"Through tickets" to heritage railways

[chrisp37]

I posted a query here about the through ticket offered by Northern Rail to the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway. That got me thinking: What other heritage railways are through tickets (still) available for?

A few years ago we used a through ticket on the Bodmin Railway from St Ives and it offered exceptional value (maybe someone had forgotten the ticket existed and the price hadn't been increased for a number of years ...). However, that ticket no longer seems to be available.

GWR's own website suggests they offer through tickets to the South Devon Railway and Cholsey & Wallingford, although they don't make it clear how you can buy them or how much they cost. I did manage to generate some fares on BR Fares for these so presume they do in fact still exist.

I think they may still be available to stations on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway?

I'm also aware that through tickets were previously available for the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway but as far as I can tell these have also sadly now been withdrawn.

I like the idea of through tickets to heritage railways and it's a shame that some appear to have been withdrawn and that there is scant information about those that do exist, with the result that hardly anyone is aware of them (including, in my experience, ticketing staff).

 

[kje7812]

Severn Valley used to offer it but stopped during COVID (?). When I first started as a TTI, we had to collect the OUT portions but eventually that requirement was removed. One issue was arranging blocks on the facility for Galas and other special events. At one point it would only affect on the day sales, thus someone could buy on for the next day even if that day was blocked.

 

[YorkshireBear]

KWVR used to but again I can't find it referenced now.

 

[30907]

KWVR used to but again I can't find it referenced now.

They were withdrawn several years ago (post Covid I think) - it was something of a bargain as IIRC you normally got a Day Rover for the (add-on) price of a Return. Used to see them occasionally.

 

[Coolzac]

I tried to buy through tickets to the South Devon Railway but it proved impossible, even at Newton Abbott ticket office. Their website says you can, but in practice it's impossible so it was frustrating!

 

[Iskra]

These exist for the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway to Wirksworth, but only from EMR stations. They are decent value, especially on event days.

 

[JGurney]

They were available onto the Bure Valley Railway, but I don't know if they still are today.

 

[Titfield]

From memory the uptake of many of these through tickets was very low and not worth the effort / set up costs etc. I think there were also issues about revenue apportionment which further discouraged heritage railways from setting them up.

 

[MrJeeves]

Add-on fares (at bargain basement prices) for Spa Valley Railway exist between Tunbridge Wells West and Eridge (and v.v.).

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

I bought one a few years ago from a ticket office without issue, and it was accepted on the train... with a bit of an odd look.

 

[Ashley Hill]

GWR and the WSR promoted through ticketing a few years ago, and even ran a promotional train to Minehead for the launch. I don’t think anything came of it. Here’s a picture of the train carrying a WSR Awayday headboard on the remains of the Taunton to Barnstaple line.

PS. The display said South Molton.

 

[fwsmVor]

I've always thought it was weird that the MHR doesn't. They share a station! Surely it could be arranged in the manner of the rail & bus tickets to Hunstanton et al.

(I know the bus beats the MHR for speed, but I'd imagine Alresford people are exactly the market to pay a little bit more to avoid a rattly, bumpy bus on a day out to the metropole.)

 

[chrisp37]

GWR and the WSR promoted through ticketing a few years ago, and even ran a promotional train to Minehead for the launch. I don’t think anything came of it. Here’s a picture of the train carrying a WSR Awayday headboard on the remains of the Taunton to Barnstaple line.
View attachment 204063
PS. The display said South Molton.

I remember reading about GWR running shuttle services between Taunton and Bishops Lydeard. 2019 I think? Would be nice if that returned as the buses from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard don't connect with the WSR trains. And it would also mean you could do the entire branch by rail.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

The Ffestiniog round robin entitles holders to a circular trip around North Wales incorporating a single journey on the Ffestiniog railway between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog.

Ffestiniog Round Robin | Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

tfw.wales

Tickets are available from as far afield as Liverpool, Manchester or Birmingham.

Tickets can also be bought originating from most, if not all, Merseyrail & TfW stations on the Wirral.

If your ticket office struggles to locate this ticket, key system details are

FFEST ROUNDROBIN
FES
J293

Ticket Issuing System details: [for example]
origin station: 2412 CHESTER - destination: J293 FFEST ROUNDROBIN
origin station: 2968 MANCHESTER PICCADILLY - destination: J293 FFEST ROUNDROBIN

 

[DelW]

I remember reading about GWR running shuttle services between Taunton and Bishops Lydeard. 2019 I think? Would be nice if that returned as the buses from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard don't connect with the WSR trains. And it would also mean you could do the entire branch by rail.

They did reappear for a couple of days recently when the Inspiration 200 train was parked at Bishop's Lydeard. I doubt they'd be anywhere near covering their costs under normal circumstances though, since I've normally only seen a handful of passengers transferring to/from the no28 bus even when it still called at BL station. Of course the variability of connection times doesn't help with that.

 

[StoneRoad]

Old Yard Dog beat me to it for the festy round robins ...

 

[Merle Haggard]

In the (successful) WMT franchise agreement there was a commitment to run through trains to Bewdley (SVR). Wonder what happened to that?
Not unusual for franchise commitments to get 'forgotten', though, once they've served their purpose.

 

[andyjhatton]

In the (successful) WMT franchise agreement there was a commitment to run through trains to Bewdley (SVR). Wonder what happened to that?
Not unusual for franchise commitments to get 'forgotten', though, once they've served their purpose.

I don't see how you could "commit" to run a service to a station you don't own, over infrastructure you don't own.

 

[Merle Haggard]

I don't see how you could "commit" to run a service to a station you don't own, over infrastructure you don't own.

'Detail' never troubled franchise compilers.
I recall that here was a thread about it here, but searching likely subjects either produces a very large number of posts - too many to go through - or none.

 

[JonathanH]

I've always thought it was weird that the MHR doesn't. They share a station! Surely it could be arranged in the manner of the rail & bus tickets to Hunstanton et al.

They existed to the MHR in the early 2000s, but ultimately such tickets only really serve to reduce revenue for the preserved railways if the add-on element is priced at a discount to their own fares.

 

[Bodiam]

I can recall seeing posters for through tickets to the Bluebell Railway on Southern Region stations in the 1960s.

 

[fwsmVor]

They existed to the MHR in the early 2000s, but ultimately such tickets only really serve to reduce revenue for the preserved railways if the add-on element is priced at a discount to their own fares.

Could be sensibly managed by only selling through tickets to Waterloo (and places beyond it). Right now they have basically one market: families wanting a "ride on a steam train" (and the odd crank who basically wants the same thing). If they want to go to London they'll get in their car and drive to Alton.
If they offer through tickets you can get the ride for the kids and the day in London in one, at a price higher than a MHR-only ticket so no revenue is abstracted from the MHR-only customers.

 

[JonathanH]

Right now they have basically one market: families wanting a "ride on a steam train" (and the odd crank who basically wants the same thing). If they want to go to London they'll get in their car and drive to Alton.

I didn't appreciate that you had in mind journeys away from the Mid-Hants Railway, rather than to it. I don’t think such tickets have ever been offered, only ones with the railway as a destination.

There was an embryonic idea at one point to use a Parry People Mover between Alton and Four Marks for commuters but it never happened, largely because there is simply no way that sort of idea can run without making losses. While Alresford is growing as a settlement, I'm not sure there is any prospect of modal switch by trying to utilise the preserved railways for 'normal' travel, much as the Swanage Railway found with its connection to Wareham.

 

[Ianigsy]

I can recall seeing posters for through tickets to the Bluebell Railway on Southern Region stations in the 1960s.

They certainly existed into the 1980s as we used it when holidaying in St Leonards in 1986 - a connecting bus was provided from Haywards Heath to Sheffield Park.

 

[Spartacus]

A funny one with the KWVR one was you could buy a Keighley - KWVR ticket!

 

[Titfield]

I didn't appreciate that you had in mind journeys away from the Mid-Hants Railway, rather than to it. I don’t think such tickets have ever been offered, only ones with the railway as a destination.

There was an embryonic idea at one point to use a Parry People Mover between Alton and Four Marks for commuters but it never happened, largely because there is simply no way that sort of idea can run without making losses. While Alresford is growing as a settlement, I'm not sure there is any prospect of modal switch by trying to utilise the preserved railways for 'normal' travel, much as the Swanage Railway found with its connection to Wareham.

Worth pointing out that Swanage Railway received public funds for bring the northern section of the branch line up to standard for the operation of the service plus an amount of money for the signalling system and link to the Basingstoke ROC, Perenco as successors to BP paid £500k towards the cost of the Norden crossing. There was also the £1M plus spent on refurbishing the class 117 and 121 DMUs to mainline standards. Swanage Railway didn’t get as far as applying for an operators licence etc and relied on West Coast for the two trial periods. Worgret Junction was included as part of Wool - Poole re signalling project at a cost iirc of C£3M. The junction could have been eliminated cutting off the branch from the mainline. There are some in Swanage who feel that Swanage Railway have rowed back on their promise to run a regular service to Wareham blaming factors which have always been present and should have been taken into account before the project was commenced and money taken from the public purse.

 

[JGurney]

I didn't appreciate that you had in mind journeys away from the Mid-Hants Railway, rather than to it. I don’t think such tickets have ever been offered, only ones with the railway as a destination.

I once got a through single from Bridgnorth (SVR) to Twickenham. I don't know whether that is still available.

 

[DelW]

Could be sensibly managed by only selling through tickets to Waterloo (and places beyond it). Right now they have basically one market: families wanting a "ride on a steam train" (and the odd crank who basically wants the same thing). If they want to go to London they'll get in their car and drive to Alton.
If they offer through tickets you can get the ride for the kids and the day in London in one, at a price higher than a MHR-only ticket so no revenue is abstracted from the MHR-only customers.

I didn't appreciate that you had in mind journeys away from the Mid-Hants Railway, rather than to it. I don’t think such tickets have ever been offered, only ones with the railway as a destination.

There was an embryonic idea at one point to use a Parry People Mover between Alton and Four Marks for commuters but it never happened, largely because there is simply no way that sort of idea can run without making losses. While Alresford is growing as a settlement, I'm not sure there is any prospect of modal switch by trying to utilise the preserved railways for 'normal' travel, much as the Swanage Railway found with its connection to Wareham.

The no.64 bus runs between Winchester and Alton station from around 0730 until nearly midnight, is considerably more frequent than MHR trains, and for most people, picks up and sets down at more convenient locations. It would be difficult for the MHR to offer realistic competition to that.

 

[JonathanH]

The no.64 bus runs between Winchester and Alton station from around 0730 until nearly midnight, is considerably more frequent than MHR trains, and for most people, picks up and sets down at more convenient locations. It would be difficult for the MHR to offer realistic competition to that.

Totally true. That is why Alton to Alresford is a preserved railway and not part of the national network.