Fares: Day trip on Carlisle-Settle line

[Foxcote]

A retired friend of mine has been impressed with the recent TV coverage of the S&C and wishes to make a journey over the line. I have suggested that the southbound journey may be better, as trains may be less crowded and that Mon -Fri after the school holidays may be better.

The route would be Chester (via Warrington or Crewe) to Carlisle then S&C, Leeds, Manchester Pic and Chester. Possibly departing Chester 0852. Out and home same day trip, no railcards.

I am looking for help for the best public fares for the round trip as above. Possibly to be done Mon-Fri, DEP. Chester 0852. My own thoughts are that a single Chester to Carlisle, then a single Carlisle to Chester via M/cr Pic would suffice. However, I am most ignorant of the options available, and would much appreciate forum members comments. Thank you.

 

[Merseysider]

If the journey can be made before Sunday 21st May, the S&C Day Ranger at £15 will cover the heart of the journey.

Chester to Carlisle can be done for £10.50. A via point of Ormskirk will give you several departure options for a VTWC & Connections advance at that price. A via point of either Earlestown, Altrincham or Manchester will be slightly faster and give a few more options, again connecting onto a VT at Preston, although prices tend to gravitate towards £13.50 and up.

For a relatively fast journey, Leeds - Chester advances can be had for around £15 on TPE and connecting services. Alternatively, the slower Northern trains to Manchester Victoria start at £3 and Northern trains from Piccadilly to Chester via Altrincham can be had for £6.

Total: £35-£40 if booked in advance

 

[tony_mac]

If she, or he, is interested in any other rail travel at about the same time, a Freedom of the North West 4 in 8 day rover is £72 and would cover that journey completely (it's after 08:45)

It's obviously not the cheapest option, but is very flexible, and there are other scenic lines that could be visited on some of the other days (or do both directions and see which is best!).

If eligible, a railcard would almost pay for itself with that ticket.

 

[BlueFox]

a Freedom of the North West 4 in 8 day rover is £72

It's £74, I had one last week, and a heart of England 3 in 7 Rover. Using those two tickets was the cheapest way to make two return trips I made from Carlisle to Leicester.


I didn't have problems using the rover on trains, but the people manning ticket gates need some training...

At Birmingham New Street, my Heart of England rover was greeted with the words "is that valid down here?" I had to double check to make sure I hadn't shown him the North West one by mistake.
At Manchester Piccadilly the man on the gate said he'd never heard of rover tickets, and certainly hadn't seen one.

 

[Rover]

At Birmingham New Street, my Heart of England rover was greeted with the words "is that valid down here?" I had to double check to make sure I hadn't shown him the North West one by mistake.
At Manchester Piccadilly the man on the gate said he'd never heard of rover tickets, and certainly hadn't seen one.

Unbelievable!
When you answered in the affirmative what did they say? "OK. I'll take your word for it"

It doesn't give you much confidence when the travelling public know more about the validity of their ticket than those who check them.

 

[philjo]

I had a 4 in 8 North west rover last month - it did not operate the Barriers at Leeds & the staff took a bit of persuading to let me through. maybe he was confused as it as issued from a GN station.
the ticket worked fine in the barriers at both Bradford stations, Blackpool North and Manchester Picadilly. I don't remember anyone wanting to look at the date boxes I had filled in.

 

[mikeg]

I've had no serious issues with rovers, except being asked for the date boxes on one that was valid for 7 continuous days, before the guard did a double take and noted it was the seven day one. The only time I actually worried was when a STM RPI abruptly shouted 'wheres your photo card with that?!' At Saltaire station But let me go when I explained the product. Obviously thought it was a weekly season.

 

[Foxcote]

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I had not heard of the £15 Rover on the S&C; -it certainly is a bargain. It is a much cheaper fare than when I worked on the line in steam days. Also, I had never considered advising anyone of the possibilities in combining two Rovers. The gentleman concerned will settle for a day trip; Chester, Carlisle, Settle and back. Thanks again for your interesting comments.

 

[crehld]

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I had not heard of the £15 Rover on the S&C; -it certainly is a bargain. It is a much cheaper fare than when I worked on the line in steam days.

It was a promotion designed to encourage people to use the line while it was shut due to the landslip. By all accounts it's sold well and Northern are continuing to offer it, though as JakeF says it doubles in price to £30 on 21 May now that the line has reopened.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I had not heard of the £15 Rover on the S&C; -it certainly is a bargain. It is a much cheaper fare than when I worked on the line in steam days. Also, I had never considered advising anyone of the possibilities in combining two Rovers. The gentleman concerned will settle for a day trip; Chester, Carlisle, Settle and back. Thanks again for your interesting comments.

If your friend has the will/energy to give some account of the trip and the loadings he observed for this thread

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=142737

it would be welcome.