Manchester - Glasgow: fare options?

[daniel78]

Hi,

I'll be travelling from Manchester to Glasgow one Sunday in October. I've been having a play with the search engine at the National Rail site, towards the end of the current booking window, and I don't see much in the way of advance fares, and an anytime single is £64.50. Does anyone know of any clever tricks to get a cheap fare?

 

[bb21]

October? Cheap Advance fares are not released yet. Only up to 12 weeks in advance I am afraid.

You will only get advice about walk-on fares at the moment, and you need to state single/return, Railcard held (I guess none), and flexibility over dates/time.

 

[daniel78]

October? Cheap Advance fares are not released yet. Only up to 12 weeks in advance I am afraid

Yeah I get that, sorry if I wasn't clear. I was just having a look at the most recently released advance fares available at the moment (Mid may). I just cann't see much of a deal on advance tickets.

 

[IanD]

You can get advances for most Sundays in April for £16.50 (but that's with a bus for part of teh journey).

www.brfares.com shows the cheapest is £12 (VT only) or £13 (VT&connections).

I guess you need to keep your eye on the date when the October tickets are released here

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[daniel78]

You can get advances for most Sundays in April for £16.50 (but that's with a bus for part of teh journey).

www.brfares.com shows the cheapest is £12 (VT only) or £13 (VT&connections).

I guess you need to keep your eye on the date when the October tickets are released here

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

and keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks. The NR journey planner mainly suggests getting to York first then up the East Coast mainline. I've tried specifying 'via Preston' and I'm starting to get somewhere. On 13th April I see a £16.50 advance ticket, with a bus journey between Preston and Oxenholme. Is that the bus you're referring to? It looks like a temporary measure for engineering works to me, hopefully that won't be an issue in a few months.

Not a problem for me to bookmark the approx date the tickets I need going on sale, and I'm never too far from the internet to snap them up quickly. I'd be really grateful for any more input from anyone who's used to travelling between Manchester and Glasgow. There seems to be several routes you can take, I'm finding it a bit confusing trying to get to grips with the options.

 

[yorkie]

Thanks. The NR journey planner mainly suggests getting to York first then up the East Coast mainline. I've tried specifying 'via Preston' and I'm starting to get somewhere. On 13th April I see a £16.50 advance ticket, with a bus journey between Preston and Oxenholme. Is that the bus you're referring to? It looks like a temporary measure for engineering works to me, hopefully that won't be an issue in a few months.

Trans Pennine Express (TPE) Manchester - Edinburgh via Newcastle

On Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings between 30 March and 18 May 2013, services between Manchester Airport and Newcastle will be extended to serve Edinburgh, due to engineering work on the West Coast Main Line.

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...an anytime single is £64.50....

You can reduce that by almost a third by "splitting" at Chorley (source: trainscanbecheaper.info), this is because there is an Off Peak Day Single (CDS) from Chorley to Glasgow at a reasonable price.

 

[daniel78]

Thanks for the info on the split, although I should be able to book a cheap advance in due course.

I've just realised the problem while having an idle play with the National Rail journey that I was entering 'Manchester (all)'. This only shows up journeys from Manchester Victoria; quicker but with only an Anytime fare offered. If I specify 'Manchester Piccadilly' I get the advance fares with a change at Warrington (plus walk across town).