East Midlands Parkway “premium”?!

[Hughie]

Hi all, after some insights please,

I travel regularly between Chesterfield and East Midlands Parkway, direct route, EMR SHF>STP standard service.

Buying tickets are approximately £30 return around a week in advance, if go split tickets I can get the price to approx £19

A friend regularly does Long Eaton to Sheffield and usually costs £12 on the same basis, no need to split tickets as no saving.

Any ideas why my journey is so much more?

I cannot get any sense out of EMR, they are impossible to talk to, I feel ripped off, and having to split tickets is a bit of a gaff.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Because airports always attract premium prices for basically everything.

 

[lewismachyach]

Because airports always attract premium prices for basically everything.

Sure, but Long Eaton serves the airport far better than East Midlands Parkway does...

 

[Haywain]

Long Eaton also has Off Peak Day tickets, unlike East Midlands Parkway, which are quite a bit cheaper than Off Peaks and also drive down the ceiling for Advance fares.

 

[Watershed]

Because airports always attract premium prices for basically everything.

East Midlands Parkway isn't really an airport station at all. It doesn't have a bus link to the airport anymore! You are better off taking the bus from Nottingham, Derby or Loughborough.

 

[Starmill]

East Midlands Parkway to Long Eaton only costs £4 return, so I'm not sure how a ticket from Long Eaton to Sheffield and back would be available at £12 but splits from East Midlands Parkway cost over £16?

Have you tried using trainsplit.com? If you enter your times and dates then press cheap what results are you getting?

 

[Haywain]

if go split tickets I can get the price to approx £19

This would seem to fit with Day Returns with a split at Long Eaton.

 

[Hughie]

East Midlands Parkway to Long Eaton only costs £4 return, so I'm not sure how a ticket from Long Eaton to Sheffield and back would be available at £12 but splits from East Midlands Parkway cost over £16?

Have you tried using trainsplit.com? If you enter your times and dates then press cheap what results are you getting?

Thanks for thoughts, never used trainsplit before, usually use TrainPal,

Looking at next Tuesday 28th Jan:

LGE > SHF Return £15.60 - Trainsplit
Same train via Trainpal - £18.20

CHD > EMD Return £20.68 - Trainsplit
Same train via TrainPal £19.00

All trains are direct, very inconsistent, I suspect I’ll be using multiple apps for the foreseeable future.

 

[Starmill]

Unfortunately with Advance tickets the prices do just go up and down. There's really no accounting for it, whatever is available is available.

 

[Skymonster]

Tickets from/to East Midlands Parkway have always seemed to carry a premium compared to other stations in the area, especially to/from north. I can only assume its a legacy from when the station was built and there were grandiose ideas that it would serve the airport - airport traffic of course often seen as an opportunity to charge higher fares. Given that the station has in fact turned out to be a white elephant in that respect, I think its long past time for ticket prices to be aligned more closely to those from/to Long Eaton etc.

 

[Starmill]

Tickets from/to East Midlands Parkway have always seemed to carry a premium compared to other stations in the area, especially to/from north. I can only assume its a legacy from when the station was built and there were grandiose ideas that it would serve the airport - airport traffic of course often seen as an opportunity to charge higher fares. Given that the station has in fact turned out to be a white elephant in that respect, I think its long past time for ticket prices to be aligned more closely to those from/to Long Eaton etc.

In this case, the fares are just a reflection of the rates per rail km on Loughborough - Sheffield etc, indeed some types of tickets are actually slightly better value.

 

[ChrisC]

Tickets from/to East Midlands Parkway have always seemed to carry a premium compared to other stations in the area, especially to/from north. I can only assume its a legacy from when the station was built and there were grandiose ideas that it would serve the airport - airport traffic of course often seen as an opportunity to charge higher fares. Given that the station has in fact turned out to be a white elephant in that respect, I think its long past time for ticket prices to be aligned more closely to those from/to Long Eaton etc.

Travelling north from East Midlands Parkway has always been expensive if travelling there and back on the same day. Most of the Day Return Fares which are available from Nottingham and Derby are not available from East Midlands Parkway. Having only Anytime and Off Peak fares available, and no Day Returns of any kind, can make fares to destinations like Leeds and Manchester around double those from Nottingham and Derby. This has not encouraged people to use the station. Splitting can help for people are aware of it.