York - Penzance

[bennorthyork]

I'd like a bit of fares advice please. It's for 2 adults, 1 x 16 year old and 2 under 16s. We have 1 family railcard and 1 x 16-25 railcard.
We are looking to book travel York - Penzance.
Outward 31st March to arrive in time for the Scillonian sailing on 1st April, say 08.00.
Returning any time after about 19.45 on 8th April (following the return sailing of the Scillonian). Needing to arrive back in York no later than 09.00 on Monday 10th April, but probably better to arrive back on Sunday 9th April.

I know I can't book trains for these dates yet, but I'd like to know the options. We're quite keen to do the Night Riviera on the outward as the trains with a break overnight do only have a short overnight stop in Plymouth, giving perhaps only change for 4 hours sleep in a hotel. Is there likely to be availability for the sleeper? What is the cost likely to be York - Penzance on this route? On the return, what are likely to be good options for trains, probably not the sleeper? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[yorkie]

For the outward journey, the additional cost of cabins would be 50 pounds per cabin based on one person in the cabin, or 75 for two people in the same cabin (i.e. minimum 200 pounds for the whole group, based on 3 cabins).

For the return journey, the 2030 arrival into York (1427 from Plymouth) is usually an HST, though this could change depending on engineering works. Weekend 1st is well worth considering on XC HSTs in my opinion.

If you go for a through flexible fare, you could pay for the cheaper not via London fare and excess the outward portion to +Any Permitted, by paying half the difference between the appropriate fares.

The Not via London fares are 143.90 for the adults and 41.40 for children, and the +Any Permitted would be 164.40 adults and 47.30 children.

The excess would be 10.25 adults and 2.95 children.

Alternatively you could go for singles, including Advance fares (where available) but if you are returning on XC you will likely find the price to be not much cheaper than walk-ups; I would book on Trainsplit if so as it would be essential to split the journey into multiple tickets to get the best deal. LNER and GWR do reasonably priced single pricing for walk-ups, so you could mix and match depending on availability. Again, Trainsplit should be able to work out the best combination.

 

[freddie1729]

Have you booked the Scillonian yet? GWR do quite a good deal combining the tickets with a train. The return portion of the ticket allows you to break your journey which could also be useful. I did this last year if you have any other questions.

Trains to Isles of Scilly | Cheap Scilly train tickets | Great Western Railway

Discover the Isles of Scilly with by train and ferry, plane, or helicopter. Enjoy unspoiled beaches, wildlife, and island adventures.

www.gwr.com

 

[30907]

You mention "only 4 hours sleep" if you break overnight - does that mean there is a time constraint on your departure from York?

If not, and the sleeper proves impraticable, then your alternative is daytime trains throughout on the Friday - provided you do not mind rail replacement buses between Plymouth and Par

 

[bennorthyork]

I’m tryin

For the outward journey, the additional cost of cabins would be 50 pounds per cabin based on one person in the cabin, or 75 for two people in the same cabin (i.e. minimum 200 pounds for the whole group, based on 3 cabins).

For the return journey, the 2030 arrival into York (1427 from Plymouth) is usually an HST, though this could change depending on engineering works. Weekend 1st is well worth considering on XC HSTs in my opinion.

If you go for a through flexible fare, you could pay for the cheaper not via London fare and excess the outward portion to +Any Permitted, by paying half the difference between the appropriate fares.

The Not via London fares are 143.90 for the adults and 41.40 for children, and the +Any Permitted would be 164.40 adults and 47.30 children.

The excess would be 10.25 adults and 2.95 children.

Alternatively you could go for singles, including Advance fares (where available) but if you are returning on XC you will likely find the price to be not much cheaper than walk-ups; I would book on Trainsplit if so as it would be essential to split the journey into multiple tickets to get the best deal. LNER and GWR do reasonably priced single pricing for walk-ups, so you could mix and match depending on availability. Again, Trainsplit should be able to work out the best combination.

For the outward journey, the additional cost of cabins would be 50 pounds per cabin based on one person in the cabin, or 75 for two people in the same cabin (i.e. minimum 200 pounds for the whole group, based on 3 cabins).

For the return journey, the 2030 arrival into York (1427 from Plymouth) is usually an HST, though this could change depending on engineering works. Weekend 1st is well worth considering on XC HSTs in my opinion.

If you go for a through flexible fare, you could pay for the cheaper not via London fare and excess the outward portion to +Any Permitted, by paying half the difference between the appropriate fares.

The Not via London fares are 143.90 for the adults and 41.40 for children, and the +Any Permitted would be 164.40 adults and 47.30 children.

The excess would be 10.25 adults and 2.95 children.

Alternatively you could go for singles, including Advance fares (where available) but if you are returning on XC you will likely find the price to be not much cheaper than walk-ups; I would book on Trainsplit if so as it would be essential to split the journey into multiple tickets to get the best deal. LNER and GWR do reasonably priced single pricing for walk-ups, so you could mix and match depending on availability. Again, Trainsplit should be able to work out the best combination.

Thanks for all the advice. I’m trying to book on GWR for 31st March but it seems to think the sleeper is only from Plymouth to Penzance. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Benjwri]

I’m trying to book on GWR for 31st March but it seems to think the sleeper is only from Plymouth to Penzance.

When you say it only thinks it is running from Plymouth to Penzance, are you travelling from London? If it's offering a journey from Plymouth this shouldn't be the sleeper, as that is timetabled for set down only in Plymouth. The sleeper is timetabled to run its full service on the 31st, leaving Paddington at 23:45 on the 31st and arriving into Penzance at 07:50 on the 1st.

How are you searching for it, perhaps the trains needed to get you to London haven't been loaded into the system yet?

 

[ainsworth74]

Thanks for all the advice. I’m trying to book on GWR for 31st March but it seems to think the sleeper is only from Plymouth to Penzance. Am I doing something wrong?

If you look it's Sleeper between Paddington and Plymouth and then making you change at Plymouth. This appears to be because that's a faster journey and most journey planners offer the fastest journey opportunity. I'm not sure there will be a way to work around this. The only thing I can think is to search for Paddington - Penzance and select "direct train only" which will force it to keep you on the Sleeper.

 

[yorkie]

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that cabins are charged as a separate add-on, so it would be fine to book tickets for the whole journey (York - Penzance) and then to get the cabins separately from GWR?

A website such as Trainsplit can be used to specify don't change at Plymouth, or you could set a maximum number of changes, and it would also calculate the cheapest combination of fares too.

 

[Haywain]

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that cabins are charged as a separate add-on, so it would be fine to book tickets for the whole journey (York - Penzance) and then to get the cabins separately from GWR?

A website such as Trainsplit can be used to specify don't change at Plymouth, or you could set a maximum number of changes, and it would also calculate the cheapest combination of fares too.

Cabins are charged as an add-on to a walk-up ticket (Advance tickets can only be used in the seated accomodation), so the itinerary isn't overly important.

 

[Sleepy]

I’m tryin


Thanks for all the advice. I’m trying to book on GWR for 31st March but it seems to think the sleeper is only from Plymouth to Penzance. Am I doing something wrong?

GWR mixing desk site will allow booking on 31st for Paddington to PNZ through train, single berth cabins priced at £40 each. Cabins can be booked separate to tickets from GWR telesales or any station that can do seat reservations.

 

[bennorthyork]

I’m just at York station buying the tickets but the system won’t let them book the berths. It says reservation successful but doesn’t give any berths or anything.

 

[Sleepy]

I've put in 31st March online and it's reserved a berth ?? If they didn't manage it I'd phone GWR telesales to book the berths.