Britain's best value transport ticket?

Howardh · 20 May 2018

Plonk this in here rather than rail tickets as it covers all forms of transport.

I'll give a shout out for the GM (Peak District) Wayfarer for £13 (adult/day). It covers a huge area from Burnley to Ashborne including manchester, Bolton, Wigan, Buxton, Macclesfield. Covers trains, buses and trams and can be used after 9.30 (and I can't find any PM peak restrictions). If I were clever I would find the total area to find out how much per sq mile!!

Often wondered if sites like split-ticketing include this as an alternative to two/three splits - say from Wigan to Sheffield (£25 o/p DR) so you pay the Wayfarer and the add-on return from the last station in the zone?

But that's a different question from my OP - can you find a better ticket that you can use on multi-transport??

Here's the covered area https://assets.ctfassets.net/nv7y93...1d0e2f57548c3154c80cd228/Wayfarer-bus-map.pdf - map of Gtr Manchester + Peaks

RailUK Forums

bnm · 20 May 2018

Zones 1-9 Off Peak Travelcard

£13.50 (£12.50 Oyster)

You'd be hard pressed to beat the mileage and variety you can cover with that product. Bus, Tube, Tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London. Plus discounted travel on Thames River buses and Emirates Air Line cable cars.

Howardh · 20 May 2018

bnm said:
Zones 1-9 Off Peak Travelcard

£13.50 (£12.50 Oyster)

You'd be hard pressed to beat the mileage and variety you can cover with that product. Bus, Tube, Tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London. Plus discounted travel on Thames River buses and Emirates Air Line cable cars.

Yes, that looks good value. If you go using your contactless, is there a cap at that limit or do you have to ask for a specific and physical card (like wot you did in the good/bad ol'days!)?

cactustwirly · 20 May 2018

Howardh said:
Yes, that looks good value. If you go using your contactless, is there a cap at that limit or do you have to ask for a specific and physical card (like wot you did in the good/bad ol'days!)?

There's a cap, which is dependent on the zones you travel through & what modes you use.
Don't ask me what they are, I use the paper Z1-6 travelcards as they are cheaper for me.

Mojo · 20 May 2018

ARRIVA buses have a North West and Wales ticket. The day version of this is a bargain £5.50. The ticket covers a huge area right across north Wales and across the North West of England. You could do a journey for example from Manchester to Holyhead on this ticket. There’s a full map on the ARRIVA website, but the ticket includes locations such Greater Manchester, Crewe, Merseyside, Runcorn, Chester, as well as a significant part of North Wales, all along the coast right from the English border to Holy Island, and places quite inland as well.

DasLunatic · 20 May 2018

West Midlands Daytripper. I think it's about £6 and it covers everything from Wolverhampton to Coventry and from Solihull to Sutton Coldfield or thereabouts. This includes all public transport in the area - how they're able to offer this for so cheap I don't know. There's a bolt-on that adds Rugeley and Litchfield for about £3, but you're not missing masses if you don't go for it.

Tam · 20 May 2018

For families, the SPT Daytripper card is hard to beat...

The Daytripper ticket gives you unlimited* travel for one day by ScotRail, Subway, most buses**, and some ferries in the Strathclyde region. Tickets are valid after 9.00am on Monday to Friday and all day at the weekends and on Glasgow public holidays.

* Except on night service buses, tours, excursions or premium services (including the First Glasgow 500 service).
** See Participating Operators section for further details.

Price: £21.80 for two adults and up to four children or £12.30 for one adult and up to two children from any staffed rail station, ticket office or online.

Coverage map: http://www.spt.co.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/daytripper_map_web2.pdf

Other SPT day tickets are available: http://www.spt.co.uk/travelcards/day-tickets/

tsr · 20 May 2018

I’ve always thought the Devon Day Ranger is quite good value. All of Devon and a little bit of Cornwall for £6 - or less, with many Railcards. You could easily spend basically your whole day trying to cover the area.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/promotions/Devon_rangers.pdf

transmanche · 20 May 2018

Mojo said:
ARRIVA buses have a North West and Wales ticket. The day version of this is a bargain £5.50.

Sticking with Arriva, their North East day ticket is good value at £8 for an adult or £13.50 for a family (and just £10 on Bank Holiday weekends).

The area covers from Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north, all the way down Richmond in North Yorkshire and to Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast - and as far as Carlisle in the west.

If you want a multi-operator version (which also includes T&W Metro) then that will cost you £10.50 for an adult or £20 for a family.

lyndhurst25 · 21 May 2018

GM Wayfarer is now £13.50 :frown:

Stagecoach do a NorthWest Explorer ticket (£11.30) that covers Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Chester and West Cheshire, along with services to Dumfries, Newcastle, Wigan, Bolton, Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale.

BlueFox · 21 May 2018

transmanche said:
If you want a multi-operator version (which also includes T&W Metro) then that will cost you £10.50 for an adult or £20 for a family.

It also includes Northern rail services between Newcastle and Sunderland, and the Shields Ferry.

Also recently added to the validity is local Stagecoach services in Carlisle.

Unusually for a multi operator ticket you can buy it on the operators' apps. I might buy one on the Go North East app to see what reaction I get from Stagecoach drivers in Carlisle.

najaB · 21 May 2018

I think in terms of pure pence-per-mile on a point to point ticket, Thurso to Rosslare Harbour must be in with a shout at £42.40 for approx 780 miles of rail travel and 60 miles of ferry.

Dentonian · 22 May 2018

Obviously, these multi-operator tickets offer excellent value for money on paper (eg. Stagecoach Manchester DayRider; £4.50 with a boundary of (for instance) Woodford, Wigan, Glossop and Oldham v. £4.50 for the 2.5 mile round trip to the nearest Supermarket. But are such extensive journeys actually achievable in a day? And if you are travelling from, say Bolton to Carlisle and stopping to eat/drink and take in the scenery, how much is a night's accomodation before heading back the following day?

BlueFox · 22 May 2018

Dentonian said:
Obviously, these multi-operator tickets offer excellent value for money on paper (eg. Stagecoach Manchester DayRider; £4.50 with a boundary of (for instance) Woodford, Wigan, Glossop and Oldham v. £4.50 for the 2.5 mile round trip to the nearest Supermarket. But are such extensive journeys actually achievable in a day? And if you are travelling from, say Bolton to Carlisle and stopping to eat/drink and take in the scenery, how much is a night's accomodation before heading back the following day?

I've done Carlisle to Morecambe and back in a day on a Stagecoach North West ticket.

I've looked at the times, and it's possible to do Carlisle to Scarborough and back in a day using the Explorer North East. I'd only have around an hour in Scarborough before having to start the journey home.

Starmill · 22 May 2018

bnm said:
Zones 1-9 Off Peak Travelcard

£13.50 (£12.50 Oyster)

You'd be hard pressed to beat the mileage and variety you can cover with that product. Bus, Tube, Tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London. Plus discounted travel on Thames River buses and Emirates Air Line cable cars.

£13.50 if bought from a London Underground machine. £13.60 if bought online or from the TVM of a TOC. Photos showing the price difference on two machines at Heathrow Central attached.

Dentonian · 22 May 2018

BlueFox said:
I've done Carlisle to Morecambe and back in a day on a Stagecoach North West ticket.

I've looked at the times, and it's possible to do Carlisle to Scarborough and back in a day using the Explorer North East. I'd only have around an hour in Scarborough before having to start the journey home.

Carlisle to Morecambe isn't that far. You then have to and Morecambe to Preston (1hr 30+); and Preston to Wigan (1hr 30) or to Bolton (2hrs +). Both Morecambe to Preston & Preston to Wigan are only hourly. If you were to continue to Manchester, you would have to change in Leigh (ttl virtually another 2 hrs) and, it can't be done (by Stagecoach) through Bolton

BlueFox · 22 May 2018

Dentonian said:
Carlisle to Morecambe isn't that far. You then have to and Morecambe to Preston (1hr 30+); and Preston to Wigan (1hr 30) or to Bolton (2hrs +). Both Morecambe to Preston & Preston to Wigan are only hourly. If you were to continue to Manchester, you would have to change in Leigh (ttl virtually another 2 hrs) and, it can't be done (by Stagecoach) through Bolton

It's farther than you'd think by bus, as you have to go via Keswick and Windermere. Around 90 miles by bus.
And I wasn't responding to your specific example of Bolton to Carlisle. If I was doing that I wouldn't go via Morecambe.

gnolife · 23 May 2018

Dentonian said:
Carlisle to Morecambe isn't that far. You then have to and Morecambe to Preston (1hr 30+); and Preston to Wigan (1hr 30) or to Bolton (2hrs +). Both Morecambe to Preston & Preston to Wigan are only hourly. If you were to continue to Manchester, you would have to change in Leigh (ttl virtually another 2 hrs) and, it can't be done (by Stagecoach) through Bolton

Stagecoach North West tickets do not include Greater Manchester at all, excluding the routes in from Lancashire, so you would have to stump up for a leg to Manchester anyway.
Also, for journeys to and via Preston, you would take the 555 to Lancaster, not the 755 to Morecambe, at which point the connection for Preston is half hourly

SteveP29 · 23 May 2018

£53 a month for my Lothian Buses Ridacard, gets me 24/7 bus travel in the Edinburgh and Lothian area.
I only have to make 31 journeys and that's it paid for (in comparison to a single adult ticket), considering I use it twice a day for to and from work, that's done in a week and a half

najaB · 23 May 2018

SteveP29 said:
£53 a month for my Lothian Buses Ridacard, gets me 24/7 bus travel in the Edinburgh and Lothian area.

If we're talking bus only, I think the Stagecoach East of Scotland day rider is pretty decent. £15.60 (gone up a bit!) gets you unlimited travel in East Scotland (Aberdeen to Edinburgh) plus through to Glasgow (and only £45 for a week).

AM9 · 23 May 2018

I've had good value on several day 'Ranger' tickets including:
Anglia Plus
Devon
Ride Cornwall Ranger (includes most bus services)
West Midlands Day Ranger
Cheshire Day Ranger
Lancashire Day Ranger
and of course many London Zones 1-6 Travelcards.
For sheer number of diverse journeys within a day, the Travelcard is tops.
Similarly the West Midlands Day Ranger with Shrewsbury (42m), Northampton (49m), Crewe (52m) and Hereford (55m) giving good long journeys. Add to that the 75 mile dash up the TV from Rugby to Crewe and considerable mileages can be clocked up within a day.
Probably the most pleasant for me was the Ride Cornwall Ranger which gives a Plymouth to Penzance run of just under 80 miles and a total route length of nearly 150 miles when five charming branch lines are added to that.
The above day tickets that I've used may not be the cheapest but in terms of leisure travel I regard them as good value.

Howardh · 23 May 2018

Well I used the £13.50 (up 50p...still good value!) bus to my local station, train to Manchester, tram in Manchester, Train to Macclesfield, bus to Buxton, train back to Manchester...
The nice thing is if a train lets you down you can pop on a bus or tram as an alternative.

Crossover · 23 May 2018

DasLunatic said:
West Midlands Daytripper. I think it's about £6 and it covers everything from Wolverhampton to Coventry and from Solihull to Sutton Coldfield or thereabouts. This includes all public transport in the area - how they're able to offer this for so cheap I don't know. There's a bolt-on that adds Rugeley and Litchfield for about £3, but you're not missing masses if you don't go for it.

There are some cases where these products are better value and have better terms than a point-to-point ticket

route101 · 24 May 2018

Dentonian said:
Obviously, these multi-operator tickets offer excellent value for money on paper (eg. Stagecoach Manchester DayRider; £4.50 with a boundary of (for instance) Woodford, Wigan, Glossop and Oldham v. £4.50 for the 2.5 mile round trip to the nearest Supermarket. But are such extensive journeys actually achievable in a day? And if you are travelling from, say Bolton to Carlisle and stopping to eat/drink and take in the scenery, how much is a night's accomodation before heading back the following day?

Thats the problem i have , i wanted to do clear a few lines but takes time and if you stay a bit away you need to factor in going home . Also fitting in lunch etc/

SS4 · 26 May 2018

DasLunatic said:
West Midlands Daytripper. I think it's about £6 and it covers everything from Wolverhampton to Coventry and from Solihull to Sutton Coldfield or thereabouts. This includes all public transport in the area - how they're able to offer this for so cheap I don't know. There's a bolt-on that adds Rugeley and Litchfield for about £3, but you're not missing masses if you don't go for it.

It's only valid off-peak when a lot of services have plenty of space to spare. Since the services have to run anyway you may as well try and get some revenue. It's a similar logic to why TOCs can offer such cheap Advances

Royston Vasey · 26 May 2018

Definitely the first class all line rover.

Howardh · 26 May 2018

route101 said:
Thats the problem i have , i wanted to do clear a few lines but takes time and if you stay a bit away you need to factor in going home . Also fitting in lunch etc/

Clearly if there's a large area to cover the best soultion is a multi-ticket so you can bus where you want and finish at a rail station to get you home.

That's the thoery.....

radamfi · 26 May 2018

Royston Vasey said:
Definitely the first class all line rover.

Maybe 10 years ago but now it costs £772 for 7 days and suffers from time restrictions on many trains in the morning. For 425 euros you can get a 7 days in a month Interrail Global Pass which has no time restrictions. There are reservation fees to pay for some trains but in Germany you can use any train, including high speed ICE trains, for no extra cost.

Ianno87 · 27 May 2018

Metrolink Family Day Travelcard (after 0930 weekdays, any time weekends and Bank Holidays).

£6.70 for the entire Metrolink network for the day for one or two adults with one to three children in tow. Astonishing value for money!

cactustwirly · 27 May 2018

radamfi said:
Maybe 10 years ago but now it costs £772 for 7 days and suffers from time restrictions on many trains in the morning. For 425 euros you can get a 7 days in a month Interrail Global Pass which has no time restrictions. There are reservation fees to pay for some trains but in Germany you can use any train, including high speed ICE trains, for no extra cost.

It's £288.
Even less than that if you are a Youth or Senior.

Britain's best value transport ticket?

Established Member

RailUK Forums

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Forum Staff

Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Attachments

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member