Cambridge - Droitwich Spa

[scarlet ibis]

Hi all

Trying to get to Droitwich Spa from Cambridge over Easter as cheaply as possible (arriving Droitwich at 11am on Sat 7th and leaving at 16:00 on Sunday 8th). I have a Y-P railcard.

With Advance tickets, I can get to Brum and back for £21.80-£24.50, then it's £12 Offpeak return to Droitwich from there. Can anyone do any better?

Thanks, if you can help!

Edited to add: Just putting the journey into National Rail Enquiries gives it as £39 return. Also my version of Splitix has stopped working

 

[SS4]

There is a replacement bus between Coleshill Parkway and Birmingham New Street - is that ok? I'm only seeing advances for ~£20 each way (about £13 with railcard)

 

[scarlet ibis]

There is a replacement bus between Coleshill Parkway and Birmingham New Street - is that ok? I'm only seeing advances for ~£20 each way.

The £10.90 fares are via London Very roundabout but much cheaper.

 

[lemonic]

Cambridge 6:57 - Nuneaton 9:14 £8.90 Advance single
Nuneaton 9:15 - Droitwich Spa 11:27 - £10.10 Off Peak Return
Droitwich Spa 16:41 - Nuneaton 18:40 - Use ticket above
Nuneaton 18:46 - Cambridge 21:07 - £8.90 Advance single
So £27.90 return
Note there are rail replacement buses for part of this journey in both directions.

Also an Off Peak Return from Birmingham to Droitwich Spa is only £8.10, not the £12 you quoted.

 

[scarlet ibis]

Cambridge 6:57 - Nuneaton 9:14 £8.90 Advance single
Nuneaton 9:15 - Droitwich Spa 11:27 - £10.10 Off Peak Return
Droitwich Spa 16:41 - Nuneaton 18:40 - Use ticket above
Nuneaton 18:46 - Cambridge 21:07 - £8.90 Advance single
So £27.90 return
Note there are rail replacement buses for part of this journey in both directions.

Also an Off Peak Return from Birmingham to Droitwich Spa is only £8.10, not the £12 you quoted.

Thanks. Wonder if I can do it via London and avoid the rail replacement buses.

 

[lemonic]

Thanks. Wonder if I can do it via London and avoid the rail replacement buses.

You have found a good price yourself outbound via London but it seems to be more expensive coming back. Also I don't see an advantage to coming back via London. Virgin Trains services are diverted between Coventry and London extending journey times considerably and there are rail replacement buses between Stevenage and Royston! If you wanted to avoid the buses completely you'd have to travel via London Liverpool Street (or Tottenham Hale) and up the West Anglia Main Line via Bishops Stortford.

 

[SS4]

Cambridge - Birmingham (via Tottenham Hale & Euston)
0604 - 0927
£10.90 Advance

Birmingham - Cambridge
1910 - 2334
£16.15 Advance
If you can put up with the bus between Royston and Stevenage you can get the 1710 from Birmingham.

Birmingham - Droitwich Spa is £8.10 (minimum fare doesn't apply at weekends)

 

[lemonic]

Cambridge - Birmingham (via Tottenham Hale & Euston)
0604 - 0927
£10.90 Advance

Birmingham - Cambridge
1910 - 2334
£16.15 Advance
If you can put up with the bus between Royston and Stevenage you can get the 1710 from Birmingham.

You can also get the 17:10 from Birmingham for the same price (£16.15) via Tottenham Hale (avoiding a bus) arriving Cambridge 21:43. On a WebTIS site e.g. Redspottedhanky (www.redspottedhanky.com) enter Birmingham to Cambridge via London Euston single then click 'Timetables only'. On the next screen enter 'Tottenham Hale' under 'Trains which call at' on the left-hand side. Then click 'Update' and after the screen has refreshed, click 'Buy a ticket'. Now the right ticket and routeing should be available.

 

[SS4]

You can also get the 17:10 from Birmingham for the same price (£16.15) via Tottenham Hale (avoiding a bus) arriving Cambridge 21:43. On a WebTIS site e.g. Redspottedhanky (www.redspottedhanky.com) enter Birmingham to Cambridge single then click 'Timetables only'. On the next screen enter 'Tottenham Hale' under 'Trains which call at' on the left-hand side. Then click 'Update' and after the screen has refreshed, click 'Buy a ticket'. Now the right ticket and routeing should be available.

So it does, that's handy to know.

Note to the OP - the minimum connection time at BHM is 12 minutes so make sure you leave enough time so your splits can count as a single journey

 

[scarlet ibis]

Thanks all. Looks like going the direct way back via Brum and the rail replacement bus is probably the best way really - especially with the additional buses between Stevenage and Royston!