Carlisle to Truro in July

[ItsGrimUpNorth]

Hi, looking at undetaking this journey in July (Out on 14th, back on 15th), any fare experts offer some good split points etc?

There's 2 of us, with a 'Two Together' Railcard too.

Don't want to have to fork out for the bog standard return fares if at all possible!

Many thanks

 

[Romilly]

Using Advance (i.e. booked-train-only) tickets and splitting at Wolverhampton, Cheltenham and Exeter seems to produce a reasonable result:

Carlisle 0806
Wolverhampton 1033 £34

Wolverhampton 1045 (leave on train you arrived on)
Cheltenham 1157 £12.50

Cheltenham 1200
Exeter St Davids 1343 £23.20

Exeter St D 1410
Truro 1625 £15.80

Truro 1344
Exeter St D 1601 £12.50

Exeter St D 1624
Cheltenham 1810 £37.50

Cheltenham 1811
Wolverhampton 1934 £15.70

Wolverhampton 1937
Carlisle 2200 £16.50

Total: £167.70


And you can knock a further £8.80 off that by splitting Exeter-Cheltenham on the return journey into Exeter 1624-Bristol Temple Meads 1724 (£17.70), and Bristol 1730 -Cheltenham 1810 (£11)


The trains and changes are:

Carlisle dep. 0806
Birmingham New St arr. 1105

Birmingham New St dep. 1117
Exeter St Davids arr. 1343

Exeter St Davids dep. 1410
Truro arr. 1625

Truro dep. 1344
Plymouth arr. 1459

Plymouth dep. 1525
Birmingham New St arr. 1856

Birmingham New St dep. 1915
Carlisle arr. 2200

 

[ItsGrimUpNorth]

Excellent, thanks very much!

 

[jkdd77]

On the outward leg:
1200 Cheltenham Spa- Bristol TM 1242 £6.20
1245 Bristol TM- Exeter St Davids 1343 £11.20
saving £5.80

On the return leg:
1624 Exeter St Davids- Taunton 1650 £5.60
1651 Taunton- Bristol TM 1724 £11.90
saving 20p on Romilly's second suggestion, with the aforementioned £11 ticket from Bristol to Cheltenham.

Using all other splits suggested by Romilly, this gives a total fare of £152.90.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
*Bumped owing to potential importance to the OP*

This may be a little late, but Romilly's £15.70 northbound fare between Cheltenham Spa and Wolverhampton appears to include a non-reservable London Midland connecting train to Wolverhampton rather than the Virgin through train to Carlisle.

The three minute connection onto the Virgin train is not a booked connection, meaning that there is a possibility of being stranded at Wolverhampton, having missed the last train of the day to Carlisle.

The ticket is routed 'XC & Connections', so there is an argument that, *if* there is no reservation coupon specifically tying the OP to the LM service, then he/ she may contractually use the Virgin service as a 'reasonable connecting train', on the grounds that the internal 'may not use reservable connecting services' rule does not form part of the contract for travel, although he/she may face considerable hassle using the ticket in this manner.

If there is a reservation coupon specifically tying the OP to the LM service, then even this argument is no longer tenable.

 

[Romilly]

Thank you jkdd77 for spotting that, and apologies to the OP. Birmingham-Wolverhampton singles on the 1915 Birmingham-Carlisle train total £4.80. If tickets are not already bought, Cheltenham-Birmingham Advances on the 1811 arriving 1856 total £15.50. Now my slip has been pointed out, I can't see anyway yet of getting Cheltenham-Wolverhampton Advances using the 1811 and 1915.

Edit: actually, on National Rail Enquiries, if in Advanced Search I opt to use Virgin Trains, I do get a £31.80 price for Cheltenham-Wolverhampton offpeak singles using the 1811 and 1915, although when I click on "Buy Now" the retail site to which I am transferred then only offers through tickets using the 1811 from Cheltenham and the 1908 London Midland service from Birmingham.