North Wales Rover question

[Green Lane]

Hi again all,

Last Saturday 13th August, I went on a day-trip from Upton (Merseyside) to Abergele and Pensarn.

On boarding the train at Upton, I bought a £14.20 return ticket and I changed at Shotton.

On the second train (on the North Wales coast line), my ticket was checked and the inspector was really very helpful. He advised me that I was paying too much and I should have instead bought a £13 North Wales Rover, which is also valid on buses in the area.

I finally looked into this today, and I'm a little confused as to whether the ticket really does cover that part of the Borderlands Line which runs on to the Wirral Peninsula (i.e. Cheshire and Merseyside?)

On this page on the National Rail Enquiries website:-
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/pr288e170a04000401a827150cf1c5f6/details.html

it says

The zonal boundaries are set by the county boundaries as listed below.

Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbigh, Flintshire, Meirionnydd, Wrexham, Ceredigion.

The all zone ticket will allow rail travel between Machynlleth and Gobowen on the Cambrian line.

But no mention of Cheshire (i.e. Neston) or Merseyside (Heswall, Upton, Bidston).

However, the PDF map on the same page does seem to cover the Wirral part of the Borderlands line.

However, on the ATW website, the PDF map on this page
http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/ExploreWales/NorthWalesRover/

shows that zone F does not apparently extend into the Wirral Peninsula.

Whilst I'm sure the inspector was correct and a North Wales rover would be valid from Upton, is it the case then that the above maps/descriptions are incorrect?

Can anyone else here confirm the validity of the North Wales Rover on the Wirral part of the Borderlands line?

Thanks yet again for any possible help/advice. For me it would be a most useful ticket.

 

[Intermodal]

I believe that the rover does actually cover the Borderlands line north of Shotton, and it is simply a case of badly drawn mapping that is causing the confusion. NFM09 has it's own map which does include Bidston in zone F.

 

[Green Lane]

I believe that the rover does actually cover the Borderlands line north of Shotton, and it is simply a case of badly drawn mapping that is causing the confusion. NFM09 has it's own map which does include Bidston in zone F.

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, not just the maps, but also the description of counties quoted above would imply that it's only valid up to the Flintshire county border (i.e. Hawarden Bridge being the northernmost valid station on the Borderlands line ) I take it the National Fares Manual is the authority on this then. I'm going back again in a couple of weeks. I will buy the Rover ticket on the train at Upton. Cheers!

 

[OwlMan]

If you go to leaflet on the ATW page you quoted there is a key to the map which explains all. All lines in Solid red are valid outside the zone area for the ticket. (Wirral, Gobowen & Aberystwyth)

Peter

 

[Intermodal]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, not just the maps, but also the description of counties quoted above would imply that it's only valid up to the Flintshire county border (i.e. Hawarden Bridge being the northernmost valid station on the Borderlands line ) I take it the National Fares Manual is the authority on this then. I'm going back again in a couple of weeks. I will buy the Rover ticket on the train at Upton. Cheers!

I am very confident it is valid because if you take a look at the leaflet included on ATW's website it states this in the key to the map:

"Please note that bus and rail routes shown outside zonal boundaries are included in the availability for the adjacent zone".

If you are still at all unsure I would take a copy of the NRE map, or the ATW leaflet, or both with you when you travel and show it to any Guard who questions it, but as one Guard already recommended to you that you take this route with regards to fares, I would not worry about it at all.
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Edit:

If you go to leaflet on the ATW page you quoted there is a key to the map which explains all. All lines in Solid red are valid outside the zone area for the ticket. (Wirral, Gobowen & Aberystwyth)

Peter

This too!

 

[Green Lane]

If you go to leaflet on the ATW page you quoted there is a key to the map which explains all. All lines in Solid red are valid outside the zone area for the ticket. (Wirral, Gobowen & Aberystwyth)

Peter

Ah, Thanks very much both, I have now downloaded the PDF leaflet and as stated there is no doubt that this is valid on the Wirral part of the Borderlands line.

That's great. I will print the leaflet out anyway as suggested, but I expect no problems buying such a ticket on boarding the train at Upton.

Of course (not that he's reading this) but thanks very much again to the guard too, or I wouldn't have known this was possible.

EDIT: Now I also understand why the maps are the way they are. Those counties listed above presumably define the boundaries of the bus validity - now it all makes sense.

 

[Green Lane]

Hi again all,

I've had a slight change of plan, I was initially going to use this North Wales Rover ticket on a Saturday, but as things worked out I may use it on a weekday instead.

I've had a look at the leaflet mentioned above and I can't find any mention of any morning peak restrictions on this rover ticket.

It is stated that the ticket is valid all day, so I take it then that this rover can be bought at any time. Is that correct? I was a little surprised by this as I thought rover tickets were generally subject to morning peak restrictions?

I was thinking of getting either the 07:32 or 08:32 from Upton Merseyside.

(On an unrelated note, I've noticed that the timetables are out by a few minutes regarding southbound services from Upton. It takes more like 3 minutes to get from Bidston to Upton, not 1 minute as suggested by the timetables - at least now I know why the train always arrives at 7:35, 8:35 etc.. rather than the stated times)

Thanks again for any possible comments re: the Rover ticket morning validity.

 

[bb21]

Says 0915 on here, fifth one down.

However there is no mention of it on National Rail Enquiries.

 

[First class]

North Wales Rover
1. You can travel by bus or train after 0915 Monday to Fridays, and all day Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays.

 

[Green Lane]

Says 0915 on here, fifth one down.

However there is no mention of it on National Rail Enquiries.

Hi, thanks very much for digging that page out! I strongly suspected there'd be some such restriction on this rover ticket. To be on the safe side, I won't attempt to use it before 09:15 then even if there is inconsistent or incomplete information on this restriction.

I could board the 09:33 at a push, although it's a little bit later than I'd ideally like. I think I may as well just pay the £1.20 extra and go at the earlier time (To Abergele and Pensarn that is) as apparently the £14.20 off-peak return has no time restrictions.

Still of course an excellent rover ticket, particularly for Saturdays but I think the weekday restriction should be stated in the promotional leaflet. (Unless of course I missed it, which is quite possible. ) Thanks again for your help.

EDIT: Thanks very much to First Class too for your helpful reply, which I've just seen.