Mauldeth Road to Leeds - inc. Metrolink services

[Starmill]

I need to make a return journey from Mauldeth Road to Leeds on Saturday 13th October, for the Leeds university open day, so I'll need to arrive around 09:00. I have a 16-25 railcard and am happy to do anything to pay the lowest possible fare. The thing is, I've made this journey once before, a couple of weeks ago on a Monday morning and then I specifically wanted to go "via Bradford Int" as it seems to be advertised at Manchester Vic - or as "via Halifax" at Leeds (why IS that?). Anyway, the Northern employee at MAU assured me that THIS ticket was valid on Metrolink services between Picadilly and Victoria (only have the RTN as OUT was swallowed at Leeds):

and apart from being convinced that not I only was I overcharged when effectively taking the slow route (okay, I know there are 4) I was worried that the Metrolink ticket inspectors wouldn't accept it (fortunately, I encountered none).

Is there a way to make this cheaper by going the "longer" way around or should I just hell to it and take the TPE service from Picadilly?

And is there something I am supposed to ask for to make it valid Picc-Vicc? This should be included in the route surely? I REALLY hope I won't need an extra tram ticket.

Are there any advance tickets available for this route? I've heard of TPE selling them but CAN'T find any on their website, just this onerous £12.85 fare!

Thanks!

 

[scrapy]

That ticket definitely is not valid on Metrolink. The only single and return rail tickets valid on Metrolink are those to a specified Metrolink station or zone and those which specify 'route metrolink'.

 

[Nym]

Or those to Manchester CTRLZ...

You could quite nicely split ticket on this route, but it doesn't make it much cheaper.

 

[185]

That ticket definitely is not valid on Metrolink. The only single and return rail tickets valid on Metrolink are those to a specified Metrolink station or zone and those which specify 'route metrolink'.

Correct. ticket is to outside the county, northern and tpe do not pay anything to metrolink. A £1.40 return must also be bought. The metroshuttle bus, however is free, with just a short walk from M&S.

 

[Starmill]

Correct. ticket is to outside the county, northern and tpe do not pay anything to metrolink. A £1.40 return must also be bought. The metroshuttle bus, however is free, with just a short walk from M&S.

I'm not sure if you remember, but back in 1992 the primary reason for the construction of Metrolink was to connect Piccadilly and Victoria. I refuse to believe that this ticket cannot be purchased as such. I have seen tickets which say Route: Metrolink. And which route should I split tickets on to make it cheaper? Huddersfield or Halifax?

 

[Deerfold]

I'm not sure if you remember, but back in 1992 the primary reason for the construction of Metrolink was to connect Piccadilly and Victoria. I refuse to believe that this ticket cannot be purchased as such. I have seen tickets which say Route: Metrolink.

You can refuse to believe it all you like but unless you are going to a destination only served by Metrolink you'll struggle to find a ticket that allows travel on it and rail outside Greater Manchester. Conversely almost all tickets to/through central Manchester which start in Greater Manchester *do* allow travel on the central part of Metrolink.

 

[clagmonster]

Are there any advance tickets available for this route? I've heard of TPE selling them but CAN'T find any on their website, just this onerous £12.85 fare!

There are none through from Mauldeth Road, but there are some from Piccadilly.
If you book at http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/train-tickets/student-discounts/ you can get Piccadilly to Leeds for £2.95 each way. For this fare, you must travel on the booked train and the tickets are quota controlled, so I would advise you to book in advance.
You will also need a Mauldeth Road to Manchester CTLZ cheap day return for £1.15, giving you a total of £7.05 for your journey.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Is there a way to make this cheaper by going the "longer" way around or should I just hell to it and take the TPE service from Picadilly?

There are tickets routed 'via Hebden Bridge' which are cheaper than the 'Any Permitted' fares, should you want a flexible ticket. These are still not valid on the Metrolink, however both these and the 'Any Permitted' tickets are valid via Salford Crescent, so you can make the interchange between stations by train.

 

[Deerfold]

There are tickets routed 'via Hebden Bridge' which are cheaper than the 'Any Permitted' fares, should you want a flexible ticket. These are still not valid on the Metrolink, however both these and the 'Any Permitted' tickets are valid via Salford Crescent, so you can make the interchange between stations by train.

Though there's only typically 3 connections an hour and it'll take about as long as most people would to walk to get between Victoria and Piccadilly.

 

[Chapeltom]

The Metrolink in central Manchester isn't always worth it anyway, by the time you've waited for Bury service at Piccadilly you could have walked to Shudehill. Walking from Picc to Vic ensures you get there, I got a tram at 1634 on Tuesday at Picc to get to Vic for a 1717 train. Guess what? I missed it, points failure so my tram was sat literally 50m from the platform for 45 minutes, got to Platform 2 at 1725, by which time my train had long gone. and I had to wait for the 1800 service. :-x

My advice is walk from Picc to Vic unless its throwing it down, its 15 minutes walk.

 

[Starmill]

There are none through from Mauldeth Road, but there are some from Piccadilly.
If you book at http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/train-tickets/student-discounts/ you can get Piccadilly to Leeds for £2.95 each way. For this fare, you must travel on the booked train and the tickets are quota controlled, so I would advise you to book in advance.
You will also need a Mauldeth Road to Manchester CTLZ cheap day return for £1.15, giving you a total of £7.05 for your journey.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

There are tickets routed 'via Hebden Bridge' which are cheaper than the 'Any Permitted' fares, should you want a flexible ticket. These are still not valid on the Metrolink, however both these and the 'Any Permitted' tickets are valid via Salford Crescent, so you can make the interchange between stations by train.

Got it! Much more helpful thank you )))

I didn't mean I refused to believe that ticket wasn't valid on Metrolink; I suspected as much hence my nervous journey. I didn't buy a tram ticket because I had an assurance it was valid, I'm not making this up, they perhaps were a bit rushed.

I've heard of these Metrolink "through ticketing" issues before, but since my journeys which combine National Rail + Metrolink + National Rail are always within Greater Manchester I had never realised what they were before...

Conversely almost all tickets to/through central Manchester which start in Greater Manchester *do* allow travel on the central part of Metrolink.

So, just to check my understanding of this and clarify another journey I might need to make soon, If I bought a return from Levenshulme to Ashton-Under-Lyne, would it have Route: Metrolink on it by default?

And would a return to Halifax leave me with the same conditions as the one Mauldeth Road - Leeds "via Hebden Bridge" (i.e. must travel from Victoria but cannot use Metrolink to get there).

Thanks

 

[northwichcat]

The Northern employee at Mauldeth Road would either be a ticket office clerk who is used to issuing tickets that do allow a cross-Manchester connection on Metrolink e.g. Mauldeth Road to Rochdale and gave you the incorrect information. Alternatively, it might have been a contracted revenue inspector who would be wearing a Northern uniform but would be a G4S employee and be wearing a small G4S badge.

Also £12.85 isn't a bad fare allowing for the fact it's an Off Peak ticket and has a railcard discount. Although, I don't think they should still print YP when they renamed the railcard to 16-25 railcard!

 

[185]

When Metrolink was introduced in 1992, the railways decided they would rather keep the money for themself than fund all "Manchester Stns" or "via Manchester" ticket holders with tram travel.

So, 20 years on, the only tickets which allow travel over Metrolink are:
1. Local tickets starting and finishing within Greater Manchester, fares set by TfGM.
2. Fares to a tram station eg. Leeds to Sale MTLK.
3. Local tickets from Greater Manchester Stations to Manchester City Centre.
4. Rail Rangers (In the city centre), Tram+Bus/Train Day Savers.
5. Fares to Metrolink City, which allows travel in the city zone.

This is despite many companies, including Virgin advising customers wrongly that their tickets are valid, risking them £100 fines.

 

[northwichcat]

5. Fares to Metrolink City, which allows travel in the city zone.

Unless it's "Metrolink City Route: Altrincham" which allows tram travel between Altrincham and Victoria/Piccadilly but is only available from stations on the Mid-Cheshire line.

 

[Starmill]

The Northern employee at Mauldeth Road would either be a ticket office clerk who is used to issuing tickets that do allow a cross-Manchester connection on Metrolink e.g. Mauldeth Road to Rochdale and gave you the incorrect information. Alternatively, it might have been a contracted revenue inspector who would be wearing a Northern uniform but would be a G4S employee and be wearing a small G4S badge.

Also £12.85 isn't a bad fare allowing for the fact it's an Off Peak ticket and has a railcard discount. Although, I don't think they should still print YP when they renamed the railcard to 16-25 railcard!

It is, I'm pretty sure, the former. And yes, totally with you on the Y-P thing!
I already said thanks for all your help in another post but it doesn't seem to have appeared yet... :cry:

 

[185]

Unless it's "Metrolink City Route: Altrincham" which allows tram travel between Altrincham and Victoria/Piccadilly but is only available from stations on the Mid-Cheshire line.

....err..... drat... forgot about that one