Chester or Bidston to Abergele and Pensarn

[gray1404]

I am looking at travelling regularly from Formby to Abergele and Pensarn for the day. Occasionally I may stay over night but initially it will just be day trips.

I hold a Merseytravel issued concessionary travel pass which covers me on Merseyrail as far as Chester and a Disabled Persons Railcard.

The fares from Chester seems rather expensive and there are not even any Advances available so I wonder if anybody has any advice on any possible way to bring the fare down?

Thanks so much.

 

[Watershed]

I am looking at travelling regularly from Formby to Abergele and Pensarn for the day. Occasionally I may stay over night but initially it will just be day trips.

I hold a Merseytravel issued concessionary travel pass which covers me on Merseyrail as far as Chester and a Disabled Persons Railcard.

The fares from Chester seems rather expensive and there are not even any Advances available so I wonder if anybody has any advice on any possible way to bring the fare down?

Thanks so much.

There is a small saving to be had by splitting at Shotton (£3.35 Chester-Shotton SDR, £7.90 Shotton-Abergele CDR) but this does introduce some notable time restrictions (nre.co.uk/AW) and not all trains between Chester and Abergele call at Shotton, particularly in the eastbound direction.

Unfortunately fares on the North Wales Coast line have long been quite expensive. TfW did cut the fares by around 10% a couple of years back, but this is not nearly enough to bring them down to the levels of local fares in the Merseyside or South Wales areas.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Fare setter is TfW, and the cheapest non-split rail tickets from Chester to Abergele (with railcard discount) seem to be an Off Peak Return at £12.80 or an Any Time Day Return at £11.40.

That compares with the (in total) £11.25 split fare suggested by @Watershed and I concur that the paltry potential 15p saving is scarcely worth the hassle.

 

[mmh]

Probably only of use for overnight stays, but you should find advance tickets for Chester to Colwyn Bay.

 

[gray1404]

Thank you all.

 

[kieron]

For an overnight trip, a Birkenhead-Abergele off peak return costs £12.25 with a railcard. A Heswall-Abergele one is £11.70, but the connections in Shotton aren't usually all that good.

There isn't an origin on Merseyside or Merseyrail which has cheaper day returns than Chester, though.

 

[gray1404]

In the end I opted for a Chester to Abergele Anytime Day Return at £11.40 with a Railcard. Couldn't find any other way of beating this for a day trip.

 

[markymark2000]

The fares from Chester seems rather expensive and there are not even any Advances available so I wonder if anybody has any advice on any possible way to bring the fare down?

From Chester, the first station with Advance tickets is Colwyn Bay. These can go for as low as £4.25 each way (with railcard discount). Nothing stops you from getting off early at Abergele and Pensarn. Heading back towards Chester, based off my experience and experience that seems to be on the forum, guards are ok with the fact you have gotten on the train at a later stop with your advance ticket, as long as you are on the correct train.