Prices of advanced and off-peak rail tickets are to be cut by up to 50% in April and May in an attempt by the UK government to increase passenger numbers.
Commuters travelling at peak times however will not see any reductions even though were hit with the largest fare rise in nine years in March at 3.8%.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said the "Great British Rail Sale" was “just one small part in tackling the cost of living.”
Cut-price tickets go on sale from today (19 April) and will see one million trips discounted across the rail network. Advanced tickets will be available on journeys from 25 April to 27 May.
As examples, the Department of Transport (DoT) said the fare from York to Leeds will be £2.80 against £5.60 previously while London to Edinburgh will now cost £22 against £44.
Shapps said the discounts meant there was "no better time to visit friends, family or just explore our great country”.
Rail travel has struggled to recover from the pandemic with journeys taken in the last three months of 2021 about 62% of the pre-Covid level and he said this first sale would boost both travel and UK tourism.
Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, added: "We want everyone to be able to benefit from travelling by train because it's more than just a journey, it's a way to connect everyone to the people, places and things they love."
Campaign for Better Transport chief executive and former Tory minister Norman Baker told the BBC: "It can show the Treasury that the way to increase income is to cut fares, not keep ratcheting them up and driving people off the railway."
"This initiative, though very welcome, is but a first step."
Labour's shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the impact would be "small comfort to passengers".
"A decade of brutal Tory fare hikes have priced people off our railways," she said.
Shares in train operators FirstGroup (LSE:FGP) edged 0.6% higher to 115.7p with Go-Ahead flat at 859p.