Rhyl-Manchester Ship Canal

[Welshman]

Interesting one, this!
Mrs Welshman and I are going on a cruise up the Manchester Ship Canal! [Who says I don't know how to give a girl a good time?!!].

We want to go from Rhyl to Birkenhead Woodside ferry to catch the boat, and then return from Salford Quays via tram to Piccadilly then train back to Rhyl.

I have a Senior Railcard, and the cheapest tickets I can find are:-
Rhyl to Chester [off-peak returns,1 with SRC] £21.10p;
Chester-Birkenhead Hamilton Sq [off-peak singles, 1 with SRC] £7.45p;
Manchester-Chester [off-peak singles, 1 with SRC] £23.10p

Making £51.65 plus tram fares Salford Quays-Piccadilly, which seems good value, but does anyone know of any cheaper way? For example, is there any station between Liverpool and Manchester that is valid from Rhyl via Liverpool or Manchester, where we could stop/start short?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Railjet]

Rhyl to Birkenhead SVR (any train) would be £14.20 and £9.40 SRN, total £23.60, saving you just under £5 on the separate Rhyl-Chester, Chester-Birkenhead tickets.

But is a Rhyl-Manchester ticket valid via Liverpool? That would be much cheaper.

Edit: no, it's not.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

You could catch the tram the other way to Eccles and board a train to Newton-Le-Willows from there to change for a train to Chester. There may not be a time saving, but you might save money on the tram, I'm not sure of the saving from Eccles to Chester though, I think it might be the same as Manchester stations.

 

[northwichcat]

But is a Rhyl-Manchester ticket valid via Liverpool? That would be much cheaper.

No it's not.

Other options I can think of are:

Rhyl to Shotton return
Shotton to Birkenhead single
Manchester to Shotton single

Rhyl to Warrington return (not using outward part all the way)
Chester/Shotton to Birkenhead single
Manchester to Warrington single

Not sure on the prices of the above.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

You could catch the tram the other way to Eccles and board a train to Newton-Le-Willows from there to change for a train to Chester. There may not be a time saving, but you might save money on the tram, I'm not sure of the saving from Eccles to Chester though, I think it might be the same as Manchester stations.

£1.20 Salford Quays-Eccles
£2.20 Salford Quays-Piccadilly

Regarding Welshman's original suggestion if he was to alight the tram at Castlefield-Deansgate and make the short walk to Manchester Oxford Rd he may save himself from a missed connection at Piccadilly if the connection becomes tight.

 

[Welshman]

Thank you very much indeed for your speedy and helpful suggestions.
I thought my original total was reasonable - Railjet got it down to £46.70, but jcollins even lower, to £43.30p!!!

Thank you again - very much appreciated.

PS - thank you, also, jcollins, for the Castlefield-Deansgate/Oxford Rd suggestion. Excellent!