger cars divided into three classes: First Class has panoramic windows, reclining seats and one on-board meal included in the train’s Urike restaurant, which serves traditional dishes from the states of Chihuahua and Sinaloa; Executive Class has spacious seating and access to its own bar; and Tourist Class includes basic, but comfortable upright seating and an on-board snack service.

The journey, which takes nine hours to complete, can be done in a day. However, a hop-on, hop-off ticket allows passengers to explore the Copper Canyon’s towns and sights at a slower pace, staying in hotels or Airbnbs along the route. Highlights include visiting vineyards and waterfalls around the 17 th -century Jesuit town of Cerocahui, located on the edge of the Copper Canyon’s deepest gorge, Barranca de Urique; riding the world’s second-longest zip-line at the Copper Canyon Adventure Park near Divisadero train station, where the mighty Urique and Tararecua rivers converge; and kayaking along the forested Fuerte River.

But perhaps the most singular experience in the Copper Canyon is spending time with the Rarámuri, an Indigenous group that’s lived in the state of Chihuahua for nearly 2,000 years. The arrival of the Spanish in the 16 th century pushed the Rarámuri –– also known as Tarahumara, the name given to them by the Spanish 400 years ago –– into the most remote parts of the Copper Canyon.

Today, the Rarámuri, which loosely translates to ‘runners on foot’ in the Rarámuri language, are best known for their ultra-running abilities, demonstrated in international races and local games like palillo , which involves carrying and throwing a ball over the Copper Canyon’s deep gorges and ravines for several days –– and several hundred miles –– on foot. But running isn’t the Rarámuri’s only skill: cooking with healthy ingredients like blue corn and weaving baskets from natural fibres are just some of the things you can learn while exploring this remote part of northwestern Mexico with them.

Three must-do Rarámuri experiences in the Copper Canyon  

1.   Huetosachi cooking & weaving class

In the small Rarámuri village of Huetosachi, 60 miles north of Divisadero station (the penultimate stop on the Chepe Express), the women offer traditional cooking and weaving classes in their homes. First, you’ll learn how to make pinole   –– an ancient drink made with ground corn that Rarámuri runners use to fuel their ultra-marathons –– and tortillas made with blue corn, also favoured by Rarámuri runners for the bread’s high-protein content and anti-inflammatory properties. Then comes the delicate art of basket weaving using the leaves of the yucca plant, which grows wild across the Americas, or sotol, a plant native to the Chihuahuan desert.

2.   The Giants Trail

The Copper Canyon’s rocky cliffs and deep ravines mean that, even today, numerous parts of it can only be accessed on foot. Generations of Rarámuri runners have carved hundreds of trails into the canyon, many of which carry their own legends. Take a guided hike of the three-hour Giants Trail, led by Rarámuri runners from the Bacajipare community, to learn about Los Ganoko –– mischievous giants that are said to roam the canyon near the Urique River. Additional one-hour hikes to nearby rock paintings and Rarámuri cave tombs can also be organised in Bacajipare.

3.   Museo Tarahumara de Arte Popular  

Located in Creel’s old train station, the Museo Tarahumara de Arte Popular traces the history and culture of the Rarámuri people from the beginning of Rarámuri life in Chihuahua 2,000 years ago through to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century and up to the present day. The permanent exhibition includes displays of Rarámuri art and textiles, cultural celebrations and religious ceremonies, as well as a collection of 62 photos by French photographer Gérard Tournebize, who lived with and documented the lives of Rarámuri people in the Copper Canyon from 1989 to 1991. Attached to the museum is Casa de las Artesanías, a shop selling traditional Rarámuri arts and crafts.

For Hungry Minds

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• TRAIN TRIPS
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US finally breaks ground on its first-ever high-speed rail

The rail could connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas by the end of the decade.

By Mack DeGeurin | Published Apr 23, 2024 5:05 PM EDT

Builders have officially broken ground on a new $12 billion train that could zoom travelers between Las Vegas and Los Angeles in just under two hours by the end of the decade. The new train, which is considered the first “high-speed” rail in the United States, could cut down commute time for travelers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise be emitted from cars and planes. Brightline, the firm responsible for the project, received $3 billion in support from the federal government as part of the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure law.

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was one of several Biden Administration officials on site for a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, described the moment as a “major milestone in building the future of American rail.” The ceremony symbolically took place on Earth Day. 

“Partnering with state leaders and Brightline West, we’re writing a new chapter in our country’s transportation story that includes thousands of union jobs, new connections to better economic opportunity, less congestion on the roads, and less pollution in the air,” Buttigieg said in a statement . 

On behalf of the Biden administration, it was my great honor to help break ground on what's expected to be the first operating high-speed rail line in American history! pic.twitter.com/VJjz849t03 — Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) April 23, 2024

This day is a major milestone in building the future of American rail and the jobs that come with it. Today we celebrate the groundbreaking of the Brightline West high-speed rail project, connecting Las Vegas to Southern California. — Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) April 22, 2024

Brightline expects its trains will depart every 40 minutes from a station outside of the Vegas strip and another one in the LA suburb of Rancho Cucamonga. When it’s completed, the train will travel at 186 miles per hour, making it the fastest train in the US and comparable to Japan’s famous bullet trains. For context, Brightline’s most recently completed train connecting parts of Florida is estimated to top out around 130 miles per hour . Both of those still fall far short of the speed achieved by the world fastest commuter train in Shanghai, which can reportedly reach a speed of 286 miles per hour. Still, the new train could complete the 218 mile trip between Sin City and a suburb of the City of Angels in just 2 hours and 10 minutes. That same trip would take about four hours by car, and that’s without substantial traffic. 

Once built, the trains will reportedly include onboard Wi-Fi, restrooms, and food and drinks available for purchase. Brightline hasn’t provided an exact price for how much an individual train ticket will cost but has instead said they expect it to be roughly equivalent to the price of an airline flight. Brightline reportedly believes the train could attract 11 million one-way passengers annually once it’s up and running.

“Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country,” Brightline founder Wes Edens said in a statement. 

The US Department of Transportation estimates the new train could cut back 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year and create 35,000 new jobs. It could also help foster new, much-needed competition. Amtrak, the nation’s primary long distance rail provider, has long held a monopoly over long distance rail in the US, but many areas still remain unserved. Prior to this project, Las Vegas, for example, did not have Amtrak service. Brightline is looking to build out more trains in the coming decade, with a focus on connecting areas that commuters find too close to fly and too far to comfortably drive.

American high-speed rail is having a moment (finally)

US infrastructure policy has long favored automobiles over long-distance rail and mass transit, much to the consternation of climate activists who argue an over reliance on gas burning cars is contributing to worsening climate change . But there are signs the country’s attitude toward rails is beginning to change. Brightline, the same company attempting to link Las Vegas and LA, recently completed a first-of-its-kind train linking Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach in Florida. Brightline reportedly claims its Florida train had 258,307 passengers in March. 

Elsewhere, other new high-speed train routes are being considered in Texas, the Pacific Northwest and other parts of California . Those efforts, if they materialize, will be made possible in part by billions of dollars worth of grants set aside for rail as part of the infrastructure law. Still, receiving funds and beginning projects are only the beginning of the battle. Rising costs and routing disputes can delay and complicate and delay actual development. One proposed rail line running roughly 300 miles between San Francisco and LA was first approved by voters in 2008 and has still yet to materialize . As of today, nearly two decades later, less than a quarter of that rail line has been completed. Brightline is hoping it can avoid those complications with its new high-speed rail. If it does, commuters could expect to make the trip between Sin City and Hollywood by 2028.

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What is Labour’s plan for rail travel and will it make tickets cheaper?

Party wants to fully nationalise train network within five years of coming to power, in ‘biggest rail reform for a generation’

Labour has made one of its most radical proposals yet in the run-up to an election campaign: to fully nationalise the train network within five years of coming to power.

The party has pledged to guarantee the cheapest fares as part of “the biggest reform of our railways for a generation”, bringing all passenger rail into national ownership under the Great British Railways (GBR) body.

So, how difficult would the plan be to enact and what does it mean for passengers?

How would Labour’s plan for Great British Railways change the way the trains are run?

The headline change is nationalisation: the ambition that all passenger train operations, at least, should return to public ownership. But the wider aim is that control of trains and tracks – “wheels and steel”, as some put it – is brought back under one unified structure, at arm’s length from the government.

The actual railway infrastructure is already managed by the state-owned Network Rail, since the disastrous tenure of Railtrack in the early days of privatisation, and train operations in Scotland, Wales and a large chunk of England are in public ownership. So a fully renationalised railway (bar the rolling stock and freight) is not as big a step as it may once have sounded – and arguably the pragmatic extension of the plans drawn up by the Conservatives in 2021, to end the fragmentation and waste in the system.

How long will the changes take?

Labour said it would get the ball rolling on day one. Given the years it has taken for the Conservatives’ GBR plans to crystallise into a draft bill that has scant chance of passing before an election, supporters of the changes would be forgiven for not holding their breath for legislation. But some of the spadework has been done by the GBR transition team, and Labour will be hoping for a more stable tenancy in Downing Street to see the policy through. It is, it stresses, a long-term plan.

As far as nationalisation of the train operators goes, most of the contracts of remaining operators will expire naturally within the next term, while the government can exercise break clauses in others, such as Avanti West Coast and Cross Country.

What would the trains look like?

Eventually, they would all be GBR-branded trains rather than the individual liveries and logos of different operators. Labour hopes that this will make things simpler for passengers, avoiding confusion over ticketing, as well as cutting costs.

Would it make train travel cheaper?

Possibly, but not for a while yet. Labour says it wants to make the railway more affordable but has definitively avoided any pledges to cut or even freeze the overall level of fares.

However, it believes that its plans will eventually save £2.2bn a year by avoiding the duplication and bureaucracy brought on by the current system, where the Department for Transport tightly controls and specifies contracts for the private firms, and reams of staff are employed in back-end roles. That could give ministers some scope to use more of the billions in annual taxpayer subsidy to bring fares down long-term.

What about this best-price guarantee?

Make that an “ambition”, according to the policy document . It’s testament to the complexity, or occasional absurdity, of UK rail fares that even after years of industry focus on improving the system, renationalising looks an easier promise than telling a passenger they’ve paid the right amount.

Things can be improved, Labour says, as contactless tap-in and tap-out payments extend through more and more of the country, opening up the possibility of a Transport for London-style system, where fares are streamlined and automatically capped or refunded.

The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, pointedly chose the headquarters of Trainline in central London to launch her plans on Thursday, paying tribute to the travel app firm’s “relentless focus on passengers [and] improving their experience”. Trainline shares fell 10%, even though Labour says it has no plans to replace the private firm with a single state retailer.

But given that the app’s business depends on people paying extra to cut through the railway’s confusing fares, fragmentation and lack of a decent central ticketing site, Trainline shareholder nerves might be taken as a vote of confidence that GBR will improve the industry’s own offering.

How else might passengers benefit?

Labour says it would leave the running of the railway to the experts – but the transport secretary would set strategy and take on the role of passenger-in-chief, and the industry would not be “marking its own homework”.

The plan aims to strengthen the voice of passengers by rolling together the various bodies currently meant to be standing up for them – the watchdog Transport Focus and the little-known Rail Ombudsman, as well as a few divisions of the Office of Rail and Road.

What will happen to the private operators?

Their representatives at Rail Partners warn that it will be “messy” and the railway will lose their expertise. But the people actually running train operators, right up to the managing directors, have typically stayed in post with a different coloured badge when the owning groups moved on, and passengers at say, Southeastern or LNER may not feel life is very different. Firms once regarded as pillars of privatised rail such as Stagecoach, National Express (now Mobico) and Virgin have long exited UK rail already, pursuing business elsewhere.

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Heavy fighting around key eastern cities; Russia 'sustaining nearly 900 casualties per day'

Heavy fighting has been reported around the eastern cities of Avdiivka and Bakhmut. Meanwhile, at least six people have been injured after a swarm of Russian drones hit central and northeastern Ukraine.

Saturday 4 May 2024 17:49, UK

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• Russia suffering nearly 900 casualties a day in Ukraine, MoD says
• Heavy fighting reported around key eastern cities
• Six injured in drone attacks across Ukraine
• Russia shoots down 'four US-made long-range missiles' over Crimea
• Analysis: Unpicking Lord Cameron's promises and what it means for Ukraine
• Exclusive:  UK plans to ramp up weapons production for Ukraine
• Analysis:  Will US aid help turn tide on Russia?
• Your questions answered:  Why can't Ukraine destroy key Crimean bridge?
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The Russian embassy to the UK has branded Lord Cameron's remarks as "confirmation of the UK's increasing direct involvement" in the war.

On a visit to Kyiv, the foreign secretary said Ukraine had a right to use British weapons to strike targets inside Russia, and that it was up to Ukraine whether to do so.

"Guided by its own purely political purposes, including opportunistic electoral considerations, the UK government is persistently pursuing a course of escalation and expansion of geography of military actions," read a statement by the Russian embassy.

It continued: "When the tasks of the special military operation are completed, all those involved in the strikes on peaceful Russian cities and other criminal acts will face the punishment they deserve."

Russian officials often refer to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as a special military operation.

Kyiv has responded to earlier reports that Russia has put Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a wanted list.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said it demonstrated the "desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda, which are at a loss for what else to invent to garner attention".

A statement from the ministry continued: "We would like to remind everyone that, unlike the worthless Russian announcements, the International Criminal Court's warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges is real and enforceable in 123 countries."

The Group of Seven nations is discussing a proposal to send up to $50bn (£39.9bn) in aid to Ukraine, reports say.

The US has proposed the money is repaid with the windfall profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe, according to Bloomberg.

America is pushing other G7 leaders - the heads of the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Japan - to agree on the plan when they meet in June.

But discussions have been difficult and an agreement could take months, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the proposal.

The move comes after Washington approved a major assistance package worth $61bn last month, which had been delayed for months by Republicans in the House of Representatives.

It will likely take weeks until US military assistance arrives on the frontline at scale, according to an American thinktank.

The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces will take advantage of the lag to try and make "operationally significant gains in key sectors", such as near Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka.

But should these gains be made, they will not signal the collapse the Ukraine's defences, said the ISW.

Earlier today, we reported how heavy fighting was taking place in villages near Avdiivka and Bakhmut, as well as Chasiv Yar, to Bakhmut's west.

A senior Ukrainian intelligence chief said it is "probably a matter of time" before Chasiv Yar falls. 

Ukraine received artillery shells, missiles and anti-armour rockets on 28 and 29 April in the first instalments of America's newly approved $61bn  tranche of aid, the New York Times reported.

Citing a senior Spanish official, the news outlet said a Patriot interceptor missiles arrived in Poland en route to Ukraine on Tuesday.

Russia has put Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a wanted list, Russian state media reports.

Moscow has opened a criminal case against the Ukrainian president, according to Tass news agency.

It cited the Russian interior ministry's database, but gave no further details.

Russia has issued arrest warrants for a number of Ukrainian and other European politicians since the start of the war.

Russian police put Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments. 

Russia also issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court prosecutor who last year prepared a warrant for Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges.

Another attack has been reported in Kharkiv, following drone strikes overnight.

The region's governor said Russian troops shelled the area, leaving a 74-year-old woman injured and in need of hospitalisation. 

"As a result of five strikes, two two-story apartment buildings, one private house and networks were damaged," Oleg Synegubov said. 

A private house was also struck. 

Around $498,000 (£396,000) in funds meant for the reconstruction of a heavily damaged Kyiv suburb has "disappeared," Ukraine's State Audit Service has said. 

Borodianka, once a town of 12,000 people, suffered massive destruction in the early weeks of Russia's invasion.

Money has been directed at the suburb for its reconstruction since, but an audit of the town council found a large discrepancy related to plastic-metal windows, which were noted down for installation but never actually put in.

More losses were found when the auditors found that some materials had been purchased and installed at higher rates that the market price. 

Earlier, we reported on heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine, centred in the Donetsk region (see 7.48am post). 

Now, we can bring you images from one town which has seen extensive frontline exchanges - Ocheretyne. 

Ocheretyne is about 25km from Avdiivka, and has been fiercely contested by advancing Russian forces and defending Ukrainian servicemen. 

By Sean Bell , military analyst

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was in Kyiv this week to reiterate UK support to Ukraine.  

Meeting with President Zelenskyy, Lord Cameron detailed how the uplift in defence spending announced by Rishi Sunak last week, including £3bn multi-year funding for Ukraine and the largest ever donation of military equipment, would help ensure Ukraine has what it needs to win.  

The donation of military equipment would include the provision of precision-guided bombs, and air defence missiles and equipment for 100 mobile air defence teams to enable Ukraine to shoot down Russia's drones and missiles.

However, Lord Cameron also made an important announcement that was less widely reported - that it was up to Kyiv to decide how these weapons were to be used.  

Although the West was shocked at Russia's decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine is not a member of NATO and the West was reluctant to provide overt support to Ukraine for fear of precipitating a direct NATO confrontation with Russia.  

However, the UK has consistently been "forward-leaning" in providing military support to Ukraine, initially through the provision of anti-tank weapons, then main battle tanks - Challenger II - before more recently providing long-range Storm Shadow missiles.  

Although the US has also provided ATACMS missiles, it has consistently advised that Ukraine is not to use any Western-provided weapons to attack targets on Russian soil.

Lord Cameron's announcement that this limitation may have been lifted for UK-supplied weapons could be evidence of increasing Western concern over the current tide of the war.  

Russia's military is on the offensive on the frontline - where it is capitalising on Ukraine's current shortage of vital weapons and ammunition to push forward.  

If these tactical advances were to translate into a major Russian breakthrough later this summer, the prospects for Ukraine could be bleak.

The UK package of weapons also included precision-guided bombs - these are air-launched, have limited range, so appear to have limited utility to Ukraine, so why have they been offered?

One reason is that the UK weapons lockers are bare - supplies that Britain is prepared to offer have run dry, and although the UK government has placed the national defence industry onto a "war footing", it will still take time before sustainable and significant supplies of weapons start to flow.  

However, if Ukraine is to reverse the current Russian battlefield momentum, it needs to explore new ways to fight back. 

Permission to attack inside Russia itself should enable Ukraine to expand its target list.  

Although the Ukrainian fighters do not have the requisite clearances and capability to deliver Western precision-guided bombs, in desperate times such clearances can be secured in record time. 

But how could they be used?

The Russians have air superiority over the frontlines, and it would be both dangerous and difficult for the Ukrainian air forces to intervene decisively - even with new weapons. 

However, if the initial batch of F-16 fighters being donated by the West were to arrive early this summer, this could provide more choices for Ukraine.  

Indeed, that might include targeting Russian forces in Crimea, or conducting airstrikes against military targets - such as logistics supply lines - inside Russian territory.

Although this latest announcement might have limited direct impact on Russian momentum on the frontline, it has the potential to offer new options to Ukraine to change the tide of the war.  

And, recent history suggests that where the UK leads, other nations soon follow.

However, the "elephant in the room" is the strength of Western resolve to stop Russia's brutal invasion.  

Time is not on Ukraine's side.  

Western reticence to confront Russia is understandable - indeed, President Putin is relying on it.  

But appeasement has not proven historically to be a credible strategy.  

NATO's continuing military exercises near Russia's borders are proof that the alliance is preparing for a war with Moscow, a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry has said. 

"According to their scenario, coalition's actions against Russia are being practiced using all the instruments, including hybrid and conventional weapons," Maria Zakharova said. 

"We have to admit that NATO is seriously preparing for a 'potential conflict' with us."

Named Steadfast Defender, one of NATO's biggest military drills since the Cold War allows members to practice repelling an invasion by Russian forces.

The next phase of the four-month drill takes place throughout May and will include some 90,000 NATO servicemen. 

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