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TfW fares Cardiff to English stations

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bionic

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Any idea why fares on TfW routes between Cardiff and England are so expensive?

Is there a cheaper way of getting from Cardiff to Hereford and Shrewsbury? The only fares I can find are very expensive, with no advances or deals available. Its enough to make people drive.
 
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JonathanH

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Any idea why fares on TfW routes between Cardiff and England are so expensive?

Is there a cheaper way of getting from Cardiff to Hereford and Shrewsbury? The only fares I can find are very expensive, with no advances or deals available. Its enough to make people drive.

There are advance fares on the route from Cardiff to Hereford and Swansea and a fairly normal structure of off-peak / anytime fares.

There isn't a lot of spare capacity on this route as 2 and 3 coach units are used.

Are you underestimating the distance travelled? It is 56 miles from Cardiff to Hereford and 107 miles to Shrewsbury.

Stagecoach run a bus service between Cardiff and Hereford - X3 - takes just under 3 hours but is probably cheaper.

http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.u...itdLPxx_spTr=1&itdLPxx_operatorCodeForTTB=SSW
 

yorkie

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Short trains with little capacity so I agree the fares are designed to deter use and encourage people to drive.

If the fares were low they'd have to provide longer trains.

I don't agree with that policy personally but it's like this in many parts of the country and I can't see it changing anytime soon.
 

JonathanH

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If you're going to Shrewsbury, you could always split your ticket at somewhere like Llandrindod to make it a bit cheaper.

...and take a very long time.

Did you intend to suggest Ludlow as a split point?
 

kieron

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No, I was just confirming that there is a way of making the journey which is cheaper than buying a flexible through ticket.

I haven't tried to address bionic's first question as I don't know which fares out there aren't very expensive. Switching to GWR or Crosscountry routes from Cardiff doesn't seem to help much.
 

JonathanH

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OK, I suppose it could be argued that Hereford is roughly equidistant from Cardiff and Birmingham and fares to Cardiff are more expensive than those to Birmingham but I guess that is an accident of history and the way in which fares have been set over time.
 

JonathanH

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I haven't been able to find them! NRE is only giving me the standard single and return fares.

Maybe they have sold out on the day you are looking. Try some date in mid December - I searched for 18 December - there are £12 advance singles on every (reservable) train from Cardiff to Hereford.
 
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