Alternative route for Liverpool to London

[Merseysider]

Can anyone suggest a route for me, preferably something out of the ordinary? Price isn't an issue if it's less than £30 after the 16-25 railcard discount (advance tickets are fine).

I'm making a single journey from Liverpool (could also go from Chester) to London on Sat 3rd October. Doesn't matter which London terminal, and it doesn't matter how long the journey takes as long as I'm in London by 2pm. Problem is, I'm sick of London Midland, I like Chiltern but that means changing at Birmingham, there's no cheap availability for XC (Stoke-Reading) and Virgin is nice but I'd like to try something different.

I was thinking about splitting at Manchester, and getting a MAN-STP via Sheffield EMT Advance.

Any other ideas?

 

[gray1404]

A few spring to mind: -

Liverpool - Sheffield - St Pancras
Liverpool - Chester - Birmingham - Marylebone
Liverpool - Leeds/York - Kings Cross
Liverpool - Birmingham (direct) - Marylebone

I think if you realistically wanted to do it for under £30 then one of the above into Marylebone or St Pancras would be your best bet. I have checked for an EMT Advance out of Manc but can't find any within your price range for that day so I split at Sheffield would be better.

There is currently a £5.95 Advance on the 11.55 from Moor Street to Marylebone with a railcard arriving 13.50. Combine this with a £9.90 Advance on the 09.20 from Chester to New Street arriving 11.28
or a £6.25 Advance on the 09.34 Liverpool to Birmingham arriving 11.18 (but I note you said your sick of London Midland) so I would recommend via Chester.

I'm actually travelling to London Euston myself on that date arriving sometime between 13:00 and 14:00 into London.

You could get the 10.20 from Manchester Piccadilly arriving Sheffield 11.08 (Advance £5.40) This same arrival time comes up at £8.80 from Liverpool departing at 09.22 connecting onto the above train at Piccadilly. Then combine this with an Advance for £20.45 on the 11.49 from Sheffield arriving St Pancras at 14.00

 

[Merseysider]

Thanks for the info!
Via Sheffield, there is a tempting 1st £30.35 advance (£26.75 STD, so obviously worth the extra!) on the MAN 0943-1034 SHF 1049-1300 STP but for Manchester to Sheffield, there's no 1st class and that doesn't include the cost of getting to Manc.

If there was a way of doing Chiltern without having to set foot in New Street (even taking into account the refurb!) I'd be up for that.

Haven't done Leeds-KGX before, have you got any experience of the journey?

 

[Kite159]

Thanks for the info!
Via Sheffield, there is a tempting 1st £30.35 advance (£26.75 STD, so obviously worth the extra!) on the MAN 0943-1034 SHF 1049-1300 STP but for Manchester to Sheffield, there's no 1st class and that doesn't include the cost of getting to Manc.

If there was a way of doing Chiltern without having to set foot in New Street (even taking into account the refurb!) I'd be up for that.

Haven't done Leeds-KGX before, have you got any experience of the journey?

Change at Wolverhampton to a service which calls at Smethwick Galton Bridge and cross over to the high level platforms for a 172 into Moor Street?

 

[hassaanhc]

I was about to suggest going via both Sheffield and Nottingham to try and pick up a HST, but +5 at Nottingham puts an end to that.

 

[gray1404]

Thanks for the info!
Via Sheffield, there is a tempting 1st £30.35 advance (£26.75 STD, so obviously worth the extra!) on the MAN 0943-1034 SHF 1049-1300 STP but for Manchester to Sheffield, there's no 1st class and that doesn't include the cost of getting to Manc.

If there was a way of doing Chiltern without having to set foot in New Street (even taking into account the refurb!) I'd be up for that.

Haven't done Leeds-KGX before, have you got any experience of the journey?

I've done the journey from Newcastle to King Cross and also Leeds to Peterbrough so yes, I have. I prefer the view on the WCML however it is super fast though and I would certainly recommend it if you've not done the journey before. Although it really is going to take you over the £30 mark. Others on here would be able to advise better but I think those ex Leeds to a lot more stops. I know I used to get on in Newc and it would be next stop York, then next stop Kings X on the ECML.

And how come you are suffering from Birmingham New Street syndrome at the moment!!

 

[Starmill]

I recommend:

Chester to Hereford
Hereford to London Paddington

The Cotswold line is lovely about this time of year

Sadly it's rather late for an FGW Advance, although a route Evesham Super Off-Peak Return is good value at £35 if you can make use of it coming back.

 

[gray1404]

One of those non existant Aw and Ch Advances would have been perfect for a journey like this from Chester.

 

[Merseysider]

Thanks all, some great suggestions! Too many to choose from

Chester to Hereford
Hereford to London Paddington
...
a route Evesham Super Off-Peak Return is good value at £35 if you can make use of it coming back.

Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to make use of the return; I'm leaving the country in a week! I imagine the Cotswold line would be quite nice in Winter too? That'll be high on the list of routes to take towards/from London when I come back over Xmas.

I was about to suggest going via both Sheffield and Nottingham to try and pick up a HST, but +5 at Nottingham puts an end to that.

I wouldn't be confident in making that +5, especially on advances, but it got me thinking... I could catch an ex-Nottingham further down the line.

£6 1st advance VT Liverpool - Stafford, then £3 (!!) 1st advance XC Stafford to Birmingham New Street (yuck), something to fill the gap to Leicester and EMT from there for about £14 Standard/£18 1st down to St Pancakes. Only thing is I'd probably forget I even had 1st tickets and sit in standard like a wally (I'm a student so normally super-stingy, especially having to jump ship to LM after Virgin axed their railcard easement)

Change at Wolverhampton to a service which calls at Smethwick Galton Bridge and cross over to the high level platforms for a 172 into Moor Street?

That's it, I knew there was something

I've done the journey from Newcastle to King Cross and also Leeds to Peterbrough so yes, I have. I prefer the view on the WCML however it is super fast though and I would certainly recommend it if you've not done the journey before.

The only portion of the ECML I've done is York-Newark, and I was quite impressed. It's a shame it's on the other side of the country. But I do remember being left aghast at VTEC's "special offer" on board... Three 500ml cans of beer for £9!

And how come you are suffering from Birmingham New Street syndrome at the moment!!

To anyone who lives in Brum, or is a New St aficionado, my apologies. But I think the area outside the station is a dump, there's constant construction going on as soon as you step out the door and the interior layout is simply asinine. The place is a maze. You have to battle your way through people because the platforms aren't big enough to hold a Voyager's worth of people and their luggage, and some idiots always think it's a good idea to take their oversized luggage up the escalator. And anyway, the station just feels depressing. It felt like a crypt whenever I was waiting in the dark for the last train up to Manchester. The interior now reminds me of a certain arachnid species (see attached) oh, and I think the big mirrors on the south side look ridiculous. I could go on, but I feel any more would need a new thread!

 

[cuccir]

It's around a tenner above your suggested price, but if you want something different then you could travel with Grand Central? Timings and pricing seem favourable via Halifax:

Liverpool to Halifax Off-Peak Day Single £15.60
Halifax to London Advance Single £24.15 or £29.85 first class (available on the 10:34 from Halifax)

 

[hassaanhc]

I wouldn't be confident in making that +5, especially on advances, but it got me thinking... I could catch an ex-Nottingham further down the line.

Yeah I wouldn't either, and in any case the Min Connection at Nottingham is 8 minutes.
I have previously found through Advance tickets for Manchester to St Pancras via Sheffield and Nottingham, using the "extended interchange times" option in WebTIS text mode, but it would make you wait an hour if you specifically wanted the HST.

 

[kieron]

Change at Wolverhampton to a service which calls at Smethwick Galton Bridge and cross over to the high level platforms for a 172 into Moor Street?

Arriva serve Smethwick Galton Bridge, so it could be as simple as catching the 7.21 from Chester to Smethwick Galton Bridge, and the 9.39 from Smethwick to London Marylebone, arriving at 11.47. Splitting advance tickets at Smethwick would make that £10 for each leg. The same 2 hours later costs £16.60 in total, but does mean spending 15 minutes on a London Midland train. For the same price, you could also buy advance tickets from Bebington, or from Upton.

 

[Merseysider]

It's around a tenner above your suggested price, but if you want something different then you could travel with Grand Central? Timings and pricing seem favourable via Halifax:

Liverpool to Halifax Off-Peak Day Single £15.60
Halifax to London Advance Single £24.15 or £29.85 first class (available on the 10:34 from Halifax)

Now I like the sound of that Thanks! I once used GC on a short hop to Sunderland and was very impressed. I could get £2 advances on both the 0742 LIV-MCV 0847 and then MCV 0916-1004 HFX Northern services, so doable, even if one half of the journey will be far more comfortable than the other half
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Arriva serve Smethwick Galton Bridge, so it could be as simple as catching the 7.21 from Chester to Smethwick Galton Bridge, and the 9.39 from Smethwick to London Marylebone, arriving at 11.47. Splitting advance tickets at Smethwick would make that £10 for each leg. The same 2 hours later costs £16.60 in total, but does mean spending 15 minutes on a London Midland train. For the same price, you could also buy advance tickets from Bebington, or from Upton.

That's good to know as I'm actually based just north of Bebington.

If only I could do everything that's been suggested

 

[gray1404]

It's around a tenner above your suggested price, but if you want something different then you could travel with Grand Central? Timings and pricing seem favourable via Halifax:

Liverpool to Halifax Off-Peak Day Single £15.60
Halifax to London Advance Single £24.15 or £29.85 first class (available on the 10:34 from Halifax)

I'd go with this one personally because you get to to a big section of the ECML at speed. I'd combine a Grand Central Advance with a Northern Advances from Liverpool to Halifax via Manc.

 

[cuccir]

Yeah, I'd forgotten that Northern had started doing Advances now!