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Exeter to Liverpool advice.

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Cowley

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Evening everyone.

I’m looking for a bit of help with this conundrum:

I’ve been looking at a car that’s in Wallasey near Liverpool (yes I know it’s a long way away from me but I’ve done my research and it’s exactly what I’m looking for).
I’ve got tomorrow (Monday) off and Saturday - he said he’d hold on to it for me for a small deposit until Saturday if needs be.
This what I was wondering (and I don’t know my way around the fares system that well hence me asking about it here):

1) If I got a ticket on the day (tomorrow) would I be paying more than if I bought it tonight?
2) It looks like it’ll be about £137, is there any way of getting the price down?
3) If I went on Saturday it’s saying on the National Rail site that there’s all sorts of industrial action. Is that likely to cause me lots of problems? The price is pretty much the same either day and in a way I’d rather get it done tomorrow as I’ve got a busy week ahead with work.

Hope this makes sense and thanks in advance for any advice.
 
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maxbarnish

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I put your itinerary for tomorrow Monday Exeter St Davids to Wallasey Village into TrainSplit and it came up as 98.91 pounds - so a bit better, but it was using some advance tickets. If it's just 'flexible' tickets, then it'll be same price on the day. Saturday at moment there are strikes on Merseyrail, so that would affect the line to Wallasey from Liverpool Lime Street. I'd suggest you go onto TrainSplit ASAP tonight and see what you can get for Monday. The cheapest when I searched left at 10.47 and got back at 00.52, giving you about 2 and a half hours on location in Wallasey.
 

M28361M

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Whereabouts in Wallasey? There are three stations in Wallasey itself (Grove Road, Village and New Brighton) - although they are all on the same line, so it is just a matter of knowing which one is nearest to where you need to go.

There are Advances on this flow but it may be too late to get one for tomorrow, and availabilty on Saturdays in December is likely to be poor, though I haven't checked. Looking at BRFares, £137.55 is the price for an Off Peak Single from Exeter St Davids to Wallasey Village routed "via Bristol". There is a cheaper Anytime Single "via Hereford" fare - £69.40, although the journey time going this way is longer and requires more changes of train. Others may be able to suggest splits.

The strike warning will be for London Northwestern Railway who are affected by strikes every Saturday in December. The usual way of travelling from the South West to Liverpool is to take Cross Country to Birmingham, then LNWR to Liverpool. There have been some trains running between Birmingham and Liverpool on strike days, however I think you could avoid LNWR entirely by travelling to Stafford on the same or another XC train, then take Virgin service to Liverpool.

When travelling from Liverpool to Wallasey, don't forget you need Lime Street Low Level for the Merseyrail Wirral Line.
 
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Cowley

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I put your itinerary for tomorrow Monday Exeter St Davids to Wallasey Village into TrainSplit and it came up as 98.91 pounds - so a bit better, but it was using some advance tickets. If it's just 'flexible' tickets, then it'll be same price on the day. Saturday at moment there are strikes on Merseyrail, so that would affect the line to Wallasey from Liverpool Lime Street. I'd suggest you go onto TrainSplit ASAP tonight and see what you can get for Monday. The cheapest when I searched left at 10.47 and got back at 00.52, giving you about 2 and a half hours on location in Wallasey.
That’s really helpful thanks.
I think I’m going to have to look at it in the morning now as I’ve just realised that some of the money I need hasn’t cleared yet which is a pain (I think due to the Natwest having a meltdown on Friday).
Is TrainSplit the best one to use for this even on the day then?


Whereabouts in Wallasey? There are three stations in Wallasey itself (Grove Road, Village and New Brighton) - although they are all on the same line, so it is just a matter of knowing which one is nearest to where you need to go.

There are Advances on this flow but it may be too late to get one for tomorrow, and availabilty on Saturdays in December is likely to be poor, though I haven't checked. Looking at BRFares, £137.55 is the price for an Off Peak Single from Exeter St Davids to Wallasey Village routed "via Bristol". There is a cheaper Anytime Single "via Hereford" fare - £69.40, although the journey time going this way is longer and requires more changes of train. Others may be able to suggest splits.

The strike warning will be for London Northwestern Railway who are affected by strikes every Saturday in December. The usual way of travelling from the South West to Liverpool is to take Cross Country to Birmingham, then LNWR to Liverpool. There have been some trains running between Birmingham and Liverpool on strike days, however I think you could avoid LNWR entirely by travelling to Stafford on the same or another XC train, then take Virgin service to Liverpool.

When travelling from Liverpool to Wallasey, don't forget you need Lime Street Low Level for the Merseyrail Wirral Line.
That’s really useful too.
I’m not sure where in Wallasey, I’ll contact him in the morning and see if he’ll pick me up from whatever station it is.
I hadn’t thought about going via Hereford, but I imagine it would take an age.
I’m wondering if I should work tomorrow and take Tuesday off instead now. It might be easier.
 

maxbarnish

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Tuesday may work better, especially as you need to confirm some details with the person in Wallasey. On many journeys from Exeter to the Midlands and North, I find TrainSplit often comes out cheaper - even on the day it can combine a series of different returns. Might as well compare it and the 'simple' booking sites. You'll need to know which station in Wallasey, but the three are all in a line so the routing is the same. The strike that came to my mind was Merseyrail, but M28361M is correct that LNWR can be used on some itineraries to Liverpool - so I'd avoid Saturday.
 

M28361M

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The strike that came to my mind was Merseyrail

Merseyrail are not on strike, the action was called off.

I hadn’t thought about going via Hereford, but I imagine it would take an age.

National Rail planner seems to think about 6h15 compared to 5h30-ish for going via Bristol and Birmingham, so not too bad time-wise, but most journeys require four changes of train rather than 2 on the more expensive route.
 

Cowley

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National Rail planner seems to think about 6h15 compared to 5h30-ish for going via Bristol and Birmingham, so not too bad time-wise, but most journeys require four changes of train rather than 2 on the more expensive route.
The more I look at it I’m really quite tempted by the Hereford one at that price. It’s really not that much longer considering how much cheaper it is even if it does mean a couple of extra changes. I’m struggling to see what the train times are though?
 

yorkie

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Put via Hereford into Trainsplit; if no splits are cheaper it will offer the through fare
 

Cowley

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Put via Hereford into Trainsplit; if no splits are cheaper it will offer the through fare
Right ok. I’m out and about at the moment but I’ll have a go at that later.
Thanks everyone.
 

M28361M

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The more I look at it I’m really quite tempted by the Hereford one at that price. It’s really not that much longer considering how much cheaper it is even if it does mean a couple of extra changes. I’m struggling to see what the train times are though?

Here's a sample itinerary for tomorrow from NRE. Most planners won't show via Hereford by default because it is slower, you need to put in Hereford as a via point.

0842 Exeter St David's to Weston-super-Mare (GWR)
0948 Weston-super-Mare to Newport (GWR)
1105 Newport to Crewe via Hereford (TfW)
1343 Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street (Virgin)
1433 Liverpool Lime Street to Wallasey Village (Merseyrail)
1452 arrive Wallasey Village (total journey time 6 hours 10 minutes)

There are also itineraries offered travelling via Chester instead of Crewe/Liverpool.
 

Cowley

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Here's a sample itinerary for tomorrow from NRE. Most planners won't show via Hereford by default because it is slower, you need to put in Hereford as a via point.

0842 Exeter St David's to Weston-super-Mare (GWR)
0948 Weston-super-Mare to Newport (GWR)
1105 Newport to Crewe via Hereford (TfW)
1343 Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street (Virgin)
1433 Liverpool Lime Street to Wallasey Village (Merseyrail)
1452 arrive Wallasey Village (total journey time 6 hours 10 minutes)

There are also itineraries offered travelling via Chester instead of Crewe/Liverpool.
@M28361M - What did you use to work that out? I’d like to have a look myself because I don’t want to get everyone to do all of this for me like some kind of simpleton (which I actually am when it comes to this). ;)
I’d probably have to leave at 11ish because he’s at work until 5 anyway. I’m fairly (99.9%) confident that I’ll come back with the car so I’m not too worried about getting a return at the moment (I wouldn’t be going to look if I wasn’t certain).
 

johnmoly

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Just to confirm its the New Brighton service you want for any Wallasey station from Low level Lime Street, next to the main exit/entrance. The trains run every 15 minutes during the day.
 

M28361M

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@M28361M - What did you use to work that out? I’d like to have a look myself because I don’t want to get everyone to do all of this for me like some kind of simpleton (which I actually am when it comes to this). ;)

I used the journey planner at http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search - if you click just under the form where it says "1 Adult | No Child | No Railcard", that opens the advanced options where you can specify a via point.

Some of the train company planners have a simpler interface - I also tried https://www.buytickets.tfwrail.wales (for no reason other than TfW set the "via Hereford" fare). Just put in Exeter St Davids to Wallasey Village, choose the departure date and time and then specify Hereford as a via point.

Or use Trainsplit as yorkie suggested, if you want to see splitting options as well.

I’d probably have to leave at 11ish because he’s at work until 5 anyway. I’m fairly (99.9%) confident that I’ll come back with the car so I’m not too worried about getting a return at the moment (I wouldn’t be going to look if I wasn’t certain).

Here is an itinerary for tomorrow from TfW's website. If 1652 is too early to arrive in Wallasey, you could always grab a coffee or something in Lime Street and get a later Merseyrail train (they run every 15 minutes).

1047 Exeter St Davids-Bristol Temple Meads
1221 Bristol Temple Meads-Newport
1306 Newport-Crewe
1543 Crewe-Liverpool Lime Street High Level
1633 Liverpool Lime Street Low Level-Wallasey Village (arrive 1652)
 

Cowley

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I used the journey planner at http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search - if you click just under the form where it says "1 Adult | No Child | No Railcard", that opens the advanced options where you can specify a via point.

Some of the train company planners have a simpler interface - I also tried https://www.buytickets.tfwrail.wales (for no reason other than TfW set the "via Hereford" fare). Just put in Exeter St Davids to Wallasey Village, choose the departure date and time and then specify Hereford as a via point.

Or use Trainsplit as yorkie suggested, if you want to see splitting options as well.



Here is an itinerary for tomorrow from TfW's website. If 1652 is too early to arrive in Wallasey, you could always grab a coffee or something in Lime Street and get a later Merseyrail train (they run every 15 minutes).

1047 Exeter St Davids-Bristol Temple Meads
1221 Bristol Temple Meads-Newport
1306 Newport-Crewe
1543 Crewe-Liverpool Lime Street High Level
1633 Liverpool Lime Street Low Level-Wallasey Village (arrive 1652)
You’re an absolute star. Thank you very much.
I’ve just negotiated a really good price with the guy (which more than covers the rail fare) and he’s able to pick me up from Wallasey Villiage at 16:52 for a road test.
Fingers crossed that it all works out. If not tomorrow then it’ll be Tuesday instead and I’ll work tomorrow.
 

Cowley

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Just to confirm its the New Brighton service you want for any Wallasey station from Low level Lime Street, next to the main exit/entrance. The trains run every 15 minutes during the day.
Noted, thanks John.
 

Cowley

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A quick update.
The reason some of the money hadn’t cleared was because they’d done it as a BACS payment which takes three working days rather than the same day CHAPS that it should have been.
Hopefully it’ll be in tomorrow and I’ll be able to pick the car up then (I’ve ended up working today instead).
Thanks again everyone.

Put via Hereford into Trainsplit; if no splits are cheaper it will offer the through fare

One more silly question though: I haven’t used TrainSplit before, will it just issue me a load of barcode type tickets for the phone? If I go via Birmingham there’s about 7 different tickets to make the journey up.
 

yorkie

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One more silly question though: I haven’t used TrainSplit before, will it just issue me a load of barcode type tickets for the phone? If I go via Birmingham there’s about 7 different tickets to make the journey up.
If the TOCs who set the fares have enabled them all for e-tickets then yes you will get it will be one PDF with all the relevant barcode tickets contained within it.

If this is not the case, you will get the tickets in paper form via TOD.
 

Cowley

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If the TOCs who set the fares have enabled them all for e-tickets then yes you will get it will be one PDF with all the relevant barcode tickets contained within it.

If this is not the case, you will get the tickets in paper form via TOD.
What’s a TOD? :oops:
 

tony_mac

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Ticket On Departure - i.e., you collect the tickets from a machine.

You won't be able to get an eticket at least for the Merseyrail section of the journey, but you can probably just buy that at Lime St anyway.

The shortest route to change at Lime St is to take the lift from the main concourse (down by the side of Boots) - otherwise it's 3 escalators and various passageways.
I would also say it's easier to pick up passengers from Wallasey Grove Road - as it has a pickup area and carpark - Wallasey Village station is on a main road (they are 1/2 mile apart).
 

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Some journeys on Merseyrail end up the same price if you include a Merseyrail station as the destination vs using Liv. Lime Street so there might not be a need to purchase an extra ticket, just requires some experimentation.
 
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Possibly too late for you, but it may be worth considering the line from Wrexham to Bidston, which is only about a mile from Wallasey Village.

Adding 'via Hope (Flints)' in Trainsplit brings up a flexible single fare of £67.24, dep Exeter 1124, arr Bidston 1731, changing at Bristol Parkway, Newport and Wrexham.
 

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Possibly too late for you, but it may be worth considering the line from Wrexham to Bidston, which is only about a mile from Wallasey Village.

Adding 'via Hope (Flints)' in Trainsplit brings up a flexible single fare of £67.24, dep Exeter 1124, arr Bidston 1731, changing at Bristol Parkway, Newport and Wrexham.

About a mile as the crow flies but a very difficult journey by foot (under and over motorways and the like) but you are correct to highlight that some interesting fares result from the line from Bidston to Hawarden Bridge being treated an honorary part of Wales
 

Cowley

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Well I’m currently heading north via Newport and Hereford. It’s a lovely day and considering the journey is only about 40 minutes longer (assuming everything goes as it should) I’m quite looking forward to it as it’s over routes (Newport to Crewe) that I haven’t been on since the 1990s. Also for a walk up fare that was half the price you can’t go too far wrong really.
He’s picking me up when I get there so let’s hope that everything goes to plan and I’ll be back home before I turn into a pumpkin.
 

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Well I’m currently heading north via Newport and Hereford. It’s a lovely day and considering the journey is only about 40 minutes longer (assuming everything goes as it should) I’m quite looking forward to it as it’s over routes (Newport to Crewe) that I haven’t been on since the 1990s. Also for a walk up fare that was half the price you can’t go too far wrong really.
He’s picking me up when I get there so let’s hope that everything goes to plan and I’ll be back home before I turn into a pumpkin.

If you are wanting a black cab for the last part of the journey then Hamilton Square is the place to jump out. (A cab from Liverpool Lime Street is way more expensive not least because you have to pay the tunnel fee twice (there and back) and Liverpool cabbies unlike everyone else do not seem to use the card that reduces the tunnel fee significantly). You can find Uber on the Wirral though or else of course walk!
 

Cowley

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If you are wanting a black cab for the last part of the journey then Hamilton Square is the place to jump out. (A cab from Liverpool Lime Street is way more expensive not least because you have to pay the tunnel fee twice (there and back) and Liverpool cabbies unlike everyone else do not seem to use the card that reduces the tunnel fee significantly). You can find Uber on the Wirral though or else of course walk!
He’s picking me up Djgr so it should be fine.
 
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