Chester Zoo validity

[Freddie]

Evening all,

I live in Warrington, and sometimes have cause to visit Chester Zoo. I've discovered this combination ticket, which represents quite a saving on the usual train fare + bus fare + entry charge. Can anyone shed a bit more light on the validity?

The Merseyrail website suggests it would only be valid on Merseyrail trains, but its actually an Anytime return, and it was accepted on an ATW train when I used it yesterday.

Should it be possible to buy it from a non-Merseyrail station? Fares only exist from Merseyrail stations (as far as I can see), but should I be able to buy a ticket at another destination, with a Merseyrail origin? For example, could I start at Warrington Bank Quay, travelling short on a ticket from Newton-le-Willows?

Finally, any idea on the student discount? The Chester Zoo website says that a student fare is £15, but this is not mentioned anywhere on the Merseyrail website, and I can't find one in Avantix. At the station, I was told that the student fare wasn't valid until after 0930, which disagrees with anything else I've seen!

Any insight would be appreciated.

Freddie

 

[causton]

You should be able to buy the ticket from any station - impartial retailing and all that. BoJ (and therefore starting short) is fine. No idea about student discount, as railcards seem to give a 5p discount nothing more!

 

[sonic2009]

this may help :

Details

An inclusive package that includes rail travel to/from Bache station, bus transfer between the station and the Zoo, and admission to Chester Zoo
Conditions

The through ticket from stations in the Merseytravel area is valid on any service after 09.30 Mondays to Fridays, and no time restrictions at Weekends and Bank Holidays.

From all other National Rail stations the normal time restriction of the ticket purchased applies. No further discounts for Railcard holders to the through fare from the Merseytravel area or to the add-on amount.

The add-on amount may be added to discounted fares. The bus linking Bache and Chester Zoo operates every 15 minutes. on weekdays and every 30 minutes on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Journey time is 10 minutes.

Adult

£18.70 inclusive for journeys starting in the Merseytravel area, £11.20 add-on to rail fare to Bache for journeys from outside the Merseytravel area

Concession
Students £15.00

Child

Age 3 to 15, £14 inclusive for journeys starting in the Merseytravel area. £8.15 add-on to rail fare to Bache for journeys from outside the Merseytravel area