No Return to Bangor?

[Capt. Squirrel]

I recently tried to purchase a standard walk-up return from Bangor to Holyhead but the machine said that no tickets were available? Fortunatly there was still a personed ticket office open and I was advised that no returns are available because it was too short? and I'd have to buy two singles or 2 day returns. For which I was able to get a an advance for the train due in 16 minutes. When was this brought in or has it just never happened to me and I never knew? Also what exactly is the logic? I had been 4 hours on a bus to get to Bangor and was then catching a 4 hour ferry to Dublin. Why price gouge like this and inconvenience medium distance travellers? 2 standard singles if you are'nt lucky enough to RTD cheap advances is the same price as a standard return from Conwy to Holyhead, one stop further down the line. Is this no short returns really a thing anywhere else?

 

[father_jack]

Local journeys, under around 40 miles usually don't have period returns. One reason is that people are likely to travel often and month vaild return portions can go unchecked and could be used multiple times.

 

[signed]

They do exist, but only for Day Returns

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

There is both an Anytime and a Off-Peak day return

 

[Merseysider]

Is this no short returns really a thing anywhere else?

Yes, most of the UK. There are exceptions but day returns only is the norm for shorter distance journeys.

Llandudno is the first point at which period returns to Holyhead become available. That's £22 so doesn't save anything over two £11 Bangor < > Holyhead singles.

 

[Capt. Squirrel]

Thanks for the answers. It makes sense as a fraudulent use guard against. Buying standard off-peak returns has become so habitual it was a shock there not to be one.
Day Return is no good for an overnight Dublin trip.
Machine did not offer an Anytime return.
The ferries are not reliable enough to book advance tickets.

 

[Llandudno]

Yes, most of the UK. There are exceptions but day returns only is the norm for shorter distance journeys.

Llandudno is the first point at which period returns to Holyhead become available. That's £22 so doesn't save anything over two £11 Bangor < > Holyhead singles.

You can’t buy day returns between Llandudno and Chester

But you can buy off peak day returns between
Llandudno and Liverpool via Chester
Llandudno and Derby via Chester

Go figure….!

 

[30907]

You can’t buy day returns between Llandudno and Chester

But you can buy off peak day returns between
Llandudno and Liverpool via Chester

Not according to BRFares.
The Offpeak returns are only 10% more than the single.

Llandudno and Derby via Chester

... whereas these are almost half the price of the Offpeak Return.