Crewe - Manchester - Liverpool - Crewe

[jednick]

I want to start from, and end up in, Crewe.

I want to visit both Manchester and Liverpool.

Which off-peak day return ticket could I buy which would allow me to change at Liverpool on the outward journey and change at Manchester on the return (so spend a few hours in each city)?



I'm thinking it'll have to be a station in between the two cities that I'll buy my ticket to. Also, I want to avoid any ticket that'll force me to use the West Coast Mainline up to Warrington Bank Quay.

I was thinking something like a Crewe to Urmston return? Would that ticket work for me? Are there any other cheaper tickets than that? (walk-up fares only please.)

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Try a Cheshire Day Ranger - covers all routes you mention (and Chester and Stoke).
Valid after 0900 (often before CDRs are valid). Any operator.

Cheshire Day Ranger | National Rail

Special offer: Cheshire Day Ranger. The portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[jednick]

Try a Cheshire Day Ranger - covers all routes you mention (and Chester and Stoke).
Valid after 0900 (often before CDRs are valid). Any operator.

Cheshire Day Ranger | National Rail

Special offer: Cheshire Day Ranger. The portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

Thanks for the suggestion but that option is more than I want to pay.

 

[realemil]

Thanks for the suggestion but that option is more than I want to pay.

Your other fare is £32.70 SHR via Manchester fare, https://www.brfares.com/!faredetail?orig=CRE&dest=LIV&grpd=0435&rte=312&tkt=SHR

Every other fare is not via MAN or Route 'Avanti'.

The Day Ranger is your best shot.

Unless you decide to purchase advance-single tickets for CRE - LIV, LIV - MAN, MAN - CRE - you may be able to get something cheap (especially if you manage the £1.50 northern fares) - however, you said you don't want that.

I was thinking something like a Crewe to Urmston return

Most definitely not. This is not valid to Liverpool. The closest station it's valid to would be Warrington.

edit -
Trainsplit ( https://trainsplit.com/ticket_info.aspx ) shows a £20 fare, but your train must call at Widnes, so the itineraries available would be:
Crewe - Manchester with TfW / Northern
Manchester - Liverpool with EMR.

The £20 fare results in 1/2 changes and is most definitely not valid on the direct CRE - LIV via MAN service.

 

[Watershed]

A Crewe to Widnes ticket would cover most of what you need - you'd buy an Off-Peak Day Return route via Warrington, and add on a one-zone Merseytravel Saveaway to cover you into Liverpool.

You'd obtain a change of route excess to allow you to travel via Runcorn on the outward leg of your Widnes ticket. On your way over to Manchester you would be limited to taking trains which go via, and stop at, Widnes, i.e. trains on the CLC route.

Total cost would be £11.30 + £4.30 + £2.90 = £18.50. Not much cheaper than the Cheshire Day Ranger all things said.

 

[jednick]

A Crewe to Widnes ticket would cover most of what you need - you'd buy an Off-Peak Day Return route via Warrington, and add on a one-zone Merseytravel Saveaway to cover you into Liverpool.

You'd obtain a change of route excess to allow you to travel via Runcorn on the outward leg of your Widnes ticket. On your way over to Manchester you would be limited to taking trains which go via, and stop at, Widnes, i.e. trains on the CLC route.

Total cost would be £11.30 + £4.30 + £2.90 = £18.50. Not much cheaper than the Cheshire Day Ranger all things said.

Thanks for the replies. Just been playing around with National Rail Enquiries. Would a return from Crewe to St Helens Junction be suitable for my journey? It's £20.60 but seems it might work and is a more straightforward ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Apr 2022 ==

Your other fare is £32.70 SHR via Manchester fare, https://www.brfares.com/!faredetail?orig=CRE&dest=LIV&grpd=0435&rte=312&tkt=SHR

Every other fare is not via MAN or Route 'Avanti'.

The Day Ranger is your best shot.

Unless you decide to purchase advance-single tickets for CRE - LIV, LIV - MAN, MAN - CRE - you may be able to get something cheap (especially if you manage the £1.50 northern fares) - however, you said you don't want that.


Most definitely not. This is not valid to Liverpool. The closest station it's valid to would be Warrington.

edit -
Trainsplit ( https://trainsplit.com/ticket_info.aspx ) shows a £20 fare, but your train must call at Widnes, so the itineraries available would be:
Crewe - Manchester with TfW / Northern
Manchester - Liverpool with EMR.

The £20 fare results in 1/2 changes and is most definitely not valid on the direct CRE - LIV via MAN service.

Thanks. I did see the £1.50 tickets. i might be able to work something out with those tickets.

 

[30907]

I can get a £17.10 Offpeak fare to Birchwood via South Parkway or Manchester. You would need the Saveaway S.P. to Liverpool at £4.30.
Watershed's option is cheaper therefore.

The St Helens Jn option looks OK, but playing around some more suggests it relies on the "through train" rule rather than normally being valid via MAN, so you might well have trouble breaking your journey there.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

A Crewe-St Helens Jn Off Peak Day Return (£16) works via both Manchester and Liverpool, so you could do the triangular journey with it.
You'll be stuck with the hourly Crewe-Manchester Pic-Liverpool stopping train between the two cities though.
You also couldn't do the CLC route via Warrington Central on this ticket.
Route Any Permitted, after 0930. Any operator, including Avanti from Crewe to Liverpool/Manchester/Warrington.

The same fare applies to Lea Green, which means you could use the fast TPE on the Man(Vic)-Liv run.
You'd probably need to use the tram across Manchester though, between Pic-Vic.

 

[jednick]

A Crewe to Widnes ticket would cover most of what you need - you'd buy an Off-Peak Day Return route via Warrington, and add on a one-zone Merseytravel Saveaway to cover you into Liverpool.

You'd obtain a change of route excess to allow you to travel via Runcorn on the outward leg of your Widnes ticket. On your way over to Manchester you would be limited to taking trains which go via, and stop at, Widnes, i.e. trains on the CLC route.

Total cost would be £11.30 + £4.30 + £2.90 = £18.50. Not much cheaper than the Cheshire Day Ranger all things said.

A Crewe-St Helens Jn Off Peak Day Return (£16) works via both Manchester and Liverpool, so you could do the triangular journey with it.
You'll be stuck with the hourly Crewe-Manchester Pic-Liverpool stopping train between the two cities though.
You also couldn't do the CLC route via Warrington Central on this ticket.
Route Any Permitted, after 0930. Any operator, including Avanti from Crewe to Liverpool/Manchester/Warrington.
There's a very thin service

Thanks. I saw the Anytime fare, but this Off-Peak ticket is even better. If I bought this ticket, I won't be getting off at St Helens Jn, just passing through. Do I have to explain anything to the train staff, or do I just show my ticket once and probably not expect them to query me again?

 

[Watershed]

A Crewe-St Helens Jn Off Peak Day Return (£16) works via both Manchester and Liverpool, so you could do the triangular journey with it.
You'll be stuck with the hourly Crewe-Manchester Pic-Liverpool stopping train between the two cities though.
You also couldn't do the CLC route via Warrington Central on this ticket.
Route Any Permitted, after 0930. Any operator, including Avanti from Crewe to Liverpool/Manchester/Warrington.

I don't think it's valid for break of journey in Manchester, as it's only valid that way if you take the stopping through train. Certainly, if you were to try and rely on the notion that the route taken by any through train is valid, you would have to travel to Manchester Piccadilly via the Airport.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Apr 2022 ==

Thanks. I saw the Anytime fare, but this Off-Peak ticket is even better. If I bought this ticket, I won't be getting off at St Helens Jn, just passing through. Do I have to explain anything to the train staff, or do I just show my ticket once and probably not expect them to query me again?

I would just show the portion that you're travelling on, at that moment in time, to anyone who checks your ticket. However note my comment above re: validity via Manchester.