Most pointless journey for which a fare is available

[route101]

Any peak fare right now is meaningless with empty trains between 07:00 and 09:00 weekdays.

Yeah, the Edinburgh to Glasgow peak restriction between 1615 and 1815 should of been suspended.

That sounds like one of those Glasgow single tickets that people try to use as a 'return'.

How could you use it as a return?

 

[Tobbes]

There was once a railway (the 'Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway')which ran for a distance of 23 miles along the Great Glen from Spean Bridge (at the Fort William end) up as far as Fort Augustus, about halfway up the Great Glen towards Inverness. Opened 1903. Closed 1946.

General consensus was that it should never have been built.

The I&FA also pointed the "wrong" way onto the WHL at Spean Bridge (ie, in the Glasgow direction, rather than in the Fort William direction) because it was initially envisaged as a competing route from Glasgow to Inverness versus the Highland Main Line. And no, no particular (engineering) reason that you couldn't rebuild the closed section and complete it throughout.... and it would be spectacular!

(If someone did ever decide to this, they can add a couple of replica HR 'Small Ben' and 'Large Ben' 4-4-0s and a CR Cardean 4-6-0 to the budget for me. Thanks in advance.)

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Paisley Gilmour Street - Paisley Canal, £3.80 single, 50 minute journey changing at Glasgow Central, when it takes about 15 minutes to walk.

That sounds like one of those Glasgow single tickets that people try to use as a 'return'.

How could you use it as a return?

If you travel from Paisley Gilmour Street to Paisley Canal, most itineraries mean that you will have to change trains at Glasgow Central, as the two Paisley stations are on separate lines.

A single between the two Paisley stations can therefore work out cheaper than a return from say Paisley Gilmour Street to/from Glasgow, as who's to say that you might not take an extended break of journey whilst changing trains at Central.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Inverness to Fort William, over seven hours by train going via Glasgow, about two hours by bus. Most cyclists could do that journey significantly faster. It is a little surprising there isn't a rail line along the great glen, or was there once a rail line that got closed?

I know it's veering totally off thread, but in my spotting days I was puzzled about Fort Wiliam shed's allocation, coded 63B. There were two shunters there (from memory D4098/9) and when the shed closed (for maintenance - think there was still a BOP), although they still worked at F.W., their allocation became 63A Perth (the HQ shed for the 63 district). It was a very long trek at 19 m.p.h., for them to get to their home shed for maintenance and back. Even by passenger train, it's a long journey.

 

[Spandau]

Acton Bridge to Warrington has a fare but unlikely many tickets are sold. Though only 12 miles apart on the West Coast Mainline there is no direct service.

 

[plugwash]

Slightly off topic - would you be covered when it tells you a specific train and connecting trains, since the ticket is notionally to Manchester Stations?

My understanding is that with an advance (including an "& connections" one), if the train is reservable then you need a reservation.

So if you wanted to go from picadilly to oxford road and you didn't have a reservation you would need to be careful about which train you used.

 

[Pete78]

A local journey which always causes some bewilderment is the journey 'between' the neighbouring towns of Billericay and Basildon in Essex (about 5 miles apart ) with the Train taking about 1hr 43mins costing £15.50 and walking which also takes exactly the same 1hr 43mins!

 

[Metal_gee_man]

Wigan Wall Gate to Wigan Northwestern £25.20

 

[plugwash]

There must be countless examples of stations close-ish together but with rail routes between them that are substantially worse than the alternatives in terms of both price and speed.

One example that springs to mind is matlock to buxton. By rail it takes about 3.5 hours on the better journeys with changes in derby, sheffield and stockport and costs 52.50 for an off peak return.

Or you could catch the transpeak TP3 bus which takes about an hour and 23 minuites. I'm struggling to find exactly details of the fares (highpeak's website says £7.50 for a day ticket for the "peak plus area" but doesn't seem to actually tell you what the "peak plus area" is).

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Wigan Wall Gate to Wigan Northwestern £25.20

That's not a point to point fare.

Think you've bagged a Lancashire Day Ranger!

P.S. In the absence of any point to point fare, wonder why that is offered and not a somewhat cheaper Greater Manchester Rail Ranger.

 

[greyman42]

Nothing unusual about the journey itself, but given you can walk it as quickly as it takes to catch the train, it is a slightly pointless journey to make by rail. The bus is quicker and cheaper, and arguably easier as it does not involve a change.

I was just thinking that a 27 minute walk might not always be every ones cup of tea for one reason or another but i take your point about the bus.

 

[Dai Corner]

Pembroke Dock - Milford Haven takes over 3 hours by train, including a wait of around an hour at Whitland.
Single fare £10.40.
Frequency Every two hours

The hourly First Cymru 356 bus will get you there in 40 mins for not more than £6 (Day ticket - single might be cheaper).

 

[greyman42]

If you travel from Paisley Gilmour Street to Paisley Canal, most itineraries mean that you will have to change trains at Glasgow Central, as the two Paisley stations are on separate lines.

A single between the two Paisley stations can therefore work out cheaper than a return from say Paisley Gilmour Street to/from Glasgow, as who's to say that you might not take an extended break of journey whilst changing trains at Central.

Do passengers do this on a regular basis or are very few aware of it? Is there anything Scotrail could do to stop this?

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's not a point to point fare.

Think you've bagged a Lancashire Day Ranger!

P.S. In the absence of any point to point fare, wonder why that is offered and not a somewhat cheaper Greater Manchester Rail Ranger.

For some reason it doesn't seem to know about all the local "rover" tickets. It does the same on Merseyrail examples, where a Merseyrail day ticket at 1/5 of the price would do. Though those are a real oddity, as they are issued as point to point tickets rather than Rovers, presumably so earlier TVMs could issue them easily.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Do passengers do this on a regular basis or are very few aware of it? Is there anything Scotrail could do to stop this?

JonathanH might be better placed to further advise on this.

 

[PG]

Do passengers do this on a regular basis or are very few aware of it? Is there anything Scotrail could do to stop this?

Hmm... reduce the price of a return from Paisley to Glasgow? Not likely to happen...

 

[181]

There was once a railway (the 'Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway') which ran for a distance of 23 miles along the Great Glen from Spean Bridge (at the Fort William end) up as far as Fort Augustus, about halfway up the Great Glen towards Inverness. Opened 1903. Closed 1946.

General consensus was that it should never have been built.

It was also closed between 1911 and 1913, and lost its passenger service in 1933 (1946 being the year of closure to freight). Maybe if it had been continued through to Inverness it might have been more successful, although I doubt if it would have survived the Beeching era, as it would have been a duplicate route to Inverness, less suitable for main-line traffic than the Highland route.

For the first few years it was worked by the Highland Railway, whose locomotives and rolling stock would have had a very circuitous journey from their home system.

 

[vlad]

Or you could catch the transpeak TP3 bus which takes about an hour and 23 minuites. I'm struggling to find exactly details of the fares (highpeak's website says £7.50 for a day ticket for the "peak plus area" but doesn't seem to actually tell you what the "peak plus area" is).

There's a map linked from the Peak Plus ticket page.

(It includes such places as Hazel Grove, Glossop, Macclesfield, Ashbourne and Matlock and specifically excludes Derby.)

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That's not a point to point fare.

Think you've bagged a Lancashire Day Ranger!

P.S. In the absence of any point to point fare, wonder why that is offered and not a somewhat cheaper Greater Manchester Rail Ranger.

If the itinerary for the journey requires one to travel outside of the GMPTE area maybe? I suspect that was the case with the Pontefract example on the previous page, where a fare was given for the journey that stays in West Yorkshire but not for the one that required travel via York.

 

[Kite159]

Hmm... reduce the price of a return from Paisley to Glasgow? Not likely to happen...

Most likely they could always delete the fare from the database.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If the itinerary for the journey requires one to travel outside of the GMPTE area maybe?

Wigan Wallgate -> Ince -> Wigan North Western is wholly within the TfGM/GMPTE area.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Wigan Wallgate -> Ince -> Wigan North Western is wholly within the TfGM/GMPTE area.

Oh ok, was just a suggestion as to why one rover was offered when a cheaper one is available. The plot thickens then I guess!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh ok, was just a suggestion as to why one rover was offered when a cheaper one is available. The plot thickens then I guess!

As I mentioned above, it looks to me like it knows about "normal" Rangers and Rovers but not PTE or other local products.

 

[JRT]

Exactly a mile.. I wouldn’t say pointless, just a route I can’t imagine anyone paying to use much

There are many college and schoolkids doing this journey every schoolday. They do walk from outside Shipley.

Incidentally from Shipley Market it's not much more effort/time to walk to Saltaire railway station than walk to Shipley railway station and travel.

 

[mullinsj08]

Isleworth to Hounslow (£5.70 return/£3.40 single) is pretty pointless. The train journey is 3 minutes but there are plenty of buses which go between the two and stop in more useful places such as behind the High Street/Treaty Centre. And there are plenty of bus stops on London Road in Isleworth to get you where you want to be.

The walk from Hounslow to the High Street is about 10 minutes.

 

[peters]

Hartford (on the Liverpool-Crewe line) to Greenbank (on the Manchester-Chester line), they are 1 mile apart by road but travelling between them by train involves changing at both Crewe and Chester and the fare is a whopping £16.10.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Hartford to Greenbank £16.10 single

Hartford (on the Liverpool-Crewe line) to Greenbank (on the Manchester-Chester line), they are 1 mile apart by road but travelling between them by train involves changing at both Crewe and Chester and the fare is a whopping £16.10.

We've had that one.

P.S. Have we had Enfield Chase to Enfield Town? Half a mile on foot so maybe 15 mins. £6.50 and a lot longer by rail via Highbury & Islington and Seven Sisters.

 

[Metal_gee_man]

£2.40 TFL fare for a Catford to Catford Bridge via Lewisham or London Bridge , its only a 40 second walk Just ask Geoff Marshall

Video Credit: Geoff Marshall

 

[ijmad]

Whyteleafe to Upper Warlingham in 44 minutes for £6.50, change at East Croydon.

Or walk in 5 mins.

 

[GlitterUnicorn]

Fares are available to Dunrobin Castle from Brora and Golspie all year round for £1.60. But in the winter this would be an impossible to use ticket since the trains don't stop. The fare alone would not entitle you to board any train.