Deal to Derby

[BluePenguin]

I am looking at options to visit a friend in Derby this weekend although East Midlands appear to be short on advances. I found a pair of return advances for £52 which is great, although the timing means I would only spend 2 hours actually in Derby. Other timings are roughly £70. Saturday is looking very expensive, Sunday less so.

I have had a look at Euston - Tamworth and changing for Cross Country as an alternative too. Although, the price difference is not that significant whilst the journey time is.

I had a quick browse on TrainSplit which found a split saving £3 - every little helps as Tesco like to claim!

Can anyone help get the price down a bit please? If not I may look at LNER to Grantham and change for Nottingham instead

I don't mind alternative routes and changes, if they bring the price down considerably. Thanks!

 

[Watershed]

What's the deal?

Have you considered getting a Chiltern & Connections Advance from Deal to Birmingham (via High Wycombe)? They can be extremely good value. Then you'd just need to add on Birmingham to Derby, which isn't too expensive. Unfortunately it would be a rather slow journey, so you might need to set off early and return late.

It would be useful if you could tell us the date, so we can look at what is cheapest on that particular day.

 

[BluePenguin]

What's the deal?

Have you considered getting a Chiltern & Connections Advance from Deal to Birmingham (via High Wycombe)? They can be extremely good value. Then you'd just need to add on Birmingham to Derby, which isn't too expensive. Unfortunately it would be a rather slow journey, so you might need to set off early and return late.

It would be useful if you could tell us the date, so we can look at what is cheapest on that particular day.

Lol very funny - I am struggling to find a good deal!
Typically, the trains to come here and visit the beach and cliffs for the day are cheap as chips the one weekend we are both free

That is a good idea, Chiltern appear to be rather sensibly priced compared to EMR although as you say a lot slower. I am making a spontaneous trip to visit a friend for the day for a long over due catch up. If I was staying over night I would definitely consider them but for a day trip the timings don't work very well.

I am looking at travelling on Saturday 12th August and looking to travel up as early as possible the make the most of the day. My friend will come off his night shift at 10am and will be a little tired so we are planning to meet up until the afternoon. I have my eye on the 08:02 from St Pancras arriving into Derby at 09:27. My train into London arrives at 07:54 so this option is not coming up, as only fittest of the fit would make that in 8 minutes. Realistically, my first option is the 08:32 arriving at 10:08

I will probably look to leave between 15:00 and 17:00 although not in a rush to get home or anything so can wait around for a 'cheap' train if need be

 

[paul1609]

Consider getting a one day travel card from Deal and travel to Golders Green. Then get the National Express from there to Derby. The coach fare is about £30 return this Saturday. The journey time is around 4 hours from Golders Green which can't compete with EMR but is reasonable when compared with the slow trains via Birmingham. Going to Golders Green avoids the crawl to Victoria coach station. I did a return trip to Derby comfortably from Rye earlier in the year for football. Sometimes I can get a cheap advance for the return so go up by coach and back by train.