Best/Worst value Day Rangers

[Farigiraf]

The alternative view is that if you are staying in Canterbury already, why should there be a need to pay more to travel into London.

If you are staying in Canterbury already, it's unlikely that you'll be wanting to sit on trains all day for 3 days straight.

If you drove to get to Canterbury, you'll likely continue driving to reach everywhere you want to go. If you took the train to reach Canterbury in the first place, which in the majority of cases will have been via London, you would appreciate if the Kent Rover zone was extended to, at a minimum, Dartford and Orpington, let alone central London.

 

[Flying Snail]

The Strathclyde Roundabout which covers the greater Glasgow area and the Glasgow subway is excellent value at £7.70.

The Daytripper was my preferred Strathclyde ticket, covering a much larger area and a lot of buses, it was £13 for 1 adult and up to 2 children before it was withdrawn.

I haven't even come close to forgiving SPT for ditching that, as well as just being generally rubbish.

 

[Trainlog]

The alternative view is that if you are staying in Canterbury already, why should there be a need to pay more to travel into London.

There is a clear balance between the area of coverage and affordability.

I can see your angle on this, especially for someone staying within the county. However, the lack of overlap isn't ideal for those starting outside Kent who might consider trying out the rover. That's why I've given the Cornish rover a fair bit of praise: Plymouth was a perfect gateway station into Cornwall, rather than having to buy an unnecessary return ticket to Saltash.

It's why Southeastern should look into doing a weekend-only day ranger for £30 with their whole network, as well as their 3-day Kent rover, with the Marshlink (Ashford to Hastings) and Sevenoaks Thameslink infill. Most stations in Kent have at least 2tph service, and you can very easily see multiple towns in one day if such a rover existed, rather than just one destination, and it allows for East Sussex towns such as Hastings to be included with a network rover and Rye if an infill were included.

If Southern lets you use a rover for £26 covering their whole network, any day of the week. I don't see why Southeastern can't offer a more generous weekend day-tripper rover fare, especially as rail operators would want to capitalise on leisure travel on weekends.

If you are staying in Canterbury already, it's unlikely that you'll be wanting to sit on trains all day for 3 days straight.

If you drove to get to Canterbury, you'll likely continue driving to reach everywhere you want to go. If you took the train to reach Canterbury in the first place, which in the majority of cases will have been via London, you would appreciate if the Kent Rover zone was extended to, at a minimum, Dartford and Orpington, let alone central London.

Exactly, as stated above, whilst I understand the logic of it being for just the county of Kent, it's no use to anyone starting outside Kent who wants to use the ticket.

It's not to say a one-day Kent-only rover ticket won't work for residents or visitors, it would come in handy for chasing railtours, and it takes out the valid via this line only restrictions, so many towns across the county could be visited on one day.

But the 3-day-only Kent only rover is a very niche market and would mainly be of interest to tourists staying within the county. Suffice to say, if anyone did consider a rover ticket from London, and the choice is between a 3-day Kent rover ticket and the complete Southern network day ranger ticket, I don't think there would be many takers for the current Kent ticket.

 

[Starmill]

I disagree that the Kent Rover is overpriced.

It's not intended to be used to/from London. It covers a decent sized area, though I agree the 3 consecutive days validity is a bit mean, it really should be a 3in7. And the lack of validity on HS1 to Ebbsfleet makes travelling from the Ashford area to Medway a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

If they'd made it 3 in 7 instead of 3 days continuous when they raised the price from £40 to £60 recently, then I'd definitely say that were worthwhile. I would say the same about the inclusion of Dartford - Gravesend, which is not in the Oyster area or Travelcard Zones, and doesn't go out of Kent or into Greater London, so it makes very, very little sense to me as to why it's not part of the Rover. £60 for three days is good value so I don't think it'd hurt to make some minor improvements to validity.

 

[A S Leib]

The Anglia Plus Day Ranger seems reasonably priced to me; £5 more than an Ipswich – Norwich off-peak day return for Suffolk (except Sudbury), Norfolk (except King's Lynn) and Cambridge and Ely, and with a 3 days in 7 ticket for less than twice the price.

 

[AlterEgo]

The London Off Peak Day Travelcard is by far the best value day ranger. It'll be a little cheaper if you use Oyster. Both will allow a railcard discount.

 

[AM9]

The London Off Peak Day Travelcard is by far the best value day ranger. It'll be a little cheaper if you use Oyster. Both will allow a railcard discount.

And some outboundary travelcards, (which are eligible for railcard discounts), are pretty good value. The CCST version is more practical if station hopping with no time limits, and of course all TfL buses are also there to link stations. I've even bought outboundary returns to extend travel beyond to a remote station beyond zone 6, e.g. Reading, Shenfield, and a person with me bought a St Albans extension.

 

[fandroid]

And some outboundary travelcards, (which are eligible for railcard discounts), are pretty good value. The CCST version is more practical if station hopping with no time limits, and of course all TfL buses are also there to link stations. I've even bought outboundary returns to extend travel beyond to a remote station beyond zone 6, e.g. Reading, Shenfield, and a person with me bought a St Albans extension.

The outboundary versions are even more practical if loaded onto a TOC Smartcard such as SWR's Touch. Not prone to magstripe failure as so often happens with a well-used CCST version.

 

[MikeWM]

I can see your angle on this, especially for someone staying within the county. However, the lack of overlap isn't ideal for those starting outside Kent who might consider trying out the rover. That's why I've given the Cornish rover a fair bit of praise: Plymouth was a perfect gateway station into Cornwall, rather than having to buy an unnecessary return ticket to Saltash.

Agreed, though I wonder how much this validity at Plymouth is related to there being no other practical way to include the Gunnislake line otherwise.

But the 3-day-only Kent only rover is a very niche market and would mainly be of interest to tourists staying within the county.

I've done a few in my time (not that this means it isn't 'niche'!) You can combine it with Southern DaySave from Ashford if you're feeling creative, I have in the past. Yes, I agree it would be much better if Ashford-Hastings-Tunbridge Wells was included in the Rover, and not being able to travel via Bat & Ball is irritating, but I think there are enough interesting places in Kent to fill up 3 days once every few years.

I admit possibly I'm a little biased as it is one of the few rovers that I can get a railcard discount on (Gold Card).

 

[pokemonsuper9]

The Greater Manchester rail ranger (and it's versions with bus and/or tram) are great products.
Rail on it's own is £9 for a day
Train + Tram + Bus is £11.40
Train + Tram is £10.10
Train + Bus is £9.70
Tram + Bus has many fares depending on tram zones, from any 1 zone being £5.40 to all zones being £7.80

Even if I just need the train I'll usually throw an extra 70p on there in case I end up needing a bus.

There's also the Wayfarer (£17.40) with expanded service for rail and giantly expanded for buses.

All with the usual Manchester off-peak time restrictions (except the wayfarer has no evening peak, and more expencive tram+bus options are avaliable that allow peak).

 

[AM9]

The outboundary versions are even more practical if loaded onto a TOC Smartcard such as SWR's Touch. Not prone to magstripe failure as so often happens with a well-used CCST version.

I've only had about three stripe failures on railcards, probably my fault for putting them next to a mobile. I did have a couple of card failures back in my Network card days though.

 

[Trainlog]

The London Off Peak Day Travelcard is by far the best value day ranger. It'll be a little cheaper if you use Oyster. Both will allow a railcard discount.

Yes it is a very good day rover/ranger/travelcard etc for what it is. Very glad it has been saved from being scrapped for just contactless or Oyster as it's nice to just have a ticket I can keep in a pocket and go around the capital as I wish for the day.

It has been very useful for trainspotting, combining ideas such as seeing a museum for half a day in central London, to then having something to eat in another part of the city. I just hope that the ticket wont see any further plans to be scrapped again for a while.

Agreed, though I wonder how much this validity at Plymouth is related to there being no other practical way to include the Gunnislake line otherwise.



I've done a few in my time (not that this means it isn't 'niche'!) You can combine it with Southern DaySave from Ashford if you're feeling creative, I have in the past. Yes, I agree it would be much better if Ashford-Hastings-Tunbridge Wells was included in the Rover, and not being able to travel via Bat & Ball is irritating, but I think there are enough interesting places in Kent to fill up 3 days once every few years.

I admit possibly I'm a little biased as it is one of the few rovers that I can get a railcard discount on (Gold Card).

For the Plymouth/Cornish rover one, even if the Gunnislake branch is the technicality for the ticket to start at Plymouth, the gateway is still important and doesn't waste the passengers' money for an unnecessary return to Saltash. With ticket barriers at Plymouth and attractions at the harbour front, such as the National Marine Aquarium, it also serves as an endpoint for those starting the Rover from the Cornish end.

As for the Kent one, I am not saying the 3-day Kent ticket should be scrapped, but as a minimum option, it's still rather poor compared to the Southern 1-day full network rover. The Southeastern network is rather contained and a lot can be visited on one day with a 1-day rover, as apart from some towns (Whitstable, Ramsgate, Folkestone, Herne Bay, as examples), a lot of towns have at worst a half an hour walk back to the station and at best 1-5 minutes. Its a very good network to install a proper rover network ticket.

This is why a Southeastern should do a weekend 1-day Southeastern network ranger for £30 alongside the Kent 3-day rover for all their lines, including Sussex infills, Hastings line, Southeastern's London metro lines and HS1 on weekends only. It doesn't interfere with Peak weekday commuter fares, and it can be enforced at the boundaries of Southeastern's network, as many of those stations (Southeastern's London terminals, and Tonbridge) have ticket barriers, though St Leonards Warrior Square doesn't currently have any.

 

[The exile]

However, the lack of overlap isn't ideal for those starting outside Kent who might consider trying out the rover. That's why I've given the Cornish rover a fair bit of praise: Plymouth was a perfect gateway station into Cornwall, rather than having to buy an unnecessary return ticket to Saltash.



Exactly, as stated above, whilst I understand the logic of it being for just the county of Kent, it's no use to anyone starting outside Kent who wants to use the ticket.

Exactly the same applies to any rover area for anyone wishing to start outside the area - whether that area is delineated by county boundary, operator area or a random line drawn on a map.

 

[MikeWM]

Yes it is a very good day rover/ranger/travelcard etc for what it is. Very glad it has been saved from being scrapped for just contactless or Oyster as it's nice to just have a ticket I can keep in a pocket and go around the capital as I wish for the day.

It has been very useful for trainspotting, combining ideas such as seeing a museum for half a day in central London, to then having something to eat in another part of the city. I just hope that the ticket wont see any further plans to be scrapped again for a while.

While this part of your quote wasn't replying to me, I 100% agree. The only problem here is the massive hike in weekend prices for outboundary travelcards that have been seen recently.

For the Plymouth/Cornish rover one, even if the Gunnislake branch is the technicality for the ticket to start at Plymouth, the gateway is still important and doesn't waste the passengers' money for an unnecessary return to Saltash.

I think the other thing here is that Saltash is too 'minor' a station to be the boundary, although looking at RTT for today it does appear most (though not all) services now stop there. I didn't think that was the case when I was there last year, maybe I'm misremembering. I do agree that Plymouth is very useful to be included in the Cornwall Day Ranger, indeed I've used it in the last year to do Gunnislake and back after a day starting in Cornwall.

As for the Kent one, I am not saying the 3-day Kent ticket should be scrapped, but as a minimum option, it's still rather poor compared to the Southern 1-day full network rover.

I agree - but then the Southern rover has more complex purchasing requirements that require pre-planning, and also relatively complex afternoon peak restrictions. If it was available as 'walk-up' then I suspect the price would be significantly increased - it is its relative obscurity that keeps it going at the current price point.

I would very much like to see a SE network rover as you outline, and would certainly use it if it existed, but I suspect if they start fiddling around with what rangers/rovers they offer that we'd end up more likely with a situation such as we have with SWR or GA or Chiltern, who have no rangers/rovers valid on their network anywhere remotely near to London.

 

[bearhugger]

The Daytripper was my preferred Strathclyde ticket, covering a much larger area and a lot of buses, it was £13 for 1 adult and up to 2 children before it was withdrawn.

I haven't even come close to forgiving SPT for ditching that, as well as just being generally rubbish.

That does sound like exceptional value. I was only on holiday on that side of Scotland when i did the Roundabout rover, got the train from Ayr (just before the fire) up to Paisley, got the rover then did a couple of trips on the subway as i knew they were about to change the rolling stock.

 

[Llandudno]

The Greater Manchester rail ranger (and it's versions with bus and/or tram) are great products.
Rail on it's own is £9 for a day
Train + Tram + Bus is £11.40
Train + Tram is £10.10
Train + Bus is £9.70
Tram + Bus has many fares depending on tram zones, from any 1 zone being £5.40 to all zones being £7.80

Even if I just need the train I'll usually throw an extra 70p on there in case I end up needing a bus.

There's also the Wayfarer (£17.40) with expanded service for rail and giantly expanded for buses.

All with the usual Manchester off-peak time restrictions (except the wayfarer has no evening peak, and more expencive tram+bus options are avaliable that allow peak).

Why are there so many variants, especially with the Bee Betwork.
Howabout Train, Tram & Bus one day off peak £10, peak £12.

Keep Wayfarer as it is but offer a Railcard discount, like Derbyshire’s version for £12.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Why are there so many variants, especially with the Bee Betwork.

I can only presume it's to add a premium for using trams/trains, especially in regard to the tram zones + buses.

Howabout Train, Tram & Bus one day off peak £10, peak £12.

Would be cheaper than current so I'd be happy.

Keep Wayfarer as it is but offer a Railcard discount, like Derbyshire’s version for £12.

The difference to the Derbyshire wayfarer is that there are the trams on this side. And the Metrolink don't have any Railcard acceptance (excl central zone, which is a no-cost addition to normal tickets).

 

[Trainlog]

While this part of your quote wasn't replying to me, I 100% agree. The only problem here is the massive hike in weekend prices for outboundary travelcards that have been seen recently.




I think the other thing here is that Saltash is too 'minor' a station to be the boundary, although looking at RTT for today it does appear most (though not all) services now stop there. I didn't think that was the case when I was there last year, maybe I'm misremembering. I do agree that Plymouth is very useful to be included in the Cornwall Day Ranger, indeed I've used it in the last year to do Gunnislake and back after a day starting in Cornwall.



I agree - but then the Southern rover has more complex purchasing requirements that require pre-planning, and also relatively complex afternoon peak restrictions. If it was available as 'walk-up' then I suspect the price would be significantly increased - it is its relative obscurity that keeps it going at the current price point.

I would very much like to see a SE network rover as you outline, and would certainly use it if it existed, but I suspect if they start fiddling around with what rangers/rovers they offer that we'd end up more likely with a situation such as we have with SWR or GA or Chiltern, who have no rangers/rovers valid on their network anywhere remotely near to London.

Firstly, no worries, I am glad you agree on the London travelcard. Yes, I have done a few out-of-boundary travel cards on occasion, and if you know roughly what you are going there for and what to expect, it's a good one to do. I went and saw the 38 stock out on the Chesham branch a few months back and would certainly look into returning there once the Class 20s and Sarah Siddons railtours are back.

Saltash part, again 100% agree. It's a nice station and I got off there to look at the Royal Albert Bridge. Perhaps I did not see it, but it was lacking on dot-matrix boards, though it was a very steep hill back up to the station. By the time I got back to the station, I just wanted to sit down on a station bench, for a few minutes and admire the Bridge from the station perspective. I used a combination of real-time trains and just basically waiting for anything GWR back to Plymouth. I agree, Saltash is nice enough, especially with Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge to look at, but its not a great starting point for the rover ticket.

Having a Plymouth- Penzance range for the Cornish rover, it's a somewhere-to-somewhere ticket, and I hope it remains that way.

As for the Southern/Southeastern rovers. That is a good point. If they were on the day, would the Southern rover then introduce the option to apply a railcard with it as well? It would certainly be nice if they were available as a ticket option next to the London travelcard option on ticket machines on the Southern network.

For the Southeastern part in general, it's anyone's guess, really. I'm glad you liked the 'Southeastern day ranger idea'. Personally, I am glad operators like Greater Anglia are still making new rover/ranger tickets in general, such as in 2024 for the Sunshine Coast branch, even if it's only on very specific lines or areas. It's better than hearing they got quietly withdrawn with nobody using them (Unless they are the London travelcard or an Interrail pass, they are mostly badly promoted/advertised in the first place).

With regards to the niche and specific lines one, I don't think a North/mid Kent day rover would be a bad idea if Southeastern were to make one where basically it's valid from London, via the Chatham and NKML all the way out to Ramsgate, with the Southern limits being Canterbury East, Maidstone West and possibly Deal? Though I would much rather the Weekend Southeastern network day rover was made instead.

At the end of the day, it's all up to Southeastern if they are to make any new rovers. The Southeastern weekend day ranger is a 'nice to have if it existed' kind of thing.

New Ranger train tickets are ideal for days out in Essex

Greater Anglia has introduced new Ranger tickets on the ‘Mayflower’ and ‘Sunshine Coast’ branch lines in Essex.

www.railadvent.co.uk

 

[frankmoh]

The London Off Peak Day Travelcard is by far the best value day ranger. It'll be a little cheaper if you use Oyster. Both will allow a railcard discount.

With the Travelcard you don't have to worry about running your money down. I assume all the Youtubers who do those London transport challenges buy one.

*If you go on a Saturday then it's off-peak all day!

 

[Scotty]

With the Travelcard you don't have to worry about running your money down. I assume all the Youtubers who do those London transport challenges buy one.

*If you go on a Saturday then it's off-peak all day!

They tend to use paper Travelcards rather than Oyster to avoid any maximum fares for spending too long between swiping in/out.

 

[Chiltern006]

The best value of all has to be the FirstGroup rovers - £6 London to Scotland with Avanti. Fully aware these aren’t available to the general public though

 

[HOOVER29]

The West Midlands Day ranger is Very good Value , Letting you travel from as Far south as Leamington Spa and Northampton and as far west as Hereford all the way up to Crewe, Gobowen and all around Birmingham and it's surroundings.

For, adult: £36.00 , Railcard:£23.95 and 16-17 saver / Child: £18.00

It's a very good Value ticket and have had some nice days out with it , I think I've done it about 7 times at this point.

GB RAIL ROVER GUIDE - West Midlands Day Ranger

How to find rail rover and ranger tickets on the national rail network. Rover and ranger tickets are cheap tickets for rail travel

www.railrover.org

Used to do a West Mids day ranger every week back in the day.
Used to cost around £20

Then the price went up to £27 so stopped using it.

Going back some years though

One I always use is a West Mids day tripper
There’s two versions I think
One is after peak time & the other is any time which is the one I use

 

[sh24]

The London Off Peak Day Travelcard is by far the best value day ranger. It'll be a little cheaper if you use Oyster. Both will allow a railcard discount.

Very much so. £13 with railcard discount for 99% of public transport in one of the worlds great cities. A real bargain.

Otherwise anything under £25/day for a large area or £10 for a small discrete route is decent value IMO.

 

[RuddA]

One of the worst value has to be that special rover that C2C did during last summer.

I posted about it here in this thread back when it was first launched last summer:

C2C launch a new day rover ticket.

C2C have very recently launched a new rover ticket: https://www.c2c-online.co.uk/media-centre/latest-news/c2c-develops-special-rover-ticket-to-make-waddle-on-sea-charity-art-trail-accessible-for-all/ c2c develops special ‘rover’ ticket to make ‘Waddle-on-Sea’ charity art trail accessible for...

www.railforums.co.uk

It was only valid for travel between Shoeburyness and Leigh On Sea only (Shoeburyness, Thorpe Bay, Southend East, Southend Central, Westcliff, Chalkwell, Leigh On Sea) so just that short simple one line and seven station section. The rover cost £6.00 adult. It was sold from the 11th of July 2025 to the 3rd of September 2025 only.

It cost more than a Shoeburyness to Leigh On Sea return. You can buy a single or a return ticket and break your journey as many times as you want. For just £5.20 adult (so 80p cheaper) you could have got a return from Shoeburyness to Leigh On Sea and then break your journey along the way. If you wanted you could break your journey at all five intermediate stations on the outward journey and then again at all five intermediate stations on the return journey. Even if you want to travel in the early morning an anytime return at £5.60 adult (so 40p cheaper) is still cheaper.

It was an utterly pointless rover. It was such poor value especially as almost nobody would need a rover. I doubt that anyone was doubling back on themselves on such a line. It only lasted three months.

It was available for the duration of the Wild In Art sculpture trail.
I remember seeing it advertised but wasn't suitable as we parked at Rayleigh and bought return tickets to Leigh-on-sea making use of break of journey. However, for those that don't usually travel by train and aren't aware of ticket conditions, it could have given them peace of mind.

 

[xotGD]

One I always use is a West Mids day tripper

A great ticket for bashing Class 68s, especially after December when there'll be one every half hour.

 

[Haywain]

The best value of all has to be the FirstGroup rovers - £6 London to Scotland with Avanti. Fully aware these aren’t available to the general public though

No, the best value are staff passes giving unlimited free travel on any relevant TOC. Equally useless to the OP though.

 

[redreni]

I found the Northern £10 promotional day rangers astoundingly good value. Well worth the faff of printing out the forms and collecting the newspaper tokens.

The Football Conference, in its infinite wisdom, gave us a trip to Hartlepool on a Saturday and Oldham the following Tuesday. The cheap day rangers really enabled me to make lemonade out of those lemons for a very good price, do some hiking around Hadrian's wall: visit Carlisle, walk up past Ribblehead Viaduct and lots more, in between the two games.

 

[Statto]

I found the Northern £10 promotional day rangers astoundingly good value. Well worth the faff of printing out the forms and collecting the newspaper tokens.

The Football Conference, in its infinite wisdom, gave us a trip to Hartlepool on a Saturday and Oldham the following Tuesday. The cheap day rangers really enabled me to make lemonade out of those lemons for a very good price, do some hiking around Hadrian's wall: visit Carlisle, walk up past Ribblehead Viaduct and lots more, in between the two games.

Don't you mean the National League, it was renamed from the Football Conference in 2015.

 

[redreni]

Don't you mean the National League, it was renamed from the Football Conference in 2015.

Rebranded, not renamed. Until they change the constitution it's the Conference as far as I'm concerned.

The National League is to the Conference as Southern, Great Northern, Thameslink and GX are to GTR.

 

[Ailsa_Craig]

Rebranded, not renamed. Until they change the constitution it's the Conference as far as I'm concerned.

The National League is to the Conference as Southern, Great Northern, Thameslink and GX are to GTR.

It's still the GM Vauxhall conference as far as I am concerned