Durham - Coventry/Leamington today

[Eagle]

I'm in Durham at the moment. I was here for a conference but it's made me so upset that I just want to go home and get the hell away from this right now. But I've spent/wasted so much money to be here, I don't want to waste more leaving early.

So, for as cheap as possible, can you get me from Durham to either Coventry or Leamington with a railcard, as soon as possible. Let's assume it'll take me 40 minutes to get to the station (I'm at St Aidan's College). I currently have a YP cheap advance single from DHM to LMS dated 08-09-11, price £15.50, if refunding this will help.

 

[142094]

No refunds with an advance ticket unfortunately. Unless there is somewhere to split, you'll have to pay for a walk-up ticket.

 

[John @ home]

No refunds with an advance ticket unfortunately. Unless there is somewhere to split, you'll have to pay for a walk-up ticket.

But you are able to excess your Advance ticket to a walk-up ticket. After deducting a £10 admin charge, this will save you £5.50 from the cost of the walk-up ticket.

 

[table38]

Thinking laterally, there are a lot worse places than Durham to kill a few hours. The Castle and Cathedral immediately spring to mind, even Shildon isn't too far away.

In the past when I've been stuck like you (mostly due to cancelled meetings), I've just got a return ticket to somewhere else, as oddly I'd rather sit on a train than in a museum. So maybe a trip up to Newcastle and back in time to get your booked train from Durham?

 

[Eagle]

Thinking laterally, there are a lot worse places than Durham to kill a few hours. The Castle and Cathedral immediately spring to mind, even Shildon isn't too far away.

In the past when I've been stuck like you (mostly due to cancelled meetings), I've just got a return ticket to somewhere else, as oddly I'd rather sit on a train than in a museum. So maybe a trip up to Newcastle and back in time to get your booked train from Durham?

It's not a few hours, it's three days, and I'd have to stay in the college with all the other delegates, which I couldn't bear. I'm really not in the mood to do anything, I want to go home.

 

[LexyBoy]

I would imagine for a single journey there should be some worthwhile splits as you pass through a couple of PTE areas where cheap Day tickets should be available. I'll leave the searching to someone with Avantix to hand though!

But you are able to excess your Advance ticket to a walk-up ticket. After deducting a £10 admin charge, this will save you £5.50 from the cost of the walk-up ticket.

According to some it will retain the TOC restriction though (presumably XC only)...

... maybe a trip up to Newcastle and back in time to get your booked train from Durham?

On Thursday :-?

 

[All Line Rover]

All I can suggest is buying an Advance ticket for tomorrow. There is one available on the 10:47 to Leamington Spa at £24.40 (with the Railcard discount).

 

[Darandio]

How much have you got? If you want to get home right now, you just bite the bullet, jump on the 14:48 or 15:16 and go direct for £58.40.

Otherwise, we go for splits but again, give a ball park figure.

 

[LexyBoy]

OK, here goes (I've just looked at breaking the journey down at stations called at - in some cases it might be better to use longer distance tickets or rovers, but I've not checked these):

Full fare/Railcard prices (I just calculated the RC prices, I could have made rounding errors)

DHM-DON £25.50/16.85 SOS XC Only
DON-SHF £4.10/2.75 SOS
SHF-DBY £9.50/6.30 CDS
DBY-COV £15.80/10.45 SOS
Total £54.90 / 36.35

Not a bad saving on the £85.00 / £56.10 through fare, and valid on the through XC service changing at Birmingham NS.

You'd not be able to make use of your existing ticket in the manner John@Home suggested by splitting though.

 

[All Line Rover]

Deleted.

 

[table38]

It's not a few hours, it's three days, and I'd have to stay in the college with all the other delegates, which I couldn't bear. I'm really not in the mood to do anything, I want to go home.

Sorry, I wan't much help then. I was stuck once like that, so to avoid my colleagues, I "pulled a sickie" and retired to my room, then sneaked out later on my own.

Unfortunately they spotted me returning later, so I had to pretend I'd had a miraculous recovery and had been out looking for them...

 

[ainsworth74]

How about:

Durham - Leeds £15.50 (XC Only)
Leeds - Sheffield £6.10
Sheffield - Derby £6.25
Derby - Coventry £10.45

Total: £38.30

With this itinerary:

15:16 Durham - Birmingham NS 18:28 (XC)
or
15:53 Durham - Birmingham NS 19:09 (XC)

Change here onto:

18:50 Birmingham NS - Coventry 19:10 (VT)
or
19:30 Birmingham NS - Coventry 19:49 (VT)

 

[LexyBoy]

Derby - Birmingham NS £9.00
Birmingham - Coventry £1.90 (VT Only)

Derby-Coventry SOS is cheaper at £10.45.

Otherwise an excellent itinerary & an alternative to mine - the 1516 and 1553 go via Leeds, whilst the 1647 goes via Doncaster & Sheffield. The 1516 and 1647 are Newcastle-Reading services, whilst the 1553 is Glasgow-Plymouth (so likely to be more packed).

 

[ainsworth74]

Derby-Coventry SOS is cheaper at £10.45.

Good spot, I'll change it on my post.