Wrexham & Shropshire fare advice

[yorkie]

For anyone wanting to travel on Wrexham & Shropshire, you may be interested in this.

This page shows selected fares between London and Tame Bridge Parkway.

But what they don't say is that you can get a Super Off Peak return for £18.00 for this journey (£11.90 with a railcard).

Combining tickets at Tame Bridge is a good way to travel longer distances too.

Hope this is helpful!

 

[me123]

Their FC fares look particularly attractive! Thanks for the link, Yorkie.

Are they accepting Railcards at all?

 

[Techniquest]

Nice one yorkie. Now all we need to know is if they're accepting railcards and, perhaps more importantly, Heart of England rovers and West Midlands Day Rangers (latter valid from Gobowen). I suspect they won't, however.

 

[Donny Dave]

Well, after looking through their site earlier, then yes, they are accepting railcards

 

[me123]

Wrexham & Shropshire accepts the following railcards:

* Young Persons
* Senior
* Family
* Disabled Persons
* HM Forces
* New Deal

Just found that, and apparently it's on "All Tickets", presumably including AP fares. Maybe this'll make their services more attractive.

 

[87015]

But what they don't say is that you can get a Super Off Peak return for £18.00 for this journey (£11.90 with a railcard).

Hope this is helpful!

Is that the Chiltern Super Off Peak (ex-Just 15)? Be worth a spin to do the Chiltern line on a hauled service train at that price.

 

[John @ home]

The NXEC ticket booking site is now showing these fares for a return
between Tame Bridge Parkway and London on a weekday in early June.
Where 2 fares are shown, the lower fare includes Railcard discount.

£18.00 £11.90 Just 15 Return via High Wycombe
£31.50 £20.80 CDR via High Wycombe
£32.00 £21.10 SVR via High Wycombe
£34.00 £22.45 Off Peak Travelcard via High Wycombe
£36.00 £23.75 SVR via WSMR trains only [1]
£39.60 £26.15 SVR route any permitted
£39.70 £26.20 Off Peak TC route any permitted
£77.00 £50.80 SOR via High Wycombe
£82.00 Standard Peak TC via High Wycombe
£91.00 £60.05 SOR via WSMR trains only [1]
£106.60 First Peak TC via High Wycombe
£123.00 £81.20 SOR route any permitted
£131.10 Std Peak TC route any permitted
£140.00 £92.40 FOR via High Wycombe
£170.00 £112.20 FOR via WSMR trains only [1]
£209.75 First Peak TC route any permitted
£215.00 £141.90 FOR route any permitted

[1] It seems to me that the fair trading rules prevent these tickets
being sold because there are lower priced tickets with the same (and
greater) availability.

 

[yorkie]

Is that the Chiltern Super Off Peak (ex-Just 15)? Be worth a spin to do the Chiltern line on a hauled service train at that price.

Yes, "Route High Wycombe" I believe. Priced by Chiltern but allowed on any TOC.

[1] It seems to me that the fair trading rules prevent these tickets
being sold because there are lower priced tickets with the same (and
greater) availability.

Ooops. Well spotted. Their ticket pricing manager has made the same mistakes that his/her counterpart at GC made!

Their site is downright misleading as they are using the "Any Permitted" fares for comparison when that is not really a fair comparison!


I've also had it pointed out to me that Savers are valid at any time (code 8A) from Welsh stations to London.

So, let's take Wrexham to London as an example

Saver return £62.60 (Any Permitted - valid on any train)
Standard Open return £187.00 (Any Permitted - valid on any train)
Standard Open return £130.00 (Wrexham & Shropshire only)

So, anyone going from Wrexham, Ruabon, Chirk and Gobowen travelling at peak time should buy an Any Permitted Saver.

According to this, you can buy on-board at no penalty. That means they are agreeing to sell the Any Permitted saver on board, even with railcard discount. So there is no reason for their standard open to exist.

The only reason Virgin has a Standard open is to charge people a higher fare who fail to buy from the ticket office (when it is open), there is no good reason for Wrexham & Shropshire to have standard opens, so in theory none will be sold.

 

[Gizmogle]

I'm assuming they don't take priv?

If not, do they take priv tickets?

Cheers

 

[yorkie]

I'm assuming they don't take priv?

If not, do they take priv tickets?

Cheers

I'd assume not - but even if they did, the PRIV return fare from London to Tame Bridge would be more than the Super Off peak fare, the only advantage being you could use it at peak time.

 

[Gizmogle]

Ah, that's silly then Super off peak it is.

 

[adambro]

Thanks for highlighting this yorkie. Very interesting information. I'm sure they'll soon try to rectify this when they realise though.

 

[Techniquest]

Hmm, I think I'll be taking advantage of this. £11.90 for a Super Off Peak Return is not bad at all!

Tempted to go out on launch day.

 

[adambro]

Hmm, I think I'll be taking advantage of this. £11.90 for a Super Off Peak Return is not bad at all!

Tempted to go out on launch day.

Indeed, it is tempting. I do wonder how much hassle people using these tickets might get though.

 

[yorkie]

Indeed, it is tempting. I do wonder how much hassle people using these tickets might get though.

How can they possibly get any hassle?!

They are routed "High Wycombe", the train goes through High Wycombe..?!?!

If anyone were to get any "hassle" it would be very bad PR for Wrexham & Shropshire!

 

[djw1981]

Also I think that WSMR and Chiltern will be less angsty with each other than say GC & NX.

 

[yorkie]

Also I think that WSMR and Chiltern will be less angsty with each other than say GC & NX.

Just a bit given that they share the same owners!

 

[Techniquest]

True, might wait for a few days to see how it goes first.

 

[djw1981]

Just a bit given that they share the same owners!

Which was my point... although I doubt Renaissance trans will be wanting DB to be getting more money from ORCATS...... I'm sure the partnership agreement will be very tight on what DB can do with Chiltern.....

 

[Proud Salopian]

As far as I can work out it should be £32 Shrewsbury-London return (using the Advance ticket option) with a railcard. Is there a cheaper way (travelling with WSMR)?

 

[yorkie]

As far as I can work out it should be £32 Shrewsbury-London return (using the Advance ticket option) with a railcard. Is there a cheaper way (travelling with WSMR)?

Split at Tame Bridge (see above), total fare £22ish off-peak walk-on.

 

[Proud Salopian]

Found a cheaper one (than the £32 tickets) myself - Saver Return for £41 from Shrewsbury to London (£27 with railcard).

This Tame Bridge split is interesting though. Someone should find out if it works.

 

[yorkie]

Found a cheaper one (than the £32 tickets) myself - Saver Return for £41 from Shrewsbury to London (£27 with railcard).

This Tame Bridge split is interesting though. Someone should find out if it works.

Splitting at Tame Bridge is cheapest, and it definitely "works"!

 

[paul1609]

Whilst I agree with what Yorkie says its worth pointing out that theses tickets will only be valid on a couple of WSMR services Mon-SAT. The restrictions are quite severe:
"Super off-peak fares - our cheapest rates at the quietest times of day
Previously known as 'Just 15', these tickets are available for a number of longer distance journeys on Chiltern Railways. Valid on trains scheduled to arrive into London after 1345hrs Mondays to Saturdays and leaving London after 1100hrs (except between 1559-1959hrs Mondays to Fridays). There are no time restrictions on Sundays. Return journey can be made the same day or within a month."
I have a couple of contacts in Chiltern railways and Chiltern themselves have been looking to run these services for a number of years but didnt feel they had either the rolling stock or management to do so. It was also felt too difficult to run open access services from within a TOC. However WSMR have the full support of Chiltern from the very top!

I always find it rather amusing that critics accuse Grand Central of being run by a bunch of train spotters, ignoring the fact that Chilterns MD is one of the most respected managers in the industry and has a large narrow gauge railway system in his garden!

 

[Nym]

I always find it rather amusing that critics accuse Grand Central of being run by a bunch of train spotters, ignoring the fact that Chilterns MD is one of the most respected managers in the industry and has a large narrow gauge railway system in his garden!

He's earning too much money then

 

[will1337]

Looking at nationalrail and the old leaked Avantix it seems that the super off-peak returns are valid with connections as well. The following seems to be valid as I was looking up to consider going on Chiltern and coming back on the 1948 W&S from Tame Bridge PWay on the way back on their first day:

0948 - 1032 Hounslow - Waterloo
1032 - 1119 Waterloo - Marylebone
1120 - 1331 Marylebone - Moor Street (then New St - Tame Bridge Parkway)

Is this valid despite the connections being before 1100?

 

[yorkie]

Is this valid despite the connections being before 1100?

This particular ticket has restrictions to/from Marylebone, so yes that's fine.

 

[will1337]

Ahh well thanks, considering that's on the day it's incredible. At £13.20 with Y/P that's cheaper than Virgin advance Birmingham fares as a travelcard would be needed as well.

 

[paul1609]

He's earning too much money then

Think it was the spoils of a succesful management buyout but he's a very nice chap all the same.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/mdltrly/beeches.html

 

[Mojo]

I often used to see Adrian Shooter when I travelled with Chiltern from Aylesbury. He was always a very interesting and committed person to talk to. When he moved from MD to Chairman, many certaintly noticed a fall in standards on the operational side of the business.