Lost Rovers and Rangers

[Jan Mayen]

Just wondering what Rovers and Rangers have been withdrawn over the last forty years or so. I remember getting a Southern Region Rover many years ago. Anyone know when it was withdrawn?

 

[Polarbear]

Back in the 1970’s, BR retailed rovers for each of the regions.

London Midland
Great Western
Southern (as mentioned by @ Jan Mayan)
Eastern
Scottish

I recall they came with both 2nd & 1st class versions & were for either 7 or 14 days & no time restrictions I believe.

 

[AY1975]

I also seem to recall that Network SouthEast did various NSE area rovers called Network Rovers. Today some but unfortunately not all of the former NSE area is covered by rovers. For example there is the Kent Rover and the Southern Daysave, but nothing covering the entire South Western Railway network although there are rovers that cover bits of it.

 

[stadler]

There was the short lived "Connex Card" day rover back in Connex days. It gave unlimited travel on both Connex South Central and Connex South Eastern trains and was available from ticket offices. It was a fantastic value ticket and it is a shame that no replacement has been created.

 

[Farigiraf]

The Thameslink Daysave was discontinued fairly recently, certainly after Govia won the franchise. Presumably it was discontinued due to how good value it was - e.g. allowing a £20 day trip from Peterborough to Rainham, or Cambridge to Brighton, routes that can now be over £30 even with a railcard.

The Waterside Wanderer (Rail validity: Totton - Romsey/Winchester/Bursledon + All buses + Hythe ferry) seems to be unavailable to buy now, being only introduced a few years ago.

The Cherwell Valley Day Ranger was discontinued in 2018. Another great value ticket - valid between Reading, Bicester Village and Banbury for less than £10 IIRC. Wonder why it was removed as it wasn't significantly less popular than other rangers which have survived (e.g. the Kennet ranger or Thames Branches ranger). Potentially it may have been due to the ranger offering relatively cheap travel from Oxford, as this ranger combined with a ticket from Reading to London may have been cheaper than an Oxford-London return.

 

[Djgr]

Many lost weekends in the 1970s to the Merseyrover.

 

[AY1975]

The Waterside Wanderer (Rail validity: Totton - Romsey/Winchester/Bursledon + All buses + Hythe ferry) seems to be unavailable to buy now, being only introduced a few years ago.

Where did you try to buy it from? If you go onto the SWR website and click on Train tickets > Cheap train tickets > Rangers and rovers train tickets and then click on Buy tickets, it offers you the Waterside Wanderer as an option but only if you select a date far enough ahead to have it posted to you (e.g. 20th December). Otherwise I think you have to buy it from a SWR ticket office within its area of validity.

 

[Farigiraf]

it offers you the Waterside Wanderer as an option but only if you select a date far enough ahead to have it posted to you (e.g. 20th December).

This is must be why the website offered no delivery options (and therefore an error) when I tried clicking on purchase then.

Good to see it's still a thing in that case, as previous threads indicate that it was withdrawn sometime around 2022/23. SWR should really work on better promotion of these tickets, as they certainly could afford to give them more publicity given the amount of advertising money spent on the talking seagulls.

 

[A S Leib]

The Cherwell Valley Day Ranger was discontinued in 2018. Another great value ticket - valid between Reading, Bicester Village and Banbury for less than £10 IIRC. Wonder why it was removed as it wasn't significantly less popular than other rangers which have survived (e.g. the Kennet ranger or Thames Branches ranger). Potentially it may have been due to the ranger offering relatively cheap travel from Oxford, as this ranger combined with a ticket from Reading to London may have been cheaper than an Oxford-London return.

Maybe because of Chiltern not wanting to take part, although I'd have expected it to have ended it a few years earlier if so?

I also seem to recall that Network SouthEast did various NSE area rovers called Network Rovers. Today some but unfortunately not all of the former NSE area is covered by rovers. For example there is the Kent Rover and the Southern Daysave, but nothing covering the entire South Western Railway network although there are rovers that cover bits of it.

Were there any for the southern West Coast, Midland or East Coast mainlines?

 

[KevinTurvey]

Anyone remember the Network Northwest day rangers? Zone 1A covered Merseyside region, Zone 1B Greater Manchester region, Zone 2 the combined region and Zone 3 all Northwest lines, a vast area from Barrow, Clitheroe, Colne, Oldham loop, Stalybridge, Grindleford, Buxton, Macclesfield, Crewe, Chester, and Shotton and clockwise back to Barrow, (although barred on Intercity services between Warrington and Wigan) £11.90 full fare. For some reason Senior Railcard holders got a special 50% discount, other railcards only the usual 34%.

These have kind of been replaced by the Lancashire and Cheshire day rangers.

Also the Coast and Peaks rover used to be for 7 days - now alas only 4.

 

[ajs]

Do remember in the 60/70s that the Southern Region sold a number of 7 day Runabout Rovers,second class only.Each area was given a number and area 8 covered an area from East Worthing to Salisbury and included Amberley,Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Portsmouth Harbour , Winchester.Cant remember when they were discontinued though.

 

[Kite159]

This is must be why the website offered no delivery options (and therefore an error) when I tried clicking on purchase then.

Good to see it's still a thing in that case, as previous threads indicate that it was withdrawn sometime around 2022/23. SWR should really work on better promotion of these tickets, as they certainly could afford to give them more publicity given the amount of advertising money spent on the talking seagulls.

I'm pretty sure it was withdrawn the first time round due to issues with either the ferry operator changing hands or ceasing to run. Although does the ferry run these days with issues with the pier?

-----

Lost rovers & rangers from the last few years in Scotland, the (multi-modal) SPT Daytripper scratch card was excellent value for money for the sheer area it covered. Also the Edinburgh Days Out & Glasgow Days Out tickets, the Edinburgh one in particular being good value for money for the area it covered from memory*, the Glasgow one not so much. (*compared to the cost of the 3 day Central Scotland rover because at that time the Central Scotland rover didn't cover south of Newcraighall)

 

[stadler]

The Thameslink Daysave was discontinued fairly recently, certainly after Govia won the franchise. Presumably it was discontinued due to how good value it was - e.g. allowing a £20 day trip from Peterborough to Rainham, or Cambridge to Brighton, routes that can now be over £30 even with a railcard.

The Waterside Wanderer (Rail validity: Totton - Romsey/Winchester/Bursledon + All buses + Hythe ferry) seems to be unavailable to buy now, being only introduced a few years ago.

The Cherwell Valley Day Ranger was discontinued in 2018. Another great value ticket - valid between Reading, Bicester Village and Banbury for less than £10 IIRC. Wonder why it was removed as it wasn't significantly less popular than other rangers which have survived (e.g. the Kennet ranger or Thames Branches ranger). Potentially it may have been due to the ranger offering relatively cheap travel from Oxford, as this ranger combined with a ticket from Reading to London may have been cheaper than an Oxford-London return.

That old Thameslink Daysave was a weird one. It was sold only a couple tourist information offices. It was even harder to get hold of than the Southern Daysave version.

Note that it only allowed travel on the original Thameslink network. So it was only valid between Brighton and Bedford and on the Sutton and Wimbledon loop. It was not valid on the lines to Cambridge or Peterborough or Sevenoaks or Orpington or Rainham or East Grinstead or any of the newer routes.

It was initially known as the "Thameslink Daysave" and then renamed to "First Capital Connect Daysave" and then back to "Thameslink Daysave" again.

• Burgess Hill Town Council Office stopped selling it in April 2010.

• Haywards Heath Town Council Office stopped selling it in April 2010.

• Brighton One Stop Travel Office stopped selling it in April 2012.

• Brighton Visitor Information Office stopped selling it in April 2012.

• Leighton Buzzard Visitor Information Office stopped selling it in April 2015.

• Luton Visitor Information Office stopped selling it in April 2016

• Bedford Visitor Information Office stopped selling it in April 2017.

• Dunstable Visitor Information Office stopped selling it in April 2021.

It was finally withdrawn for good in April 2021 once Dunstable Visitor Information Office stopped selling them. What i find funny is that during the last four years that it was sold (April 2017 to April 2021) it could only be purchased in a town that has no railway station. It was so difficult to get hold of.

It was printed on orange CCST RSP9599 stock but it was pre printed without a date. The clerk would just write the date with a pen. I remember when i last purchased once in 2019 and once in 2020 and both times it still said "First Capital Connect Daysave" on it and caused me so many problems with the gateline people being confused.

 

[xotGD]

The Northumbrian Ranger was our regular bashing ticket in the North East. Two day and seven day options were available. Valid as far as Berwick, Carlisle and York.

Meanwhile Darlington was the northern limit of the Yorkshire Ranger.

 

[ThatBloke]

The Yorkshire rover was my ticket of choice, lots of fun back in the dy.

 

[WesternLancer]

Do remember in the 60/70s that the Southern Region sold a number of 7 day Runabout Rovers,second class only.Each area was given a number and area 8 covered an area from East Worthing to Salisbury and included Amberley,Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Portsmouth Harbour , Winchester.Cant remember when they were discontinued though.

I had a rover or ranger that covered all or much of Kent in about 1982. But I don’t think by that date it was part of this BR SR numbered sequence, nor do I think it survived into the privatisation era and possibly not into the network southeast era either though I’m unsure of that.

 

[AY1975]

I'm pretty sure it was withdrawn the first time round due to issues with either the ferry operator changing hands or ceasing to run. Although does the ferry run these days with issues with the pier?

The SWR website still refers to it being valid on the Hythe Ferry, but the Hythe Ferry website says it is suspended because of repair works on the pier.

Lost rovers & rangers from the last few years in Scotland, the (multi-modal) SPT Daytripper scratch card was excellent value for money for the sheer area it covered.

Agreed, there is still the Strathclyde Roundabout but that only covers the inner Glasgow area. It's also valid on the Subway but not on buses whereas the SPT Daytripper was (and IIRC on the Clyde ferries).

 

[Falcon1200]

Potentially it may have been due to the ranger offering relatively cheap travel from Oxford, as this ranger combined with a ticket from Reading to London may have been cheaper than an Oxford-London return.

The first Rover I ever did was a Thames Valley Railrover, way back in September 1972. This covered Oxford/Paddington, Reading/Waterloo and Reading/Newbury, plus some branches. I cannot recall but suspect there was a time restriction Mon-Fri to avoid abstracting from season ticket revenue. Certainly as young trainspotters our main use of it was to get from Oxford to London!

 

[Ant1966]

I had a rover or ranger that covered all or much of Kent in about 1982. But I don’t think by that date it was part of this BR SR numbered sequence, nor do I think it survived into the privatisation era and possibly not into the network southeast era either though I’m unsure of that.

I did a few (weekly?) Rovers on the Southern in the early 80s; starting from my nearest station at Havant.
iirc (may not!) there were 4 areas; A,B,C,D. One was Kent (A maybe) but B, C & D were all available from Havant.
Dont think that lasted long, and cant find any reference to them online. All my old tickets from that era long since lost.
Anyone else remember those, or am I just mis remembering!

 

[xotGD]

I did a few (weekly?) Rovers on the Southern in the early 80s; starting from my nearest station at Havant.
iirc (may not!) there were 4 areas; A,B,C,D. One was Kent (A maybe) but B, C & D were all available from Havant.
Dont think that lasted long, and cant find any reference to them online. All my old tickets from that era long since lost.
Anyone else remember those, or am I just mis remembering!

I remember people referring to traveling without a ticket as an "Area F" Rover.

 

[WesternLancer]

I did a few (weekly?) Rovers on the Southern in the early 80s; starting from my nearest station at Havant.
iirc (may not!) there were 4 areas; A,B,C,D. One was Kent (A maybe) but B, C & D were all available from Havant.
Dont think that lasted long, and cant find any reference to them online. All my old tickets from that era long since lost.
Anyone else remember those, or am I just mis remembering!

Maybe it was indeed one of these.

I wonder if they ceased to exist at or before creation of network southeast

 

[Ailsa_Craig]

The SWR website still refers to it being valid on the Hythe Ferry, but the Hythe Ferry website says it is suspended because of repair works on the pier.

Agreed, there is still the Strathclyde Roundabout but that only covers the inner Glasgow area. It's also valid on the Subway but not on buses whereas the SPT Daytripper was (and IIRC on the Clyde ferries).

I will believe it when I see it if the Hythe Ferry ever runs again

 

[stadler]

Another one that has dissappeared is that "Great Escape" day rover that London Midland did. It used to cost £10.00 for standard class or £20.00 for first class for one day of unlimited travel across the entire London Midland network. It was an odd one in that it was only available on selected days a couple times a year. Unfortunately it ended when the London Midland franchise ended and LNWR and WMR have never done anything like this.

 

[LUYMun]

but nothing covering the entire South Western Railway network although there are rovers that cover bits of it.

There was a SWR Rover prior to DFT taking over the company, however this was limited to staff use only. Someone who works for SWR wrote an article about it:

Paying the price for SWR nationalisation

Spare a thought for those of us who will this weekend (25 May 2025) lose a major rail travel benefit as a result of South Western Railway (SWR) becoming the first rail operator to be nationalised b…

railwayworld.net

Paying the price for SWR nationalisation​

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I remember having a Highlands and Islands Development Board Rover Ticket in the late 1970s.

This covered rail and bus travel in the area as well as (possibly) discounted ferry travel to the islands. I used it on most of the rail lines in the Highlands, quite a bit of bus travel (including a Post Bus) ferry services to and from Orkney and to and from Skye. It may have been for four days in eight, but I think that I was away for about ten days, so it may have been eight days in ten? Travel from and to Glasgow was included, but I had to buy a return ticket from Newport (South Wales) to Glasgow.

It looks as if it's been replaced by the Highland Rover, which looks fairly similar - and looks like it's pretty good value.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Aged 14, in 1976 I went on holiday with my parents, staying in an apartment in Hastings. I had recently started spotting (train and bus), and persuaded them to let me have a week rover that seemed to be centered on Ashford - if it covered Tonbridge - Hastings direct, I never used it, which would be a surprising omission. I selected it out of a leaflet offering quite a few options, it would be interesting to see it now!

I didn't use it every day, but I generally parted company with my parents at some point in the afternoon wherever they'd taken me and worked my own way home. Highlight was finding myself in Paddock Wood in the early evening waiting for the slow back to Ashford and seeing a light Class 71 heading Up at a decent pace.

 

[The exile]

I remember having a Highlands and Islands Development Board Rover Ticket in the late 1970s.

This covered rail and bus travel in the area as well as (possibly) discounted ferry travel to the islands. I used it on most of the rail lines in the Highlands, quite a bit of bus travel (including a Post Bus) ferry services to and from Orkney and to and from Skye. It may have been for four days in eight, but I think that I was away for about ten days, so it may have been eight days in ten? Travel from and to Glasgow was included, but I had to buy a return ticket from Newport (South Wales) to Glasgow.

It looks as if it's been replaced by the Highland Rover, which looks fairly similar - and looks like it's pretty good value.

Wasn’t this the one that used to feature in a near-annual Railway Magazine article -usually highlighting the various bus services and ferries that refused to accept the validity of the ticket? (plus ca change!)

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Wasn’t this the one that used to feature in a near-annual Railway Magazine article -usually highlighting the various bus services and ferries that refused to accept the validity of the ticket? (plus ca change!)

I don't know about that, but you've reminded me that it wasn't available on all the ferries, which caused a small problem when planning the route.

 

[david1212]

Late 1980's there was a day ranger that covered at least Buxton, Chester, Liverpool, Southport, Wigan. I think Blackpool and hence Preston too.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Back in 1976 you could get a Cambrian Coast evening rover for about 60p - shame there was a low service offer in those days , but you could just about get from Aberystwyth to Barmouth - bolt a quick pint - and get the train back.

Beautiful ride though on a Summer evening.........