Through ticketing to/from Keswick to Sheffield

[james-martin]

I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to rail link buses and through ticketing, however I've become a bit perplexed with finding information on the Penrith to Keswick link.

The journey I wish to make is from Keswick to Sheffield this Saturday (20th July) leaving as late as I can. Now NRE's journey planner lists Keswick bus as a valid start/end point but falls over as soon as I click the Go button.

The one journey where I have used a rail link bus before I found the fare quite easily (Sheffield to Melrose). The difficulty was finding the information on where I could catch the link bus and where I would be dropped off at Melrose (quite important as I'm visually impaired). Still a Customer Relations Officer eventually found out the information after 30-40minutes on the phone on a Sunday a few years back. He yielded the service number and the other information I needed, I think the only person who knew the answer was the control room though! Still I note that Berwick-on-Tweed's station information poster now contains all that missing informaiton.

So does anyone know an answer to the following questions:
- Can I get a through fare from Keswick to Sheffield.
- Should I be able to buy this online?
- What bus number(s) are the through tickets valid on?

I contacted Virgin West Coast as the manager of Penrith station and didn't get much out of them other than "we dond't do fares or timetables ring NRE". I then rang NRE who managed to at least confirm that there is a Keswick to Penrith ticket but couldn't answer any of the other questions! So the railway can sell a ticket but not tell me its validity let alone a timetable?!

Am I pursuing a ticket that can't be issued with Keswick as the origin and Sheffield as the destination, however I can't see a reason for a difference for a journey to Melrose. My understanding was that through ticketing more or less existed for destinations that had the railway removed but the town's complaints generated a through ticketing and timetable agreement to ensure people were still well connected to the rest of the UK and people could easily visit for tourism and other purposes?

I hope there are a few people who have bought through tickets to Keswick and can reassure me that this is only a recent change?

Thanks In advance,

James.

 

[lyndhurst25]

The Penrith-Keswick-Workington bus link is still represented on the current Network Rail geographic map with no table number next to it. On the same map from 2010 it was labelled "Table 65F" so presumably the bus times were in the National Rail timetable book at that time, but they aren't any more it would seem.

I recall that Virgin used to maintain a railway poster board in Keswick town centre with the current Penrith Station timetable displayed, 30+ years after Keswick station closed! Is it still there?

On brfares.com I can only find fares to/from Keswick and Penrith, so presumably it's an add-on ticket that is sold in conjunction with a ticket to/from Penrith. The prices for Keswick Bus and Workington Bus are the same (£5.35 Day Single or £8.95 Period Return) and Railcard discounts are available. I'm not sure how these fares compare to just paying on the bus. I doubt that you can buy online so you'll probably have to go to a station (or Railway travel agent, if any still exist). You could try buying over the phone - Virgin trains 08719 774 222 (or 01709 849200 from saynoto0870.com).

The bus you need to catch is the Stagecoach X4/X5 service.
www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_23601_X4 X5 X50 (West Cumbria).pdf


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Advance fares are available Lancaster - Sheffield on next Saturday evening, priced £15-£19. You could combine one of these with a Lakes Day Ranger (£20.50) which would cover the X4/X5 bus plus the train from Penrith to Lancaster. Unfortunately, you can't buy the Day Ranger on the bus, only from stations.

 

[james-martin]

Thanks lyndhurst25 for the information and reply.

In the end a friend dropped me off at Penrith. However I did take a trip over last weekend using a Lakes day ranger as suggested. There was no sign of the timetable board in Keswick but I did get a few interesting hints from a booking clerk. It turns out that there’s the odd through fare in the system but only from London Euston. So, it seems VWC have not quite disowned the Rail links that many a sign around Penrith station proudly proclaim “Keswick and West Cumbria – connecting with the national rail network”. I do not know if Berwick-on-Tweed has proud signs up about Rail links connecting destinations to the national rail network along the boarders but it is certainly more worthy of them!

James.