East Midlands Trains 2010 prices

[Edvid]

In addition to the required regulated fare decreases, it appears that a considerable portion of unregulated fares are decreasing too/being frozen, even where First Class is concerned.

(See [1] and [2])

 

[sheff1]

They needed to do something. Following previous increases it is often cheaper (and sometimes quicker!) to travel via Doncaster to London rather than direct from Sheffield. And of course you avoid the appalling Meridians.

From Derby it is cheaper going via, and rebooking at, Tamworth with the LM-only off peak fares. This journey is obviously slower but allows more flexibility.

 

[ashworth]

From Nottingham it is often a few pounds cheaper to travel to Kings Cross via Grantham.
Also Cheap Day Returns are available from Grantham and so for day trips to London splitting at Grantham can save you approx £13.
Also AP tickets are often more readily available and cheaper at busy times like Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and Bank Holidays via Grantham.

 

[MCR247]

From Nottingham it is often a few pounds cheaper to travel to Kings Cross via Grantham.
Also Cheap Day Returns are available from Grantham and so for day trips to London splitting at Grantham can save you approx £13.
Also AP tickets are often more readily available and cheaper at busy times like Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and Bank Holidays via Grantham.

Its sometimes quicker I think, if you get the 1630 from Kings Cross, or its a few minutes slower, can't remember which :roll:

 

[Failed Unit]

Its sometimes quicker I think, if you get the 1630 from Kings Cross, or its a few minutes slower, can't remember which :roll:

London Kings Cross - Grantham around 1:10h
Grantham - Nottingham about 30 mins on express servce.

With a good connection you can do it in about 1h50

Midland Mainline express (x.15) takes about 1h45

So there is little to choose time wise if you get a good run on the ECML. London - Sheffield can be quicker on the ECML with a slick change at Doncaster.

 

[MCR247]

But if you want to leave London at 1630, the ECML train beats the MML train even with a 10 minute change

 

[Failed Unit]

But if you want to leave London at 1630, the ECML train beats the MML train even with a 10 minute change

Sorry wasn't clear in my post, that was averages I stated.

The 1630 would get you to Nottingham at 1825, however leaving at 1625 on EMT would get you into Nottingham at 1813. Not much in it really so you would probably go ECML if it is cheaper.

 

[Wyvern]

From Derby it is cheaper going via, and rebooking at, Tamworth with the LM-only off peak fares.

I haven't checked lately but it used to be cheaper even going via New Street split ticket. More reliable than LM and whatever you think of New Street its got to be better than Tamworth.

 

[yorksrob]

From Nottingham it is often a few pounds cheaper to travel to Kings Cross via Grantham.
Also Cheap Day Returns are available from Grantham and so for day trips to London splitting at Grantham can save you approx £13.
Also AP tickets are often more readily available and cheaper at busy times like Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and Bank Holidays via Grantham.

Curiously enough, I often find it's cheaper to go from Wakefield to St Pancras via EMT than to Kings Cross via East Coast. I do tend to use the HST on it's way to and from Neville Hill though so the rolling stocks even better.

 

[yorkie]

From Derby going via Tamworth is cheaper at any time that a SVR is valid into Euston. A SVR from Tamworth is £38.20 (Not via Brum) or £42.10 (valid via Brum), yet a SVR from Derby is a ludicrous £70.00 and the SSR (which is ludicrously restricted so barely usable) is £54.50. After the January change, the SVR goes "down" (!) to £74.00 and the SSR goes down by 20p. Aren't EMT wonderful, reducing a ticket price by -£4 and having a totally useless product reduced by 20p giving them headline news that they have reduced prices. Brian Souter is such a nice person! He is so kind to passengers! Especially rich passengers with a few hundred quid to spare who go first class at 12pm and have a coach to themselves Lovely.

Curiously enough, I often find it's cheaper to go from Wakefield to St Pancras via EMT than to Kings Cross via East Coast. I do tend to use the HST on it's way to and from Neville Hill though so the rolling stocks even better.

That must be with AP tickets surely?

EMT wants to become like an airline, everyone buying in advance. Their walk-on fares must be among the worst in the country.

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, it's about ten years since I've bought a long distance walk-on fare on MML.

 

[ashworth]

That must be with AP tickets surely?

EMT wants to become like an airline, everyone buying in advance. Their walk-on fares must be among the worst in the country.

That may be the case, but I also find that EMT are regularly late in releasing their AP tickets. I find more and more when I know well in advance when I need to travel between Nottingham and London and want to book AP tickets I end up booking to Kings Cross, changing at Grantham, because there are plenty of cheap AP tickets available up to 12 weeks in advance via that route but EMT have not released theirs.
Quite often it is a number of weeks later before EMT release their AP tickets and sometimes especially for Sunday afternoons they do not appear until very much later and are often quite expensive. I therefore always take the east Coast option whilst they are avialble in case by leaving it nearer the date I end up with nothing except a full price ticket.

Also as I have pointed out in other threads EMT are very poor at providing cheap AP journeys 'with connections'.