Circular / 'round robin' tickets - What examples exist?

[Ken H]

I enjoy going on round trips by train - out one way, back another. But wbat ticket?

So for Harrogate - York - Leeds I would buy a day return to Church Fenton.
But I am unsure if I can exit the stations at Leeds or York. and does the train I catch between York and Leeds have to stop at Church Fenton?
(Does it matter which way i go round the loop is another factor)

More generally, are there any tickets still sold for a round trip. I am aware of the Leeds - Settle - Carlisle - Newcastle - Leeds one, as well as the Lancaster - Carlisle, one way via Workington, the other via Penrith. Are there more? Where does one find them?

 

[ainsworth74]

So for Harrogate - York - Leeds I would buy a day return to Church Fenton.
But I am unsure if I can exit the stations at Leeds or York. and does the train I catch between York and Leeds have to stop at Church Fenton?
(Does it matter which way i go round the loop is another factor)

If you have a Harrogate to Church Fenton Anytime Day Return or Off-Peak Day Return starting from Harrogate you can exit at any station between Harrogate and Church Fenton including Leeds and York. The train you catch when you pass through Church Fenton must call there, though if you speak to the guard of a service which does not call, prior to boarding, and explain what you're doing they may not care and permit you to travel. It does not matter which way around the loop you go.

Are there more?

East Yorkshire Round Robin is another example of a ticket that permits a circular journey (though you don't have to travel in a circle and can double back):

The East Yorkshire Round Robin allows travel between York and Scarborough and between York and Hull via Selby as well as the East Yorkshire coastal resorts of Bridlington, Filey, Scarborough and Whitby.

The ticket allows you to make a circular journey from anywhere along the route but you don't have to travel in a circle.

You can also visit the 13th century Beverley Minster.

GB RAIL ROVER GUIDE - East Yorkshire Round Robin

How to find rail rover and ranger tickets on the national rail network. Rover and ranger tickets are cheap tickets for rail travel

www.railrover.org

 

[1955LR]

Heart of Wales line

Our Heart of Wales Circular Ranger allows you to travel along the Heart of Wales Line on a circular route over 1 or 2 days.​

Heart of Wales | Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

tfw.wales

 

[Haywain]

So for Harrogate - York - Leeds I would buy a day return to Church Fenton.

Is that the whole journey? Or are you starting from Leeds and doing the full circuit?

 

[Gaelan]

Glasgow/Edinburgh - Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh - Skye - Mallaig - Glasgow can be done either on the Scottish Grand Tour circular ticket or with a return to Kyle.

 

[lrailadventure]

Gloucester to Chippenham. Buy a return and you can do a circular route, travelling Gloucester - Swindon - Chippenham - Bristol - Gloucester.

(Think it also works for Melksham and Trowbridge if I'm remembering correctly from when I visited stations in that area)

 

[_toommm_]

The Ffestiniog Round Robin, offering a circular journey to/from the Ffestiniog Railway from as far as Birmingham International, Holyhead, Liverpool, Manchester, or Pwllheli:

 

[Ken H]

Is that the whole journey? Or are you starting from Leeds and doing the full circuit?

Whole circuit, but starting Harrogate

 

[Old Yard Dog]

I remember buying a circular trip ticket from Shrewsbury to Swansea (for the first ever game at the Liberty stadium) out via the Central Wales line and back via Cardiff.

 

[richard17smith]

Bristol to Ledbury gives you a nice circular route.

 

[A S Leib]

Watford Junction – Bedford (via Bletchley or St. Albans)

There are tickets between Ipswich and Lowestoft which specify not via Norwich, so I'd guess that Ipswich – Lowestoft – Norwich – Ipswich is a valid route on an any permitted ticket (£22.10 for an off-peak day return without a railcard; 10p more than the 'not via Norwich' equivalent).

Presumably an Edinburgh – Perth return is fine to travel via Inverkeithing outbound and Stirling coming back as Edinburgh – Inverness services run via Stirling; off the top of my head there's also at least five possible routes between Edinburgh and Glasgow which would be permissable (the fastest ScotRail services via Falkirk, Cumbernauld, Bathgate, Shotts, Carstairs).

To add to the ones you've mentioned via Carlisle, there's via Lockerbie or Dumfries to Glasgow. I think a Carlisle to Dunbar return would be valid via Newcastle or Edinburgh but I'm less sure on that one.

Slightly annoyingly there doesn't seem to be a single return ticket valid for travel from Manchester to Barnsley via Sheffield in one direction and Huddersfield in the other, and it's the same for Reading – Weymouth.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Slightly annoyingly there doesn't seem to be a single return ticket valid for travel from Manchester to Barnsley via Sheffield in one direction and Huddersfield in the other...

Could always be done as a day return by using a 'South Pennines Day Ranger'.

Otherwise, a one way change of route excess from route "via Huddersfield" to route "via Sheffield" is likely needed.

 

[Statto]

Cumbria Round Robin, which i've done, i normally start at Lancaster & go via the Coast first & go back via the West Coast main line, last time i did this, i caught the 10.13 from Lancaster via the coast to Carlisle.

Cumbria Round Robin | National Rail

Special offer: Cumbria Round Robin. The portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Didcot (or Reading, or Paddington) to Worcester? One way via the North Cotswolds, the other via the South Cotswolds. You can buy a “route Evesham/Stroud” return.

 

[A S Leib]

Didcot (or Reading, or Paddington) to Worcester? One way via the North Cotswolds, the other via the South Cotswolds. You can buy a “route Evesham/Stroud” return.

Swindon to Cardiff, direct or via Gloucester? There doesn't seem to be an any permitted fare but the only restriction (via Newport) would lead to a much longer route (Swindon – Cheltenham – Birmingham – Shrewsbury – Swansea – Cardiff) to avoid anyway. There's also 'not via Reading' and 'any permitted' fares for Swindon to Moreton-in-Marsh, so I'd guess that Worcester Shrub Hill / Foregate Street, Worcestershire Parkway and Didcot Parkway are all valid routes.

 

[randyrippley]

Exeter-Paddington-Waterloo-Exeter? And presumably you could vary the route via Bristol, or Westbury-Salisbury, or Basingstoke-Reading? Lots of options there

 

[A S Leib]

Exeter-Paddington-Waterloo-Exeter? And presumably you could vary the route via Bristol, or Westbury-Salisbury, or Basingstoke-Reading? Lots of options there

There's no any permitted fare, only via Taunton or via Honiton. I don't know whether or not Waterloo – Reading – Castle Cary – Yeovil – Exeter would be fine on a Honiton fare, or if you'd be charged anything for having a Taunton fare and asking for an excess via Honiton.

 

[miklcct]

Clapham Junction - Highbury & Islington.

A return ticket allows you to complete the whole Overground loop as it can be done by two direct trains.

 

[randyrippley]

There's no any permitted fare, only via Taunton or via Honiton. I don't know whether or not Waterloo – Reading – Castle Cary – Yeovil – Exeter would be fine on a Honiton fare, or if you'd be charged anything for having a Taunton fare and asking for an excess via Honiton.

when did that change? I've in the past used tickets interchangeably across the two routes without problem. It was a few years ago though

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Is it wise to be pointing out on here openly which tickets that are specifically not circular products allow circular journey opportunities to be made...?

I am now half expecting next week's routing guide update to include a large number of new "via" points.

 

[Alex365Dash]

There's no any permitted fare, only via Taunton or via Honiton. I don't know whether or not Waterloo – Reading – Castle Cary – Yeovil – Exeter would be fine on a Honiton fare, or if you'd be charged anything for having a Taunton fare and asking for an excess via Honiton.

By nature of the Routeing Guide, the more expensive routed fare is valid on the less expensive routed fare. If the via Taunton route is more expensive than via Honiton, you can automatically travel via Honiton on a via Taunton ticket.

 

[Springs Branch]

I know the OP is looking at present-day options and to travel mostly 'on the cushions', but I've noticed some historic examples in 1960s BR London Midland Region timetable books.

Amongst the various small ads which BR inserted into what would have been white space on timetable pages were a couple promoting:-

• Circular Tour Tickets - whereby a booking office (with 2 days notice) would issue a custom-priced ticket for your individual circular itinerary.
  The fare was the sum of all the point-to-point singles, less a whopping 10% discount!
  
  
  
  
• Walking Tour Tickets - out by one rail route, bit of a hike, then back via another. This is basically an open-jaw day return and sounds like it was only available for certain specified stations and walks.
  
  I'd be interested to know some examples of these walks - no doubt options would be publicised via those characteristic railway handbills in racks at stations. It's no surprise that several years issues of LMR timetables printed the Walking Tour Tickets advert at the bottom of the Manchester - Hayfield/Macclesfield via Rose Hill tables.
  
  Given this was the 1960s and frequencies of service at many of the prime candidate stations might be *slim* (especially on Sundays), you'd hope that BR Marketing bods who selected itineraries, and eager ramblers setting off for their Grand Day Out both paid careful attention to the train timetables.
  
  
  

 

[xotGD]

To use a Northern complementary return to do a loop of S&C, Cumbrian Coast and Bentham Line I specified Whitehaven as my destination.

 

[mangyiscute]

There's no any permitted fare, only via Taunton or via Honiton. I don't know whether or not Waterloo – Reading – Castle Cary – Yeovil – Exeter would be fine on a Honiton fare, or if you'd be charged anything for having a Taunton fare and asking for an excess via Honiton.

you can use the via taunton fare fine on the other route, you could in theory pay a zero fare excess but you don't actually have to do that

 

[parkender102]

The Ffestiniog Round Robin, offering a circular journey to/from the Ffestiniog Railway from as far as Birmingham International, Holyhead, Liverpool, Manchester, or Pwllheli:

The Cambrian Rail Cruise - using the Ffestiniog Round Robin Ticket you can complete a circular journey from Chester - Llandudno Jct - Blaenau Ffestiniog - Porthmadog
- Machynlleth - Shrewsbury - Chester. Alternatively Shrewsbury - Chester - Llandudno Junction -Blaenau Ffestiniog - Machynlleth - Shrewsbury. Valid from other Stations such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool (using designated geographical routes).

Some magnificent scenery on this route including Coast, Mountains, River Valleys etc. A Bargain at £25.00 for the all day ticket. It will take you most of the day - plus you get to use the Ffestiniog Railway for part of the journey - a real treat if you get a steam hauled service.

More details here:

The Cambrian Rail Cruise

The Cambrian Rail Cruise - A circular tour of North Wales by rail

www.penmorfa.com

Ffestiniog Round Robin | Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

tfw.wales

 

[Old Yard Dog]

In the olden days, you could buy a circular saver which was calculated by halving the sum of the saver fares for each leg. I remember buying such a ticket from Ellesmere Port to Portsmouth via Cambridge back via Oxford. It took the chap at Runcorn ticket office about half an hour to do it after I showed him the NFM. Do such tickets still exist?

 

[Haywain]

Do such tickets still exist?

No, they don't and they haven't done for many years.

 

[nwales58]

... plus you get to use the Ffestiniog Railway for part of the journey ...

Next opportunity 28/12/2023 to 01/01/2024 then not until around Easter.

On the many days in the year when the 'Mountain Spirit' full length service does not operate you can experience the appalling connections with with the 3B bus. Typical wait 45 minutes to an hour in Blaenau Ffestiniog; between Llandudno Junction and Penrhyndeudraeth you will spend more time waiting than travelling.

 

[parkender102]

Next opportunity 28/12/2023 to 01/01/2024 then not until around Easter.

On the many days in the year when the 'Mountain Spirit' full length service does not operate you can experience the appalling connections with with the 3B bus. Typical wait 45 minutes to an hour in Blaenau Ffestiniog; between Llandudno Junction and Penrhyndeudraeth you will spend more time waiting than travelling.

Thought that might be the case - resorting to the Bus if the Ffestiniog Railway is not running - maybe better during the summer with longer days and more scenery viewing time. I do regular journeys around North Wales as I got my Bus Pass last year on my 60th Birthday and use it at the start and return of overnight Wild Camping Trips in Snowdonia. I've found the Bus Services pretty good especially the Traws Cymru 'T' Services - ie T8 Mold - Corwen and T10 Corwen - Betws-y-Coed. Unfortunately they dont go Blaenau - Porthmadog.

 

[FenMan]

A Guildford - Worthing ticket route NOT VIA LONDON is quite fun. Available routes:-

Via Havant - Chichester
Via Redhill - Gatwick Airport - Hove
Via Redhill - Gatwick Airport - Brighton
Via Redhill - Gatwick Airport - Lewes - Brighton
Via Gatwick Airport - Horsham - Barnham
Via Dorking Deepdene - walk - Dorking Main - Horsham - Barnham
Via Leatherhead - Horsham - Barnham
Via Clapham Junction (via various routes!)

As far as I can see, no intermediate fares are undermined. I've used another ticket with similar routeing flexibility to do the Guildford - Havant - Gatwick Airport loop - not to collect routes, it was the quickest way to get there and back!