Fare advice: Glasgow to Arisaig

[otter11]

Hi all, a newbie here.

I will be holidaying in the Highlands this summer and wanted to ask some advice about finding the cheapest fare.

I will be travelling from Glasgow Queen Street to Arisaig, with a 16-25 railcard. I was hoping to take advantage of the new cheap ScotRail advance fares - however unfortunately they are only valid to certain stations on the West Highland line (not including Arisaig). Dates are unimportant at the moment as I am just looking for the cheapest fare.

I would be happy to spend a couple of hours in Mallaig and then travel 2 stops back down the line to Arisaig. This would cost from £3.30 to Mallaig and then £2.30 for the single back to Arisaig. Currently this seems to be the cheapest possible way to do the journey (amazing value too for the distance!).

Unfortunately, when I search, the £3.30 Mallaig fares seem to be restricted to 1821 departure from Glasgow (meaning I would have to spend the night there before going to Arisaig).
Does anyone know if this is because the quota has been booked already, or whether Scotrail have decided not to release any cheap tickets for the other times? Also there seem to be NO £3.30 tickets for the Mallaig-Glasgow return at all. It seems strange that they would release £3.30 tickets on the outbound but not the return.

Any help would be much appreciated - and if anyone can work out a cheaper way to do the trip that would be great too!

Many thanks

 

[Romilly]

I have had a quick look at this (for random weekday dates in June).

You can get £3.30 Advances for Dalmuir-Arisaig and for Glasgow-Glenfinnan. You could see which of Glasgow-Dalmuir and Glenfinnan-Arisaig is cheaper (I suspect it will be the first of those). [Edit: the cheaper is the £2.40 Glasgow-Dalmuir single, although note that to get this discounted fare you need on a weekday to be travelling after 10am unless it's a day in July or August.]

On the way back, there are £10.25 Arisaig-Dalmuir Advances on most trains.

I have no idea why the availability is like this, but am speculating that it might be connected with the Glasgow rail improvement works that are due to continue until 7th August.

 

[otter11]

Thanks for this, definitely looks like the best option for the moment. It's just a shame the £3.30 fares are on that late train, as I think that could be too late an arrival in Arisaig. I will be travelling in August so hopefully it is connected to the improvement works and will change at that point...

It's looking like £10.25 is the best for the way back then, which is irritating...

 

[ScotTrains]

You could take the risk and buy a Mallaig bound ticket but just walk off at Arisaig. I know it's short ticketing but there is no barriers at Arisaig. Also, If you ask the conductor I'm sure most would let you off anyway for such a small distance. If not you could try offering to pay the difference (mallaig to Arisaig).

 

[otter11]

See, I was wondering whether that would be worth trying. And then if there was any problem I could always stay on the train to Mallaig and buy a single for the way back. It seemed odd that the advance fares didn't go to Arisaig anyway. What sense does it make to offer Dalmuir to Arisaig advance fares, but no Glasgow to Arisaig advance? Maybe I'm missing something...

 

[Romilly]

It would seem from brfares.com that Scotrail have chosen not to set Advance fares for Glasgow-Arisaig: maybe they see no commercial need to do so (or maybe it's an oversight).

 

[otter11]

Indeed, just seemed odd therefore that they would set fares from Dalmuir, which is a relatively small station I believe. Perhaps it was an oversight.

 

[telstarbox]

If it was me I'd take the risk and stop short on the Mallaig ticket.

 

[Romilly]

The difficulty with that advice is that it is advising the OP to break the Advance-ticket terms and conditions in order to obtain a financial advantage. For a journey in England at least, following that advice would not be without its risks.

 

[otter11]

I'm not massively keen on getting into trouble... I think I will buy the ticket to Mallaig, and when on the train ask the conductor if I can alright at Arisaig. If they say yes, I will do so. If they say no, I will just continue to Mallaig and spend a couple of hours there before paying £2 odd for the return. Mallaig is meant to be a good place to visit anyway...

Don't know how I can work it for the return, but I guess I will wait for the conductors response on the outbound.

 

[tsr]

Both Mallaig and Arisaig are very nice places to visit, indeed. I shouldn't imagine the conductor will have a problem with stopping short, though you never know really. They may even look at you like you are mad because nobody would stop you doing so! But always do obey instructions.

 

[otter11]

Yes, I think I will just wait and see. Still very confused as to why the £5 advances (£3.30 with railcard) are so restricted on that route... I'm just hoping when they release their next lot of advances there will be greater availability... but maybe that is naïve of me!

 

[scotsman]

Get the Mallaig ticket then get off at Arisaig. No one will care, although the conductor may run over to make sure you know that you're in the right place.

Arisaig is an unstaffed halt with an average of 2 boarding or alighting each train there. There are most definitely no ticket barriers or revenue protection staff.

 

[otter11]

Thanks for all the info everyone!

 

[nitten_travell]

We did (almost) the same thing last week. Armed with £5 Glasgow to Mallaig singles we got off at Morar since I was collecting a hire car there and also we'd booked accommodation there, but some time after buying the train tickets. There was a change of conductor at Fort William. On departure he walked through the train asking where people were going, presumably because that line has a lot of request stops. We replied "Morar" and that was that. I cannot imagine that, had he seen our tickets, common sense would not have prevailed.

 

[otter11]

We did (almost) the same thing last week. Armed with £5 Glasgow to Mallaig singles we got off at Morar since I was collecting a hire car there and also we'd booked accommodation there, but some time after buying the train tickets. There was a change of conductor at Fort William. On departure he walked through the train asking where people were going, presumably because that line has a lot of request stops. We replied "Morar" and that was that. I cannot imagine that, had he seen our tickets, common sense would not have prevailed.

Very useful, thank you! May I ask, were the £5 tickets on the 1840 departure? Or did you manage to find some at other times. I'm still awaiting a response from Scotrail as to why the fare allocation seems so random...

 

[me123]

Although I've not been to Arisaig, I can only echo the comments of others. If you buy a ticket to Mallaig, you will not be stopped as you leave the train at Arisaig. Scotrail's guards are generally a lot more lenient than those elsewhere in the UK, and I'm sure they won't care about you stopping short. As has been pointed out, there will be nothing to stop you leaving the train there. The guard will have a train to dispatch, and won't stop you and there certainly aren't barriers, nor will there be revenue staff. You'll be fine.

 

[nitten_travell]

Very useful, thank you! May I ask, were the £5 tickets on the 1840 departure? Or did you manage to find some at other times. I'm still awaiting a response from Scotrail as to why the fare allocation seems so random...

It was the 1219 from Glasgow, booked a couple of months ago. Availability was not really a problem.

 

[otter11]

It was the 1219 from Glasgow, booked a couple of months ago. Availability was not really a problem.

That's interesting because there are definitely no £5 tickets on that time now... Perhaps it is something to do with works at Glasgow, as was mentioned above. Guess I will just have to wait and see!