Reading to Nottingham return fares advice

[LexyBoy]

Hi All,

Looking for fares for Reading (RDG) to Nottingham (NOT) - out tomorrow, back the following day. Don't want Advance fares, leaving late morning each day. Want the fastest non-London journey. 2 adults & baby - no F&F railcard yet but will probably get one before.

To beat: RDG-NOT SVR Route:Banbury £64.10.

Best I've found is the following:
London-Leamington OPR £25.00 (valid leaving RDG between 1059 and 1530)
Leamington-NOT SVR £21.50
Total £46.50, so for 2A0C £93.00, 2A1C (FAM) £73.00 (approx).

Tried splitting at Tamworth with no advantage (didn't try Banbury or Derby as only day returns available). Can anyone beat this? - preferably nothing too esoteric as it's not me travelling, so don't want any potential issues with the guard.

 

[bengolding]

The Reading-Leamington Off Peak Return is £36.50.

Best I could find is Reading-Banbury £20.50 + Banbury-Coventry £14.50 + Coventry-Nottingham £17 (Not Birmingham) = £52. All Off Peak Returns and without railcard discount.

 

[John @ home]

The Reading-Leamington Off Peak Return is £36.50.

Yes. That's why he's using the £25 London-Leamington OPR and starting from Reading.

 

[LexyBoy]

Turns out travel needs to be earlier than I thought, and that Newark is a better bet (direct bus instead of having to change when going via Nottingham), so it's looking like the Reading-Newark SSR (via London unfortunately) will be the best bet. Splitting opportunities limited due to wanting to make use of the lack of time restrictions in the Network area for journeys out of it.

Buying to Bleasby saves a couple of quid, but I'm guessing that EMT get the lion's share of this (flow priced by EMT vs EC for Newark), so probably won't bother (prefer to minimise the cash lining the Souter coffers when possible).

 

[yorkie]

Turns out travel needs to be earlier than I thought, and that Newark is a better bet (direct bus instead of having to change when going via Nottingham), so it's looking like the Reading-Newark SSR (via London unfortunately) will be the best bet. Splitting opportunities limited due to wanting to make use of the lack of time restrictions in the Network area for journeys out of it.

Indeed.

Super Off-Peak tickets issued
for journeys commencing WITHIN
the network area to
destinations outside the
Network Area with travel via
London are valid by any train
to London to connect with
trains from London.

Expect some barrier staff not to know that though, so arm yourselves with this quote

A Family Railcard may be wise, unless both of you already have railcards. The Child ticket would only be £12.90 and would get you an extra seat (not sure how much you'd need that - perhaps more useful at the age of 2-4).

There are some complex rules at not being able to use Family (and Senior) Railcards at early times for journeys wholly within the Network Area, but these rules do not apply when your destination is beyond the Network Area, so you have no worries there. (In other words, certain people going to Huntingdon are better off buying tickets to Peterborough )

 

[LexyBoy]

Thanks yorkie. Picked up a FAM railcard last night, pays for itself with this journey! I explained to the better half about the lack of peak restrictions between Reading and London, let's see how they get on.

Out of interest, if one were to return via Brum, how is one to know which restriction applies? The restriction text states 'for journeys using Cross Country, use restriction 8A or 2V as appropriate' (from memory, not sure the codes are right). There codes do not give any hint to what journeys they apply to though. I'd guess that as the RDG-NOT route Banbury SVR takes 2V (after 0930) it would be the same, but can't see how to determine this for sure.

PS- Baby's only 6 weeks so no need for a seat just yet!

 

[John @ home]

how is one to know which restriction applies?

The Restriction details are now on the National Rail Enquiries web site. The £67.80 (Railcard £44.75) Super Off-Peak Return (SSR) Reading Stations - Newark Stations route + Any Permitted takes Restriction 9D, which is at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/pdfs/SVR_9D.pdf. It does indeed say

Restriction 9D

For journeys on Cross Country to/via Birmingham, use restriction code 2V OR 8X as appropriate.

For these details, replace 9D with 2V or 8X in the link above.

 

[tony_mac]

The point is, how do you know which of 2V or 8X you need to look at?

(In this case you can guess as there is a 'route Banbury' ticket - but there isn't always, with no obvious indication of which is the appropriate code).

 

[island]

The point is, how do you know which of 2V or 8X you need to look at?

That's a good question!

 

[bb21]

I would imagine that, as it is unclear, the customer is entitled to use the more favourable restriction, which in this case is the totally unrestricted 8X.