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Slade Green to Harrington

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blakey1152

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Hi All,
In a few weeks time my mum will be moving from the middle of nowhere in Scotland to Cumbria - because of her remote location at the minute I've not been able to see her for over 4 years.

The nearest train station to where she is moving to is Harrington (which I believe is a request stop!)

I'm trying to find the cheapest way of getting there from Slade Green.
I have a Family and Friends railcard and would be travelling with my wife and a 2 year old - the cheapest off peak return that Red Spotted Hanky shows is £157.65 for all of us.

Can anyone make it cheaper - bearing in mind that I use my daughter (2 years old) to get the Family and Friends discount but she may not need a ticket if advanced tickets for sections of the route for just 2 adults are cheaper.

I am happy to go with specific trains - but do need more connection time due to having a baby buggy and would not be returning on the same day - only travelling off-peak times.

On a side note - as Harrington is a request stop who do you notify to let them know you want to get off at that station?

Thankyou!
Chris
 
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MikeWh

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You will get discounts on advance tickets with a family and friends railcard as well, so it will still be worth using it with your 2-year old. Plus it means you'll get a seat for her which may be a godsend if the train is full.
 

mikeg

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On a side note - as Harrington is a request stop who do you notify to let them know you want to get off at that station?

The conductor/guard/train manager (whatever the relevant TOC calls them!)

When you want to get back on the train on the way back, you must signal clearly to the driver.

It would help if we knew how far in advance you are prepared to book. I checked for two week's time on a Wednesday and a Saturday and it seems like not that much of a saving can be made by buying advance tickets.

Keep in mind Virgin's railcard easement. The walk up through tickets are priced by Virgin Trains and are not routed Virgin Trains Only. This means you can travel on a Virgin Train at any time using off peak tickets as long as you use your railcard. Therefore the off peak return represents good value for money.

I can't really find much in the way of savings by splitting either, at least not with advances.
 
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MikeWh

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The earlier you can book ahead the cheaper the Advance fares are. For instance, leaving Slade Green on 23rd Nov at 1105 you can get an advance for £49.10 with £61.20 available on several returns the next day - total £110.30. Leaving it until the 3rd/4th January gives me £32.50 each way - total £65, although there seems to be a problem with return journeys as only a handful are offered, some including an overnight wait en route.

Hopefully someone with more experience of splitting can offer more advice and maybe get even cheaper options.
 

mikeg

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Also remember Virgin Train's online-only off peak single for return if the advances work out more expensive than this. It costs £78.80, although the railcard easement doesn't apply to this. It is available to book on any thetrainline style booking engine (don't use the trainline booking website itself, use say www.tpexpress.co.uk which uses the same engine ), or takethetrain.co.uk

Edit: To take advantage of the easement mentioned in the previous post, thanks to a change in the T&C's you would have to split at EUS and Carlisle.

Edit: It also seems to be available on Redspottedhanky, which is strange because it isn't available on East Coast.

Edit again: Strange, RSH shows it but won't let me select it.
 
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blakey1152

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Thankyou all for your help! :)

These forums are an invaluable source of help and information to all.
Great to be a part of it :)

Chris
 

island

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Keep in mind Virgin's railcard easement. The walk up through tickets are priced by Virgin Trains and are not routed Virgin Trains Only. This means you can travel on a Virgin Train at any time using off peak tickets as long as you use your railcard.
...and your journey is only on Virgin Trains, which this one isn't.
 
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