Colchester to Birmingham

[kikin38]

Hi All,

I have tried a few combinations but my head is spinning so was hoping if someone could help me?

Colchester to Birmingham

• 26th February same day return

• NO RAILCARD

• Arrive Birmingham approx 12.30pm

• Arrive Colchester approx 12.00am

I can't really leave Colchester in the early morning due to commitments at home so no earlier than 8am if I can help it.

Thanks for reading!

ETA - The best I am getting so far is £40 by getting a single from Col - 9.33 arriving BHM 12.45 and then a single from BMH - 2110 arriving COL 0057. Although I could get the 1033 from Col for just £11.50. I don't know if I am missing a trick with the split ticketing thing so am keen for any help with that.

 

[ainsworth74]

Do you have a railcard? I assume you want to return the same day and do you have any ideas about what date?

 

[kikin38]

AH so sorry! I copied and pasted from another site and done a little editing and took out the important bits!

Yep, same day return on the 26th Feb (Saturday). No to a railcard. Will edit first post.

 

[yorkie]

Through fares:

Off Peak Day Rtn (CDR)
Route High Wycombe
£57.40

Off Peak Return (SVR)
route +London
£63.40

Off Peak Return (SVR)
Route Not London
£72.50 (XC are having a laugh!)

Splitting

(Avoiding London)
Colchester - Peterborough SVR (Route Ipswich) £28.50
Peterborough - Melton Mowbray CDR £14.00
Melton Mowbray - Birmingham CDR £14.60
Total to avoid London = £57.10

(via London)
I'd go via London, it's a better journey and you are avoiding the awful Cross Country (XC) trains that can be as short as 2-carriages. I believe they are trying to price people off their trains.

If you go via London it is also cheaper to split,

Colchester - Ingatestone
Super Off Peak Day Return (CBA)
£12.10

Ingatestone - Birmingham
Rte +High Wycombe
Super Off Peak Return (OPR)
£26.00
Valid by any train on Saturdays, Sundays & Bank Holidays

TOTAL =£38.10 (includes LU between Stratford/Liverpool Street and Marylebone)

The train must call at Ingatestone, for this to be valid, and you must pass through - but no need to call at - High Wycombe (ie, any train to Birmingham from Marylebone)

However for 80p more you could buy a ticket from Colchester to Shenfield, this costs £12.90, this allows you on a fast 'InterCity' train between Colchester and Shenfield, but you would need to ask the guard if he/she is willing to let you stay on this train through to London as technically the train would likely be set down only at Shenfield so the validity of your combination would be open to debate & interpretation.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

AH so sorry! I copied and pasted from another site and done a little editing and took out the important bits!

Yes, I know where that other site is. I occasionally correct some people there who do not have a clue what they are talking about and give duff advice. There are a small number of people who post utterly bonkers posts like this, suggesting someone buys Advance tickets for £18.70 and a single for £41.50 when a return at £41.60 will suffice! The poster of that duff advice even got a thanks for it - making a mockery of the 'thank you' system.

The problem with that site, although it's a great site in many respects, is that some utterly bonkers suggestions go unchallenged, and people are left to take the bad advice, not realising how daft it is.

 

[wintonian]

Yes, I know where that other site is. I occasionally correct some people there who do not have a clue what they are talking about and give duff advice. There are a small number of people who post utterly bonkers posts like this, suggesting someone buys Advance tickets for £18.70 and a single for £41.50 when a return at £41.60 will suffice! The poster of that duff advice even got a thanks for it - making a mockery of the 'thank you' system.

The problem with that site, although it's a great site in many respects, is that some utterly bonkers suggestions go unchallenged, and people are left to take the bad advice, not realising how daft it is.

I have seen some of your posts there. Maybe some of us should sign up and bust the myth that advance tickets are always cheaper.

 

[DJ737]

Could you drive to Audley End?

The train from there to Birmingham is only 10.50 each way

 

[kikin38]

Thanks Yorkie, really appreciate your efforts. So just to clarify -

*I can buy the tickets on the day of travel
*I only need to ensure that the train is calling at Ingatestone
*Must pass through High Wycombe but no need to stop at on train from Marylebone to Birmingham.
*I can travel on any train, at any time, as long as the above points are met?

I would be able to get a lift to Audley End but not from so have to discount that, thanks though

 

[wintonian]

Thanks Yorkie, really appreciate your efforts. So just to clarify -

*I can buy the tickets on the day of travel
*I only need to ensure that the train is calling at Ingatestone
*Must pass through High Wycombe but no need to stop at on train from Marylebone to Birmingham.
*I can travel on any train, at any time, as long as the above points are met?

I would be able to get a lift to Audley End but not from so have to discount that, thanks though

That is correct.

You can use any train at any time on weekends and bank holidays.

If I have understood Yorkie correctly then any train from Marylebone to Birmingham will pass through High Wycombe so you only really need to worry about calling at Ingatestone.

 

[yorkie]

Yep, but actually forget Ingatestone, and just split at Shenfield instead. The prices are identical, but looking at the timetable a lot more trains call at Shenfield than Ingatestone, and the fast trains I mentioned are not an issue anyway as it appears that they no longer call at Shenfield.

So you can get trains at 0912, 0933, 0943, 1012 etc from Colchester.

 

[kikin38]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help and will be coming back to this site in the future

 

[yorkie]

You're welcome

 

[Ellaguru]

rather than thinking about changing at Audley End, better is to change at Ely:

• you can still get the £10.50 fare to and from Birmingham with XC (but XC fares vary hugely depending on time of day)
• NXEA will sell you an OP return Colchester Ely for £21.50
• Ely is a nice station to change at
• XC can get congested it is true
• avoids changing via Tube in London (depends on whether you regard that as pain or pleasure)

 

[kikin38]

Having looked at the train times, going via Marylebone is adding an extra hour to my journey which is a pain on the inbound journey. Can you help with train fares going via Euston please? Thanks.

 

[wintonian]

Insead of the:

Ingatestone - Birmingham
Rte +High Wycombe
Super Off Peak Return (OPR)
£26.00

It would be:

Rte +ANY PERMITTED
Off Peak Return (SVR)
£33.85

+£12.10 for ticket from Colchester
Total £45.95

That’s just swapping the tickets around it may be slightly cheaper to re-price the whole journey looking at the splits again.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Out
Depart Colchester 09:30
Arrive Birmingham New Street 12:27
tube from Liverpool Street to Euston
2hr 57min

Return
Depart Birminghan New Street 20:10
arrive Colchester 00:04
tube from Euston to Stratford
3hr 54min

 

[yorkie]

Insead of the:

Ingatestone - Birmingham
Rte +High Wycombe
Super Off Peak Return (OPR)
£26.00

It would be:

Rte +ANY PERMITTED
Off Peak Return (SVR)
£33.85

+£12.10 for ticket from Colchester
Total £45.95

If only it were that reasonable.

The £26.00 OPR is non-discounted, ie adult fare.
The £33.85 SVR is a Railcard-discounted fare. The full adult fare is a whopping £51.30.

That's why WSMR exists, and that's why Chiltern are so successful; because Virgin are so expensive!

London to Birmingham gives you a choice of two main routes; West Coast Main Line (WCML) on Virgin (fast) or London Midland (slow) via Milton Keynes & Rugby, or the Chiltern line (medium) via High Wycombe & Banbury. The only other option, and this is likely to be both slower, and more expensive, than Chiltern, is a combination of FGW + XC via Reading & Banbury.

 

[wintonian]

Oop's Sorry I must have accidently left in a railcard discount when I looked it up.

 

[kikin38]

Thanks all. I think I will leave it then and carry on going via Marylebone. Good price and flexible times.