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Merseyside day ticket options (including Merseyrail & ferry)

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Blinkbonny

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Hi, I'm trying to follow all this as I'm off to Liverpool next week for a few days.

I Intend to spend at least one day rail-roving as far as Chester, and as far as I can get really. Is this Saveaway still the best/only way of doing this? If so how do I get one without having to buy a Walrus card?

Also is it still valid on Ferry? (But presumably not on the early morning commuter ferries?) And does it mean I have to stick to Merseyrail trains? Is there an all-company alternative? (I have a railcard if that's any use to me, and a bus pass so I don't really need that aspect of it.)

Thanks for any further info.
 

Bletchleyite

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Hi, I'm trying to follow all this as I'm off to Liverpool next week for a few days.

I Intend to spend at least one day rail-roving as far as Chester, and as far as I can get really. Is this Saveaway still the best/only way of doing this? If so how do I get one without having to buy a Walrus card?

Yes, a Saveaway will do that. I think the only way to get a non-Walrus one now is a Northern ticket office.

Also is it still valid on Ferry? (But presumably not on the early morning commuter ferries?)

Yes, only thing is you can't do a full round trip in one go, you must break your journey and wait for the next ferry. This is what they mean by "can't be used on river cruises".

The ticket carries a "not before 9:30am" restriction on all modes - ferry, train and bus, except at weekends and Bank Holidays. You can use it until 6:29am that morning before the peak but there won't be a lot running then!

Full validity information: https://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/tickets/compare-tickets/pages/saveaway.aspx

And does it mean I have to stick to Merseyrail trains? Is there an all-company alternative? (I have a railcard if that's any use to me, and a bus pass so I don't really need that aspect of it.)

It is valid on any TOC which has two station stops within the area of validity, which basically means Merseyrail Electrics, Northern, LNR (WMT) and TPE. If you don't need that validity you can get the Merseyrail Electrics day ticket which is about 10p cheaper. The advantage of that ticket is that it is never issued on Walrus.
 
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johnmoly

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As far as I am aware, the All Areas Saveaway , price £5:40, will get you all over Merseyside on trains, buses and ferries in off peak times - peak time being 06:30 until 09:30, no evening peak time. You can also go to Chester with that card, plus Ormskirk and Ellesmere Port as those three destinations are technically outside Merseyside but as Merseyrail run the services you can go there. Best get from a non Merseyrail ticket office as they will say you have to have a Walrus card as well. Saveaways are sold in most Paypoint stores, Merseytravel centres and all staffed rail stations. The all area ones is valid on the ferry, the service only has one ferry so therefore it runs hourly, you are supposed to interrupt your ferry trip but as nobody ever comes round to check just stay on it, thats what most Scousers do.

Enjoy
 
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Yes, a Saveaway will do that. I think the only way to get a non-Walrus one now is a Northern ticket office.



Yes, only thing is you can't do a full round trip in one go, you must break your journey and wait for the next ferry. This is what they mean by "can't be used on river cruises".

The ticket carries a "not before 9:30am" restriction on all modes - ferry, train and bus, except at weekends and Bank Holidays. You can use it until 6:29am but there won't be a lot running then!

Full validity information: https://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/tickets/compare-tickets/pages/saveaway.aspx



It is valid on any TOC which has two station stops within the area of validity, which basically means Merseyrail Electrics, Northern, LNR (WMT) and TPE. If you don't need that validity you can get the Merseyrail Electrics day ticket which is about 10p cheaper. The advantage of that ticket is that it is never issued on Walrus.

Plus Transport for Wales on the Bidston - Heswall stretch.
 

M28361M

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Yes, a Saveaway will do that. I think the only way to get a non-Walrus one now is a Northern ticket office.

Chester as well? Saveaway tickets are in the ticketing system as Day Rangers so in theory any ticket office can issue them, or even buy on board a train (although I have heard reports of bus drivers refusing "bog roll" tickets).

The ticket carries a "not before 9:30am" restriction on all modes - ferry, train and bus, except at weekends and Bank Holidays. You can use it until 6:29am but there won't be a lot running then!

You'd be surprised - the first Northern service out of Lime Street is at 0510, there are a few Merseyrail services before 0600, and many bus services that start around 0500 (plus "24-hour" route 86/86A).

It is valid on any TOC which has two station stops within the area of validity, which basically means Merseyrail Electrics, Northern, LNR (WMT) and TPE.

Also Transport for Wales (Bidston-Heswall) and East Midlands Trains (Lime Street-South Parkway).
 

Bletchleyite

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Chester as well? Saveaway tickets are in the ticketing system as Day Rangers so in theory any ticket office can issue them, or even buy on board a train (although I have heard reports of bus drivers refusing "bog roll" tickets).

Yes, Chester too, though as the OP talks about going there I doubt he is starting there :)

Also Transport for Wales (Bidston-Heswall) and East Midlands Trains (Lime Street-South Parkway).

Correct, didn't think of those. Basically any TOC that has at least two station stops within the Merseyside area plus all of the Merseyrail Electrics system.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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If your ticket to Liverpool is to Liverpool Stations (i.e not an Advance) then it can be used to get to/from James Street or Moorfields. I am not sure what happens since they installed the barriers at Lime Street.

There are still no ticket gates for the south shed platforms at Lime St (P6-10), so no ticket check there.
London trains (VT) usually use P9.
Tickets are only swallowed by the gates to the north shed (P1-5).
Incidentally, having just checked the map of Lime St on the Network Rail web site, it has not been updated for last year's platform rebuild/renumbering!
 
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fowler9

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There are still no ticket gates for the south shed platforms at Lime St (P6-10), so no ticket check there.
London trains (VT) usually use P9.
Tickets are only swallowed by the gates to the north shed (P1-5).
Incidentally, having just checked the map of Lime St on the Network Rail web site, it has not been updated for last year's platform rebuild/renumbering!
Just to add that the barriers on 1-5 have always spat the Liverpool Stations tickets back out to me if needed to get to James Street which I have done on rare occasions (Normally have a Trio).
 
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The Woodside tram is currently only running on Sunday afternoons but I think extends opening hours after Easter. I was there last Saturday, it didn't look to me that the tram rails had been used for sometime however. Birkenhead is an interesting place to explore, but obviously it's well-off the normal tourist track. Nobody checked my ticket at any stage on the Ferry!
 

faddy

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One or two people have said that when traveling on the ferry with a Saveaway you have to get off and get back on the next ferry (an hour later). If you're starting from the Wirral side there's plenty of time at Liverpool Pier Head to pick up a boarding pass and rejoin the same boat. As for whether in practice you can stay on for the whole circuit, I remember that a few years ago tickets and boarding passes were collected as you got off but they didn't seem to be examined at all, and from the two or three trips I made last year they seem to have abandoned the practice. And in forty years of occasional ferry travel I've never seen any ticket checking on board.
 

Statto

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One or two people have said that when traveling on the ferry with a Saveaway you have to get off and get back on the next ferry (an hour later). If you're starting from the Wirral side there's plenty of time at Liverpool Pier Head to pick up a boarding pass and rejoin the same boat. As for whether in practice you can stay on for the whole circuit, I remember that a few years ago tickets and boarding passes were collected as you got off but they didn't seem to be examined at all, and from the two or three trips I made last year they seem to have abandoned the practice. And in forty years of occasional ferry travel I've never seen any ticket checking on board.


What i've done often is get the ferry Woodside-Seacombe then bus to Woodside, the ferry is 10 minutes on this stretch anyway so your not missing much, direct buses to Woodside/Birkenhead from Seacombe are 409/411, 411 is all day & Sundays, 409 Monday to Saturday daytime only, both every 30 minutes during the day but the 411 is every 60 minutes in the evenings.

Avoid the 413/423, 413 takes around 70 minutes, 423 doesn't serve Woodside but goes through to Liverpool instead but takes 80 minutes, 413 is Monday to Saturday daytime, 423 evening & Sundays, actually if you have plenty time on your hands don't mind the longer trip these might suit you. 423 can have the odd decker[normally Hybrid Gemini] allocated on it, most of the time allocation is single decks, 409/411/413 are operated by single decks.

Using a Saveaway, i've often got on a train/bus before the 06.30 peak restriction starts, Merseyside must be the only area that has this oddity.
 

tony_mac

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I remember that a few years ago tickets and boarding passes were collected as you got off but they didn't seem to be examined at all, and from the two or three trips I made last year they seem to have abandoned the practice.
They do sometimes collect boarding passes when you leave - particularly when the services are busy.
However, let's not let this turn into advice on how to get away with evading the fare!
 

faddy

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What i've done often is get the ferry Woodside-Seacombe then bus to Woodside
Is that because you regard Woodside-Seacombe as not doing the cruise so ok on Saveaway/pass? I asked at Pier Head and was told that you have to get off at the opposite side of the river, and if I remember correctly (it's quite possible that I don't) the boarding passes say "cross-river".
 

Statto

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Is that because you regard Woodside-Seacombe as not doing the cruise so ok on Saveaway/pass? I asked at Pier Head and was told that you have to get off at the opposite side of the river, and if I remember correctly (it's quite possible that I don't) the boarding passes say "cross-river".

Yep, plus Woodside & Seacombe have better bus connections, even though there's not as many buses serving those terminals as in the past, than the ferry terminal on the Liverpool side, although couple of bus routes start at Mann Island, other routes can be a bit of a hike, in the old days the Pier Head in Liverpool was a bus station, but it's long since demolished, nearly 30 years agoo_O.

Also when i've used the ferry there's often been someone collecting tickets when i've got off, although having said that, i haven't used the ferry for a few years.
 
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