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Birmingham to London, cheapest?!

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Ahsan

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26 Jan 2009
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Hi all

I stumbled across this forum whilst looking for the cheapest way down to london via train

details of travel are as follows:

outbound:

Birmingham (New street or any of Moor street, Snow Hill)
date: Sunday 15th February 2009 - Preferably after 13:00

arriving in London at any of London Euston, Victoria, Maryleborne

Incoming

London, any of London Euston, Victoria, Maryleborne
date: Tuesday 17th February 2009- train leaving london between 16:00 and 18:00

so what do people think my best choice is?

it would be great to get a nice off peak return ticket from virgin, but due to my return journey time it makes things a little awkward

it would be very much appreciated if the knowledgeable people on these here fora could impart some advice!

Many thanks
 
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Techniquest

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Cheapest bet would be to either get a London Midland Only ticket or go to Marylebone and travel with Chiltern. Both will take longer than Virgin but both are considerably cheaper.
 

Mojo

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London Midland do a super off peak return for £15 (£14.90 single), or £9.90 (£9.85 single) with a railcard, although bearing in mind the restrictions, you won't be able to leave London until before 10.30 or between 16.30 and 19.30 on the Tuesday you want to travel. There are no restrictions on weekends.

That's the cheapest way to do Birmingham to London on walk-up fares. Virgin offer Advance singles from £5.00, or £3.30 with a Railcard and Chiltern also do the same, but with print at home or mobile tickets.

So if you check your Advance tickets it may actually be cheaper with Virgin or Chiltern. Also, if you have a Railcard, then the ticket restrictions for Birmingham to London if you travel on Virgin do not apply, so you can buy the Off-peak Return (Route: Any Permitted) and use it at any time!
 
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Ahsan

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26 Jan 2009
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Hi there

many thanks for the swift replies

unfortunately, i dont have a young persons rail card as i tend to just use a student term pass (i travel to wolverhampton every day via train so the pass comes in handy for that!)

the cheapest fair i could find anywhere that suited me best seemed to be the virgin off-peak return ticket at £40.40

that would be perfect if i could find some sort of information as to the 'peak' and 'off-peak' times

I am led to believe that with an off-peak return, the return leg of my journey must be

either before 9:30, or between 10:30 and 15:15, or after 18:00

is this correct?
 

dan_atki

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The next cheapest option after the London Midland Only Super Off Peak Return is the London Midland Only Off Peak Return at £27.00 without railcard. This will allow you to travel when you want to. Obviously this ticket would restrict you to travelling only on a London Midland service.
 

glynn80

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Joined
1 Jun 2008
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Hi there

many thanks for the swift replies

unfortunately, i dont have a young persons rail card as i tend to just use a student term pass (i travel to wolverhampton every day via train so the pass comes in handy for that!)

the cheapest fair i could find anywhere that suited me best seemed to be the virgin off-peak return ticket at £40.40

that would be perfect if i could find some sort of information as to the 'peak' and 'off-peak' times

I am led to believe that with an off-peak return, the return leg of my journey must be

either before 9:30, or between 10:30 and 15:15, or after 18:00

is this correct?

The restriction code on the £40.40 fare is 2C (restrictions on this code are only applicable Mon-Fri) which states the following:

London Euston

Outward Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to ARRIVE:
At or after 1055

Return Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to DEPART:
Between 0905 & 1514 (inc.) and at or after 1832


London Marylebone

Outward Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to ARRIVE:
At or after 1100

Return Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to DEPART:
By any train



So if you wanted that fare, you could travel down on the Sunday at anytime into Euston or Marylebone and then if you wanted to return on the Tuesday at around 18.00 you could either wait till the 1832 from the Euston or head to Marylebone and catch any train back up to Birmingham
 

Ahsan

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26 Jan 2009
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The restriction code on the £40.40 fare is 2C (restrictions on this code are only applicable Mon-Fri) which states the following:

London Euston

Outward Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to ARRIVE:
At or after 1055

Return Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to DEPART:
Between 0905 & 1514 (inc.) and at or after 1832


London Marylebone

Outward Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to ARRIVE:
At or after 1100

Return Travel
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to DEPART:
By any train



So if you wanted that fare, you could travel down on the Sunday at anytime into Euston or Marylebone and then if you wanted to return on the Tuesday at around 18.00 you could either wait till the 1832 from the Euston or head to Marylebone and catch any train back up to Birmingham

So let me just clarify

i could buy this £40.40 ticket and do the following:

go into new street at any time on the sunday and board any train going to euston (a virgin one)

and then, on the tuesday, rather than returning from euston, i could go down to maryleborne and board and train going back up to birmingham which may again happen to be a virgin one?

many thanks for the help

also, is there any way i could access a list of these restriction codes?
 

me123

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So let me just clarify

i could buy this £40.40 ticket and do the following:

go into new street at any time on the sunday and board any train going to euston (a virgin one)

and then, on the tuesday, rather than returning from euston, i could go down to maryleborne and board and train going back up to birmingham which may again happen to be a virgin one?

Yup. Except if you go out of Marylebone Station I can guarantee you that there will not be a Virgin train!

You will be travelling with Chiltern to Birmingham Snow Hill instead. If you did want to travel with Virgin, you'd have to take the 18:43, due to arrive Birmingham New Street at 20:08. In other words, if the next train out of Marylebone were to be the 18:00, you'd be just as well going to Euston for the 18:43.
 

glynn80

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1 Jun 2008
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So let me just clarify

i could buy this £40.40 ticket and do the following:

go into new street at any time on the sunday and board any train going to euston (a virgin one)

and then, on the tuesday, rather than returning from euston, i could go down to maryleborne and board and train going back up to birmingham which may again happen to be a virgin one?

many thanks for the help

also, is there any way i could access a list of these restriction codes?

Thats all correct except that no Virgin services operate out of Marylebone at all. It is Chiltern Railways who operate services from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill/Moor Street.

Unfortunately there is no public access to restriction codes, they are located inside internal railway manuals accessible only to railway staff.
 

clagmonster

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Joined
8 Jun 2005
Messages
2,442
The varying options are:
London Midland services New Street-Euston only:
Super off peak return £15:
Sunday, valid on any southbound London Midland train
Tuesday, any northbound London Midland train except those scheduled to depart Euston between 16:30-19:30
Off peak return £27:
Sundays: Valid on any southbound London Midland train
Tuesday: Valid on any northbouth London Midland train except those scheduled to depart Euston before 08:45

Via High Wycombe (ie Chiltern services Moor St/Snow Hill-Marylebone)
Sunday: any southbound Chiltern service from Snow Hill/Moor St
Tuesday: any northbound Chiltern service from Marylebone, except those scheduled to depart before 09:30

Any permitted route:
Off-peak return, £40.40, described earlier in the thread.
 
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John @ home

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5,148
Unfortunately there is no public access to restriction codes, they are located inside internal railway manuals accessible only to railway staff.

This is no longer the case.

TSO sell a CD containing fares and restrictions, including the codes. It costs just under £15 when you include VAT, postage and packing. Details on the TSO web site.

John
 

glynn80

Established Member
Joined
1 Jun 2008
Messages
1,666
This is no longer the case.

TSO sell a CD containing fares and restrictions, including the codes. It costs just under £15 when you include VAT, postage and packing. Details on the TSO web site.

John

I don't actually use Avantix Traveller myself but I didn't think that it gave the full restriction codes, i.e in this case for each terminal from London but after checking with someone it seems it does!!
 
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