Any Multi-Operator Tickets For This?

[Slower Travel]

Hello all,

For reasons bordering on idiocy, tinpot adventure and bus-based masochism, I'm planning on doing a bus marathon from Manchester to London in the summer.

The itinerary is probably going to be something like:

192, Manchester - Stockport
Skyline 199, Stockport - Buxton
TP, Buxton - Derby
Skylink, Derby - Leicester (Kinchbus)
X7, Leicester - Milton Keynes (Stagecoach)
F70, Milton Keynes - Luton (Arriva)
321, Luton - Watford Junction (Arriva)
142, Watford Junction - Edgware
113, Edgware - Oxford Circus

Just the 14 hours

Manchester to Matlock (and probably onto Derby) will be easy enough with a Wayfarer ticket. The end of the journey is going to be simple enough, too.

However, knowing that the most useful tickets are usually hidden away, what would be my best option(s) between Derby and Watford Junction? I might even be dragging the missus along, so combo tickets could come into play as well.

Ian

 

[Wirewiper]

To start you off, F70 Milton keynes - Luton and 321 Luton - Watford can be done on an ORBIT ticket, £6.30

www.arrivabus.co.uk/beds-and-bucks/bus-tickets/multi-journey-saver-tickets-in-beds-and-bucks/

Obviously, 142 Watford - Edgware and 113 Edgware - Oxford Circus can be done on contactless, and if you manage to board the 113 within 70 minutes of boarding the 142 you will benefit from the "Hopper Fare" - so you could potentially do the whole journey for £1.50.

 

[route101]

Hello all,

For reasons bordering on idiocy, tinpot adventure and bus-based masochism, I'm planning on doing a bus marathon from Manchester to London in the summer.

The itinerary is probably going to be something like:

192, Manchester - Stockport
Skyline 199, Stockport - Buxton
TP, Buxton - Derby
Skylink, Derby - Leicester (Kinchbus)
X7, Leicester - Milton Keynes (Stagecoach)
F70, Milton Keynes - Luton (Arriva)
321, Luton - Watford Junction (Arriva)
142, Watford Junction - Edgware
113, Edgware - Oxford Circus

Just the 14 hours

Manchester to Matlock (and probably onto Derby) will be easy enough with a Wayfarer ticket. The end of the journey is going to be simple enough, too.

However, knowing that the most useful tickets are usually hidden away, what would be my best option(s) between Derby and Watford Junction? I might even be dragging the missus along, so combo tickets could come into play as well.

Ian

Sounds great trip , ive wanted to do that from Glasgow to London.

 

[MedwayValiant]

A TfGM Wayfarer (£14.00) is valid as far as Matlock, but it may not be the best way. High Peak do through tickets for the 199 and TransPeak, changing at Buxton, and a single from Stockport to Derby is £8.00.

There is a Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket (£13.00), which would take you from the county line near New Mills via Buxton and Derby as far as East Midlands Airport, but you probably don't want one. You'd then have to buy a single from EMA to Leicester for £7.30 - which is the same as the single fare from Derby to Leicester, so you may as well do the latter. So you've got from Stockport to Leicester for £15.30.

Assuming that the single fare from Leicester to MK on the X7 is less than £13.00, just buy a single for that leg of the journey. Then the Arriva Orbit ticket mentioned above, which tbh is under-priced at £6.30, from MK to Watford via Luton (or via Aylesbury if you really want, or via Buckingham if you really, really, want), and then from Watford you're in OysterCardLand.

 

[swt class 450]

Unfortunately there are not many multi operator tickets available for this journey so you will have to buy lots of separate tickets.

A Single ticket on the 192 (from Manchester to Stockport) costs £2.50 total.

A through fare Single ticket (including Stockport to Buxton on the 199 service and then Buxton to Derby on the TP service) costs £8.00 total.

A Single ticket on the SKYLINK (from Derby to Leicester) costs £7.30 total.

A Single ticket on the X7 (from Leicester to Milton Keynes) costs £9.00 total.

An Orbit ticket (including Milton Keynes to Luton on the 70/F70 services and then Milton Keynes to Watford on the 321 service) costs £6.30 total.

If you have a contactless card or an oyster card than the Hopper Fare (including Watford to Edgware on the 142 service and then Edgware to Central London [Oxford Circus] on the 113 service) costs £1.50 total (although you need to touch in on the 113 within 70 minutes of touching in on the 142 which is definitely possible to do).

So the total cost for this journey will come to £34.60 total.

 

[Statto]

Hello all,

For reasons bordering on idiocy, tinpot adventure and bus-based masochism, I'm planning on doing a bus marathon from Manchester to London in the summer.

The itinerary is probably going to be something like:

192, Manchester - Stockport
Skyline 199, Stockport - Buxton
TP, Buxton - Derby
Skylink, Derby - Leicester (Kinchbus)
X7, Leicester - Milton Keynes (Stagecoach)
F70, Milton Keynes - Luton (Arriva)
321, Luton - Watford Junction (Arriva)
142, Watford Junction - Edgware
113, Edgware - Oxford Circus

Just the 14 hours

Manchester to Matlock (and probably onto Derby) will be easy enough with a Wayfarer ticket. The end of the journey is going to be simple enough, too.

However, knowing that the most useful tickets are usually hidden away, what would be my best option(s) between Derby and Watford Junction? I might even be dragging the missus along, so combo tickets could come into play as well.

Ian

You can also get 99 Milton Keynes-Luton, Stagecoach which takes 55 minutes, as opposed to hr F70 which takes just over 75 minutes.

Unless you have ENCTS pass,mostly individual fares Stagecoach for Leicester-Luton changing at Milton Keynes suggests the East Dayrider Gold £15.00.

Kinchbus is an irritating site trying to find something simple like day tickets[like seeing if TrentBarton ZigZag is valid, as they're owned by the same group] & all you get are point to point fares.

 

[Slower Travel]

Thanks very much for the info, this is gold dust

Despite using the Skyline once in a while, I had no idea that they did a through ticket to Derby. (I live close to the route of the 192 and where the TP used to run until the Manchester leg got lopped off last summer)

@Statto, you're spot on about the Kinchbus site...I've done a bit of delving and found that I could use a Zigzag Plus from Bakewell to Leicester if I changed onto the 6.1, but no matter how much I might want a mid-morning Bakewell pudding, that's just complicating matters!

Again, the Orbit ticket was well tucked away on Arriva's site, so big thanks @Wirewiper.

@route101 - best of luck with that journey, sounds like a killer! Glasgow to Manchester is just about doable in a comparable time, but it looks like you'd be hamstrung by the first X74 to Dumfries leaving at gone 9am. That said, you'll know plenty more about getting around up there than me.

Seeing as it's gonna be a very long day, I reckon I'll do it on the longest day. June 21st, here we come