Chester Zoo add-on from Bache

[Oscar]

I would like to buy some friends a Chester Zoo add-on from Bache in the next few weeks but the staff at my local station do not seem to know how to sell it (fair enough, it's not exactly common). I could get the Chester - Chester Zoo add-on which they can definitely sell but it is more expensive. Does anyone know however how I could buy a Bache - Chester Zoo add-on which is apparently available from all National Rail outlets? I originally asked this in this thread but I admit that it did not really belong there and was mixed up with some general discussion of Bache station and its history: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=1070427#post1070427
The ticket details are here (it's the add-on from outside the Merseytravel area I'm interested in): http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/pr9e557dc35ce7410008472997852ea4/details.html

 

[hairyhandedfool]

They might have to sell it as a separate ticket from Bache, or you could split tickets in the Merseyrail area as all Merseyrail stations have a through fare via Bache.

 

[Oscar]

I think that the problem is that nothing comes up for Bache - Chester Bus & Zoo on the Tribute computer system. The man at York Station tried this and showed me his screen - this resulted in the standard "No fares found" or similar message. I would guess that there is some way of inputting this into the computer system which gives the desired result (otherwise it would surely not be advertised publicly as being available from any National Rail outlet?) but that the member of staff was not aware of and had presumably not been informed of how to do this.

...you could split tickets in the Merseyrail area...

Unfortunately this is not applicable as the route required is Manchester - Warrington or Crewe - Chester - Bache.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

For via Bache you need "Chester Zoo", not "Chester Bus & Zoo".

 

[Oscar]

Thanks a lot. I'll see if they'll sell Bache - Chester Zoo and Manchester - Bache.

 

[John @ home]

you could split tickets in the Merseyrail area

Unfortunately this is not applicable as the route required is Manchester - Warrington or Crewe - Chester - Bache.

For Manchester - Warrington - Chester - Bache, spilt at Newton-le-Willows which is a Merseyrail station.

 

[Oscar]

For Manchester - Warrington - Chester - Bache, spilt at Newton-le-Willows which is a Merseyrail station.

Thank you - I didn't notice this. Unfortunately they will be travelling on a Family and Friends Railcard (1 adults and 2 children) so given that they cannot get the discount on the Newton-le-Willows - Bache section with the Merseyrail package this works out as more expensive in this particular situation. For 1 adult with no railcards this is certainly cheaper though. Before anyone asks, the date and time of the trip have not yet been decided.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

How about using Chester Plusbus?
£1.35 with a railcard for all-day travel. Zoo definitely included in the zone.
You can use buses either from Chester or Bache stations.
(Not valid on the Chester Station-City dedicated bus link (Helms) but is valid on Arriva services towards Wrexham or Mold which are every 5 mins or so and drop you off in Foregate St).
Or use First 1 from Bache.

http://www.plusbus.info/chester-plusbus

 

[Daysaver]

New tickets were introduced on the 1st of May to coincide with the re-routing of Park & Ride service 32 which serves the zoo.

These are :
Chester - Chester bustozoo

Adult - £2 Return
Child - £1 Return

Chester - Chester zooandbus - This includes return travel from outside chester station, and admission to the zoo.

Adult - £13.85
Child age 3-4 £9.65
Child Age 5-15 £10.65

The buses are quite frequent, nearly every 10 minutes of a weekday/saturday, and every 15 on a Sunday.

This replaces the Bache tickets which were more expensive, and used service route number one which is every 20 minutes and quite crowded at times.

Hope this helps

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

New tickets were introduced on the 1st of May to coincide with the re-routing of Park & Ride service 32 which serves the zoo.

Yes I wondered why the 32s were thundering down City Road towards the station yesterday.
http://www.cheshirewestandchester.g...ds/park_and_ride/park_and_ride_timetable.aspx

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....This replaces the Bache tickets which were more expensive....

Beg to differ.

Bache:

Child
Age 3 to 15, £14 inclusive for journeys starting in the Merseytravel area. £8.15 add-on to rail fare to Bache for journeys from outside the Merseytravel area

Adults
£18.70 inclusive for journeys starting in the Merseytravel area, £11.20 add-on to rail fare to Bache for journeys from outside the Merseytravel area

Chester Bus & Zoo:

Child
Add-on to train fare:
Child 5 to 15 - Bus and admission ticket £10.65
Child 5 to 15 - Bus only £1.00
Child 3 to 4 - Admission ticket £9.65 (no train, bus fare required subject to National Rail Conditions of Carriage)

Adult
Add-on to train fare:
Bus and admission ticket £13.85
Bus only £2.00

With the possible exception of some journeys within Merseyrail area, I'd say Bache is cheaper.

 

[Daysaver]

Apologies, I was talking about Chester - Chester zoo (via Bache and number 1 bus) tickets which did cost £18.70

I do not think you can get a Bache Add on anymore, and as such the announcements on the Merseyrails have ceased advertising bache as the interchange.

There are also no bache add on's anymore I dont think ... I am happy to be corrected on this...

Possibly a sneaky way of increasing the prices over all.

 

[Oscar]

£11.20 add-on to rail fare to Bache for journeys from outside the Merseytravel area

So why is National Rail Enquiries still advertising this? Either NRE have not updated their site and are confusing people or the Bache add-ons must still exist.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Could someone with NFM12 check what comes up for Bache - Chester Zoo?
Would it be worth contacting National Rail Enquiries and asking them to remove the Bache tickets from their site if they are not in NFM12 so as to stop them misleading any other users of their site?

 

[34D]

How about using Chester Plusbus?
£1.35 with a railcard for all-day travel. Zoo definitely included in the zone.
You can use buses either from Chester or Bache stations.
(Not valid on the Chester Station-City dedicated bus link (Helms) but is valid on Arriva services towards Wrexham or Mold which are every 5 mins or so and drop you off in Foregate St).
Or use First 1 from Bache.

http://www.plusbus.info/chester-plusbus

Why isn't the Helms service valid on plusbus?

 

[SickyNicky]

Could someone with NFM12 check what comes up for Bache - Chester Zoo?

The only ticket available from Bache to Chester Zoo in NFM12 is CZS (ZOO STUDENT) priced at £16.

Rather interestingly, the route is +ANY PERMITTED, so it includes a cross-London transfer

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Why isn't the Helms service valid on plusbus?

I'm only quoting from the PlusBus link.
It says Helms/Aintree are not accepting tickets "at present".

These are the people who have "Inter-the-City" plastered on the sides of their rail-link buses as some kind of retro railway quip.

 

[Daysaver]

So why is National Rail Enquiries still advertising this? Either NRE have not updated their site and are confusing people or the Bache add-ons must still exist.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Could someone with NFM12 check what comes up for Bache - Chester Zoo?
Would it be worth contacting National Rail Enquiries and asking them to remove the Bache tickets from their site if they are not in NFM12 so as to stop them misleading any other users of their site?

It does not show any Bache Add ons at all apart from the student one which is only valid after 09.29

With regards to the £18.70 valid from within any merseyrail station, if travelling after 09.30 weekdays, or anytime on weekends it would be cheaper to buy a daysaver of £4.60 and then the Chester - busandzoo add on of £13.65 ( only just cheaper, more with a railcard discount applied too)

 

[Oscar]

I've just checked NFM11 and Bache - Chester Zoo comes up with no results there either. I find this extremely surprising. Was it only ever on rail industry machines? Could it possibly still be on rail industry machines but not have been entered into Avantix Traveller? I'd really like to clear up whether this ticket exists and if not when it was withdrawn so that I can write to NRE about it. The travellers I mentioned in my original post will be fine with a Chester Zoo & Bus if the Bache ticket doesn't exist.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Chester Zoo is currently in Fastis from every Merseyside/Merseyrail station I tried, except Bache, for before the fares change (20th May) and after. I can't get any station outside the Merseyrail area to produce a fare.

There are no Chester Zoo, Chester BustoZoo or Chester Bus&Zoo entries in the current 'The Manual' (FRPP) or the next one.

 

[Oscar]

Thank you - I will now write to NRE about the fact that it doesn't seem possible to buy the Bache tickets they advertise at all, nor does it previously seem to have been possible.

Chester Zoo is currently in Fastis from every Merseyside/Merseyrail station I tried, except Bache, for before the fares change (20th May) and after. I can't get any station outside the Merseyrail area to produce a fare.

That's exactly what my Avantix (NFM11) gives too.

 

[Oscar]

My enquiry seems to have resulted in the withdrawal of the Bache add-on tickets from outside the Merseytravel area by Merseyrail. I received an email suggesting that I had misread the information on NRE and that the Chester Zoo with Merseyrail tickets had only ever been available for purchase within the Merseytravel area, which, while true for the tickets for travel from inside this area which are now marketed under this title, is not true for the original tickets I enquired about. Since I doubt that the Bache add-ons from outside the Merseytravel area could have been sold by any ticket seller (at least not recently), I do not feel that anything has been lost through the enquiry - the Bache tickets have simply not been made available from sale. This at least clears up the matter.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Indeed, the NRES site appears to have been altered to show this.

It is also worth pointing out that a passenger informed me that he was told by a bus driver that the Chester BustoZoo and Chester Bus&Zoo tickets are only valid on the the First Group bus services between Chester and the Zoo, although I have no information from an official source for that (nor do I know what other buses run).