Bristol - Manchester Friday 16 December

[Grecian 1998]

I'm travelling from Bristol to Manchester on Friday 16 December and back on Sunday 18 December. Due to the strike on 16 December there are no direct trains to Birmingham, but I can travel to Reading and change there for a direct service. Whilst I assume this isn't normally a permitted route, I have been routed this way due to weather disruption in February 2020 and I assume it would be allowed given there are no direct Bristol - Birmingham services.

I'm looking to buy an off-peak return for the full journey. Splitting tickets isn't really worth doing for £10-£15 IMHO with the possibility of disruption.

However, I can't seem to buy a ticket online as it isn't normally a permitted route - I simply get the message 'sorry we couldn't find any services from any TOC website I use.

Would the ticket office staff / TVM at Temple Meads be able to sell me one on the day? Otherwise it looks as though I might have to buy a single to Swindon then Swindon - Manchester which is valid via Reading.

Thanks

 

[Kilopylae]

Splitting tickets isn't really worth doing for £10-£15 IMHO with the possibility of disruption.

Can you expand on that?

You have all the same rights travelling on split tickets as you do travelling on through tickets. For example, if you have a Bristol to Reading ticket and a Reading to Peterborough ticket, and you get stranded at Didcot, you still have a right to be re-routed all the way to Peterborough.

This can be clearer if you buy through Trainsplit which provides a single through itinerary alongside the tickets.

I'm travelling from Bristol to Manchester on Friday 16 December and back on Sunday 18 December. Due to the strike on 16 December there are no direct trains to Birmingham, but I can travel to Reading and change there for a direct service. ... I assume it would be allowed given there are no direct Bristol - Birmingham services.

Would the ticket office staff / TVM at Temple Meads be able to sell me one on the day?

There is unpublicised cross industry ticket acceptance to travel via any reasonable route when trains are not running on the direct service. My friend travelled from Exeter to York via London yesterday using a series of split tickets along the CrossCountry route (Exeter to Bristol, Bristol to Cheltenham Spa, etc).

 

[Haywain]

There is unpublicised cross industry ticket acceptance to travel via any reasonable route when trains are not running on the direct service.

Are you referring specifically to the Cross Country route?

 

[Kilopylae]

Yes, I am referring to the suspension of CrossCountry trains to the south west (e.g. Bristol to Manchester, as in OP's case)

 

[Grecian 1998]

Can you expand on that?

Thanks for this. I would normally use split tickets from Bristol - Cheltenham and Cheltenham - Wolverhampton, with potentially another split at Stoke depending on whether I was looking to save money or have the flexibility to go via Crewe instead (due to the sparse direct service currently).

If I can do those splits going via Reading, that's good to know, even if it seems counter-intuitive.

I tested a TVM at Temple Meads this morning and buying a Bristol - Manchester OP return was fine.