Chesterfield - Stafford Tuesday

[ANDYS]

I am looking for the best route/fare combination for a trip on Tuesday (27/8). One adult/one child with a Family railcard, leaving Chesterfield 8/9ish to Stafford, return evening time 6ish.

Any offers and thanks in advance, Andy S

 

[island]

Are advances OK?

 

[ANDYS]

Yes Island. I assume with advances you have to stick to certain trains?

 

[island]

That's correct.

 

[yorkie]

I'm always apprehensive about being asked for the best fare, as it's so subjective.

There is a useful website called TrainsCanBeCheaper.info and that suggests splitting at Blythe Bridge may well be the cheapest. This reduces the fare* from £51.50 to £19.40, assuming the 0906 is the departure time you wish to go for, and that also assumes you are happy to change at Derby for the EMT service to Stoke, changing there for Stafford. There is a suitable itinerary returning at 1802.

I couldn't say that's definitely the best though, as some people would want a shorter journey time and be prepared to pay more for that, while others may prefer to make use of an obscure anomaly and be prepared to get into a debate about validity.

* That's the full adult fare. With your Railcard, you will get the appropriate discount for each passenger as applicable to the Railcard held, so for 1 FAM + 1 CHFAM that would be a total of £16.55, instead of the £43.80 XC want to charge you!

 

[ANDYS]

Yorkie,

thanks for your help. I understand how 'best' is different for everyone. Me and my son are only going out for the day so any route/times are good for us. If you can let me know the details I can book the tickets.

Thanks again, Andy S

 

[yorkie]

No problem, good to hear that should save you quite a bit of money!

I just put in Chesterfield to Stafford into TrainsCanBeCheaper.info and selected 'cheapest' (which is not guaranteed, and often cheapest isn't suitable) and it lists the tickets. In this case it suggests a simple "split" at Blythe Bridge.

If you want to see an itinerary for the through journey, go to a website such as East Coast, London Midland, Southern (for example) and choose the 'timetables only' option, and after entering the journey details, select calling at: Blythe Bridge. There are suitable itineraries departing 0906 and 1802.

To book the tickets, you either ask at a ticket office for Chesterfield to Blythe Bridge and Blythe Bridge to Stafford tickets. Or, if you prefer to book online, you need to do two separate searches, though you can get all the tickets in your basket to pay in one transaction if you wish. Don't forget to ensure that the correct number of passengers & the correct Railcard type is selected each time.