Easements when routes into Leeds are limited

On a number of weekends, the only through trains from Manchester to Leeds are via Bradford. Added to which, Leeds - York trains are diverted via Castleford.

So - are there any easements allowing travel from Liverpool and Manchester to the north east via Sheffield and Doncaster instead of Leeds?

I'm not aware of any..

However, a South Pennine Day Ranger enables travel that way for £31 something. Only the middle bit though, of course.

yorksrob said:

However, a South Pennine Day Ranger enables travel that way for £31 something.

Click to expand...

Not really, it covers Manchester - Sheffield but is only valid via Barnsley from there.

Is there a need for an easement? I've never bothered looking further into as it seems sensible enough to be going on with but I frequently see North West to/from North East tickets being used via Sheffield. Never considered if they were actually valid

The ATOC guides suggest that Liverpool/Manchester to Newcastle/Middlesbrough is not permitted via Sheffield.

It seems to be quite inconsistent, IIRC when I looked it up manchester to leeds was not valid via sheffield, but manchester to york was.

The routeing guide is often inconsistent in that way. For instance, travel via Doncaster is permitted for journeys between York and Stockport (on maps DO+HO), Cheadle Hulme (ditto) and Crewe (on DO+HD+MS), but not Wilmslow. No idea why.

The DO map is only really used for travel via Doncaster, so the tickets which are valid via Doncaster are meant to be allowed that way.

Looking at some times next Saturday, you could save an hour by going between Wilmslow and York via Sheffield rather than Leeds (2 1/4 hours each way rather than 3 1/4). You just need to know what tickets to buy first.