Elsenham to Melton Mowbray

[DJ737]

G'day

Just looked up a journey I may be making in May and got these two results :

18/05/10

09:52 Elsenham-1024 Cambridge
11:00 Cambridge-12:33 Melton Mowbray
Total GBP 32.10

or split the journey

09:19 Elsenham-09:57 Stansted Airport GBP 2.20
10:21 Stansted Airport-12:33 Melton Mowbray GBP 5.50
Total GBP 7.70

I'll save GBP 24.40, but waste about 30 mins of my life then whizz back thru Elsenham at about 90mph...........or am I missing something here?

Cheers
DJ737
Melbourne, Australia

 

[O L Leigh]

I'll save GBP 24.40, but waste about 30 mins of my life then whizz back thru Elsenham at about 90mph...........or am I missing something here?

Yes you are.

Linespeed through Elsenham is 70mph, and I'm not convinced the Brum train will have quite cracked that speed as it is coming up rather a steep hill.

O L Leigh

 

[yorkie]

or am I missing something here?

If you're referring to the price, click on it and see what product you are being offered.

You'll find that the Stansted to Melton Mowbray fare is an Advance ticket.

The only fares available from Elsenham to Melton Mowbray are walk-on tickets available for immediate travel and are not restricted to any particular travel itinerary.

There are many flows where Advance tickets do not exist (e.g. anything - AFAIK - involving a combination of Northern + TPE to give one other practical example), in such cases in order to book an Advance you need to split the journey into multiple tickets, which can be combined to form one journey. (known as "split ticketing", "combination tickets", etc).

 

[323235]

A cheaper option for changing at Cambridge which need to be booked separately is :-

Elsenham - Cambridge Anytime Day Single £7.60

Cambridge - Melton Mowbray "CrossCountry Advance" £5.50

Total £14

or alternativly there's

Elsenham - Audley End £3.40

Audley End-Melton Mowbray £5.50

£8.90

 

[yorkie]

XC do not seem to do "XC and connections" fares for flows on this route, therefore the "XC Only" advance fares need to be booked from a station that the XC trains call at, for example Stansted Airport, Audley End, Cambridge...

It would appear that XC either don't want the custom, or have been unable to reach an agreement with NXEA. For example, Virgin offer "VWC & Connections" fares to Birmingham from Elsenham (via London), yet on XC only walk-up fares are available. XC are rubbish anyway so perhaps they are doing people a favour by making their trains unaffordable. You have to laugh at the price of the Birmingham to Elsenham First Anytime return at £239, considering how poor the service is.

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

Thanks for the replies, do you guys ever sleep?

Cheers
DJ737
Melbourne, Australia