Betws y coed through ticket Ffestiniog railway

[andylikestrain]

Hi all
Would anyone be able to tell me if the through day return ticket from Betws y coed to Minfford/Porthmadog via the Ffestiniog Railway is still available to buy?
It’s on BR fares but I can’t find any TOC website to offer it.
The BR fares station /code is MINFF/PTHMDG FR and the fare is £32.00 return.
Many thanks

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Technically, yes it is.

Practically, likely to depend on which member of staff you encounter. Not available from self service machines or online. I'm sure staff will know how to issue it, especially if you have codes handy, but they may be concerned about issuing it and there not being room for you. You'd probably need to buy it from a Transport for Wales ticket office or guard in North Wales for the best chance.

The Ffestiniog do have an "unreserved" third class section for these and other miscellaneous tickets/journeys - but you need to produce/exchange it at the Ffestiniog ticket office before boarding and they'll issue a boarding pass of some description.

 

[Watershed]

The Ffestiniog timetables aren't in the National Rail industry data feeds, hence why you can't buy the fare through any journey planner based system. There are some such websites/apps that will let you repurchase a previously bought/saved fare without searching for itineraries again, but none I'm aware of that would sell it without finding an itinerary at least once to begin with.

That effectively limits you to 'dumb' fare-only TVMs that happen to have it as a whitelisted destination (can't imagine many, if any, do so) or to a ticket office or a guard/Train Manager or equivalent.

 

[MrJeeves]

The Ffestiniog do have an "unreserved" third class section for these and other miscellaneous tickets/journeys - but you need to produce/exchange it at the Ffestiniog ticket office before boarding and they'll issue a boarding pass of some description.

They basically issue you with a normal ticket, with a 100% discount.

Myself and my companion were the only passengers in the dedicated part-journey coach, which had drop-light windows which were good fun for filming out of.

 

[andylikestrain]

Thanks all, am in N Wales so will give the guard on the train from Betws y coed to Blaenau F a try.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

How does the £32.00 Anytime Day Return fare compare with booking separately? £6.10 from Betws-y-Coed to/from Blaenau Ffestiniog plus whatever the additional Ffestiniog Railway fare is?

 

[30907]

How does the £32.00 Anytime Day Return fare compare with booking separately? £6.10 from Betws-y-Coed to/from Blaenau Ffestiniog plus whatever the additional Ffestiniog Railway fare is?

A bargain! The Festiniog charge £49.50

 

[moleman212]

This sounds great. Please let us know how easy it was to buy from a guard. May consider this myself later this year

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

You may prefer to become a member of the Ffestiniog Railway Society for £41 (one year) - as that gets you 10 x free third class return trips during the membership year, and you learn a lot more about the railway. Obviously they do hope you'll continue your membership and support.

 

[moleman212]

You may prefer to become a member of the Ffestiniog Railway Society for £41 (one year) - as that gets you 10 x free third class return trips during the membership year, and you learn a lot more about the railway. Obviously they do hope you'll continue your membership and support.

Oh sounds good! Can those 10 tickets only be used by the individual member or are they transferable so a group could use them together?

 

[Mainline421]

Should be able to buy from any ticket office, I'd have Brfares ready to show or tell them to type H074 as the destination.

 

[alastair]

Oh sounds good! Can those 10 tickets only be used by the individual member or are they transferable so a group could use them together?

only by the member, you quote your number if booking on-line or show your card if at station or on train (a nil value ticket will be issued). They are strict on this now, following (sadly) some reports of abuse of members free tickets recently.

 

[Belperpete]

You may prefer to become a member of the Ffestiniog Railway Society for £41 (one year) - as that gets you 10 x free third class return trips during the membership year, and you learn a lot more about the railway. Obviously they do hope you'll continue your membership and support.

You would need to allow sufficient time for the membership application to be processed and the card posted to you.

 

[andylikestrain]

Went on the trip today. The guard at first told me that he couldn’t sell any tickets for the Ffestiniog line as it’s a private railway, but on showing him the brfares.com page and the destination code H074 he was able to find and issue it from the machine. The Ffestiniog ticket office at Blaenau F didn’t seem to have much knowledge of the ticket either. They ended up issuing me with a Porthmadog to Blaenau return, rather than the other way around. Had no problem explaining to the Ffestiniog guard though.
Hope that’s useful.