Trivia: obscure rail tickets you've used

[Farigiraf]

What are some tickets you've used that you think virtually nobody else has bought?

For example, recently I travelled from Shepreth (Cambs) to Leigh (Kent) on one ticket, and thanks to a split ticket, possess a Yarmouth (Wight) to Royston advance.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

A circular saver for 2 ppx from Ellesmere Port to Portsmouth, out via Cambridge & back via Oxford, using a Voyager card (September 1987).

I remember taking an old copy of the BR Fares Manual to Runcorn station a few days before in case I needed to explain to the man in the booking office what Circular Savers and Voyager Cards were. I did. It took him the nest part of half an hour to write out the ticket.

 

[AJM580]

Norwich to Windermere return ticket. Was valid via Manchester or WCML so went out via Manchester and back via WCML.

Great Yarmouth - Grindleford return.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Single from Ardwick to Manchester Metrolink Zone 'F'.

 

[CarltonA]

Slough to Woking via Windsor. Four trains needed outward and five on the return thanks to a points fault near Egham on the day. Other routes available via Reading or London.

 

[185143]

Wonder how many Aberdeen-Penzance via London walk up tickets have ever been sold?

I'd imagine the vast majority of people doing that journey are enthusiasts going for the direct XC service.

 

[totally]

Wonder how many Aberdeen-Penzance via London walk up tickets have ever been sold?

I'd imagine the vast majority of people doing that journey are enthusiasts going for the direct XC service.

Why would you buy a via London ticket to travel on the direct route?

 

[185143]

Why would you buy a via London ticket to travel on the direct route?

I did travel via London.

Merely wondering how much demand there is for Aberdeen-Penzance via London. I'd assume very little.

 

[waveyswirley]

Sort of related: a fellow on another forum I visit did a FOI request for TfL journeys which nobody made in 2023-24. There are quite a few!

FOI request detail

FOI request detail

tfl.gov.uk

 

[A S Leib]

• A Knockholt – Paddock Wood single (most people buying those probably have travelcards or season tickets; I tapped out / in at Knockholt)
• An advance ticket from Tiverton Parkway to Clapham Junction, changing at Reading, when I suspect most people trying to go from Exeter to Hemel Hempstead cheaply by train would be going via Salisbury
• High Wycombe – Winchester's 178 passengers per year, so I think a ticket via Reading counts
• An advance single from Nuneaton to Sheffield changing at Tamworth and Derby rather than Tamworth or Birmingham New Street (not massively strange)

The problem for me is that a lot of my relatively unusual journeys (e.g. a planned one from York to Doncaster out via Selby and back via Wakefield) are using less unusual tickets, although that at least makes this thread more interesting.

 

[Oxfordblues]

I privilege accompanied bicycle single from Minffordd (High Level) to Tanygrisiau. The guard wanted to see the bike's priv card!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I didn't personally use this, but I bought two Atherton -> Hag Fold Accompanied Child Tickets, I thought those had stopped being issued years ago.
I can't imagine many people have gotten that ticket, I'm pretty sure you need a staff member to issue it, and it's only a 2 minute journey (got it from the ticket office at Atherton station).

Also when the ticket journey data was revealed for the first time I found multiple journeys only I had done, but that was only within that year.

 

[David57]

I bet that there were a few 'creative' journeys produced when the Persil offer ticket was on in the 1980's!

 

[A S Leib]

A Manors – Newcastle advance single (for a journey continuing to Carlisle).

A single from Alnmouth to Acklington as another one-stop example in the North East.

 

[D6130]

Summer 1976 (more than 28 years after nationalisation!): Farncombe to Godalming First Class single....issued by yours truly at Guildford passimeter office on Southern Railway First Class 'blank to blank' Edmondson card stock. All above board, paid and fully-accounted for at the time....I just wish that I had a fountain pen with me at the time instead of a crummy old BR-issue Biro. I still have that ticket somewhere.

 

[James H]

Quite proud of my Elephant & Castle to Rosslare ticket - can't have been many of those

 

[Mainline421]

Probably used quite a few tickets that no one else has ever bought but Pokesdown to March and Pokesdown to Carrick-on-Shannon are the ones that spring to mind.

 

[Bill57p9]

Swansea to Wick via London open return, back in the early 90s.
My grandmother had a priv card, which allowed me as an under 16 travelling with her to get any return for £1. We travelled all over the network together over the years. That return basically gave carte Blanche to go anywhere west or north of London.

 

[45107]

Not used ‘em my self but in the days of the ‘old’ BR Free Pass (pre 83), I’m aware of (amongst other permutations)

Bat & Ball - Bowling
Carbis Bay -Wemyss Bay

 

[Taunton]

On the old generation DLR ticket machines, I bought a child single from Royal Victoria to Custom House, two stations within sight of one another.

It wasn't for travel. Out for a walk one hot summer Sunday afternoon, Mrs T became notably thirsty. There was a Coca-Cola vending machine there. However, it only took coins (I said it was old generation times). I only had paper money with me. There was nowhere nearby for change. No pub. The refrigerator in the drinks machine hummed away. The sun beat down. Mrs T looked so longingly at the bottles inside the glass ...

However there was a DLR ticket machine, took £5 notes and gave change. The absolute cheapest ticket, after a quick review, was this child single, at times when it was something like 60p. Out came the ticket, and £4.40 in coins as change. Mission accomplished.

 

[birchesgreen]

North Downs Day Ranger seems obscure, none of the barriers i tried it on accepted it (though i got through with operator intervention - though they did take a long look at the ticket as they hadn't seen or even heard of one before!) Guards on the trains who saw it also said they hadn't seen one before!

 

[waveyswirley]

Bebington to Torre is my personal best

 

[HS2isgood]

Aranguren to Unquera
Madrid-Chamartín to Sant Vicenç de Calders
Cruz Quebrada to Madrid-Chamartín

 

[Bradford PA]

A friend of mine in the 1980's travelled regularly between his home in Feltham and his parents in Ben Rhydding. The return half of the monthly ticket took some creative trips as he used it for the purposes of football groundhopping. Apparently, many onboard staff assumed that Ben Rhydding was situated north of the border, thus allowing for even greater flexibility in his journeys.

 

[pitdiver]

Back in the day when you had to pay for a bike on BR there was a passenger at Moor Park who purchased a Bicycle Season Ticket. Naturally lt had a photo card. (BR trains stopped at Moor Park in those days)

 

[Snow1964]

Had a handwritten Edmonson size ticket from Clapham Junction to Coventry in mid 1980s, student single.

It was days before TVMs and I got it early weekend evening and the one ticket window that was open gained a queue of about 20 people whilst he found the fares and blank ticket stock which someone had locked away

 

[Haywain]

I bet that there were a few 'creative' journeys produced when the Persil offer ticket was on in the 1980's!

Furze Platt to Golf Street Halt.

 

[Class15]

Sort of related: a fellow on another forum I visit did a FOI request for TfL journeys which nobody made in 2023-24. There are quite a few!

FOI request detail

FOI request detail

tfl.gov.uk

Wow, Roding Valley appears everywhere you look on that list!

 

[A S Leib]

Wow, Roding Valley appears everywhere you look on that list!

The northwestern parts of the Metropolitan, Central and Piccadilly lines as well.

 

[Wolvercoter]

Pretty sure I'm the only person to have bought a Marsh Barton MBT to Malden Manor ticket so far... but as MBT is a new station, I suppose there are plenty of journeys yet to be made.