Essex Branch Rover ??

[extendedpaul]

Reading on another thread about the Southminster branch made me realise I've yet to travel there, or on the lines to Braintree and Sudbury.

I'm unaware of any ranger ticket covering the Essex branches or indeed Essex generally. If there is one, could someone give me details please ?

 

[Ivo]

I take it the All-Line Rover is out of the question?

That's it unfortunately. The problem is that it is difficult to "jump" between the three main lines in the county; all are entirely separate entities in Essex (the closest to an interchange between lines is walking up Southend High Street). There used to be a bus-train ticket called the Essex Sunday Saver (I think :?), which covered the Southminster, Sudbury, Clacton/Walton and Harwich branches, but was only valid on Sundays (hence the name) and offered no means of getting between the different branches unless buses appeal. The ticket still exists, but I haven't seen anything about train validity since the days of First Great Eastern; of course, this doesn't mean the ticket isn't valid on Greater Anglia (and wasn't on NXEA) - but I doubt it. Part of the point was integration between First Great Eastern and First Essex Buses (although the ticket was officially an ECC product)...

 

[extendedpaul]

Thanks, Ivo.

I think I will contact Greater Anglia and suggest they look into introducing an Essex Branches or All Essex rover ticket, I can refer to the Thames Branches Day Ranger and of course the well-used Anglia Plus.

I'll have to plan a Saturday in Essex with my network card. Shame that outside of Greater London the home counties have hardly any flexible day ranger tickets compared with the rest of the UK. The Kent Rover is for 3 days, the Southern Daysave great value but can't just be bought on the day