Scarborough to Gillingham (Kent)

[ST6444]

Hello!

Me and my Fiancée are travelling from Scarborough to Gillingham (Kent) next month. The usual route is Transpennine Express to York, East Coast to Kings Cross and Southeastern High Speed to Gillingham. I looked up various options but the cost is always in excess of £100 which is rather steep being on a low income and us both having railcards. The only cheaper option is going by Megabus Plus from Hull to London but with the cost of travelling from Scarborough - Hull and also St Pancras to Gillingham it has come up to £83. Is there a cheaper option?

 

[Chapeltom]

I presume that's £83 for the both of you and not each? Before any other posters jump in, I think that is good for a journey the distance it is. Not sure whether its possible to get it under that price to be honest.

Others may have better ideas, I've not the time at the moment to check.

 

[ainsworth74]

What dates did you have in mind? What times? And what railcards do you hold?

I think advances (which require travel on specific trains) are probably going to be your best option. Looking at the middle of next month they're available for about £23 per person each way so £46 per person each way or £92 in total (which to be honest is good value for money I feel).

 

[ST6444]

21st - 24th October and we are both 16-25 railcard holders. Had a thorough look on TPX, East Coast, The Trainline and also Hull Trains and had no luck despite the fact that the EC site claimed to have fares from York - London from £13 (couldn't find that). We did a few journeys from Bridlington - Gillingham and the cheapest was on Hull Trains (£20 each way booked 6 weeks in advance from Hull - Kings Cross).

The fare is for both of us travelling.

 

[Crossover]

I would advise against The Trainline

I haven't looked at fares, but would Grand Central from York to Kings Cross, whilst being a sparse service, offer some better fares?

 

[bb21]

despite the fact that the EC site claimed to have fares from York - London from £13 (couldn't find that).

That would be the lowest tiers of Advance fares, which are quota controlled, on offer. They would probably have sold out long ago, given the fact that Advance fares come on sale approximately 12 weeks beforehand and your travel dates are less than 7 weeks away.

The lowest-tier through Advance fares from Scarborough to Gillingham is £23.20 each way per person with 16-25 Railcard discount and East Coast online booking discount. These fares are still in fact available for a number of services for your chosen dates of travel. These through fares to Gillingham include travel on SouthEastern High Speed.

I doubt you will get anything cheaper for this journey, with the possible exception of using Megabus services somewhere down the line. If you buy separately to and from London, the fares in the South East between London and Gillingham are quite steep, especially if you want to use SouthEastern High Speed services.

 

[soil]

You can do York - St Pancras on Mega Bus Plus for £3 each way on your dates.

Scarborough - York is £13.20
London - Gillingham Kent is £17.80

So around £34 each

 

[Oscar]

Unfortunately the cheapest tiers of East Coast Advances are not available as East Coast & Connections tickets to destinations beyond London. So £23.70 (Railcard fare) / £37 (without Railcard) is the cheapest Scarborough - Gillingham (Kent) Advance.

However, there are tickets from Scarborough - London on 21st available for £15.70 on for example the 09:20 from Scarborough (Railcard fare) and on 24th for £9.20 on for example the 13:08 from London King's Cross (Railcard fare - you need to choose "Timetables only" and "Calling at: Stevenage" to get these to show).

An Off-Peak Return from London Terminals to Gillingham (Kent) is £17.80 Route: Plus High Speed or £15.85 Route: Not High Speed 1(Railcard fares). These tickets are not valid on Mondays - Fridays before 09:30, so make sure you remember this when booking East Coast tickets.

You also need to leave a minimum connection time of 31 minutes in London to ensure that you are making a valid through journey and can therefore catch the next East Coast service if your train from Gillingham is delayed.

This comes to a total of £42.70 each or £85.40 for two if using the High Speed line which would save you having to cross London, as the High Speed service departs from London St Pancras which is adjacent to King's Cross.

Remember to investigate compensation if your journey is delayed by at least 30 minutes - you could get the part or the full cost of your tickets refunded.

Apart from special offers and discounts all the railway booking sites should and generally do offer the same tickets. However, certain sites such as The Trainline and Raileasy charge booking fees while others such as East Coast offer discounts on some of their own tickets. East Coast offers discounts on its own Advances and this includes your tickets from Scarborough to London or Gillingham, so make sure you buy from East Coast (prices above assume use of East Coast site).

 

[Jay]

Megabus plus from York sounds good, but the journeys are sometimes too early to connect by train.

 

[ST6444]

Many Thanks for the advice!

I will investigate online today and find the cheapest fare. I travelled on Megabus Plus a few times between London & Hull and it has out me off for a fair few reasons - East Midlands Trains always being late, packed and very uncomfortable (HST MK3 sets), the coaches aren't reliable and traffic on the M1 can be horrific. The best way by far is Hull Trains but from Scarborough it would be impossible.

I remember Southeastern doing a promotion for 20% off on off-peak tickets if bought online, do they still do that?

 

[island]

I think the promotion is over.