glasgow travelcard

[GospelOak117]

hi all

I will be staying in Rothesay, Isle of Bute soon and wondered how much it would cost to go from Wemyss Bay to Glasgow and ride around Glasgow if there is some form of Travelcard? Also is there a combined ferry/train ticket that can be brought for Rothesay-Wemyss Bay-Glasgow?

Many thanks

 

[OwlMan]

Look at the SPT site
http://www.spt.co.uk/index.aspx

and the Scotrail site
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/content/rover-tickets.html



Peter

 

[me123]

SPT claim that they live to join up journeys. They're not as good as they claim to be! Getting the operators of all the wee bus firms to cooperate seems to be challenging, as does finding an effective zoning system; zonecard, for example is a bit of a farce. Calmac
and Scotrail do not cooperate on fares, only timetabling. This means that connecting services at Wemyss Bay will require a minimal wait, but you can't get a through fare Indeed, there is no ticketing option combining the trains and ferries.

One option is the daytripper ticket. This won't cover the ferry fare, but covers probably everything after that. However, I'm not sure if you could use it for just one person; you'd have to check with SPT unless someone on here knows what it's all about! (I've never used this). However, if you're going in a group, this would probably be the best option.

Another option is the Roundabout Ticket. You would need to buy your ferry fare on top of this, as well as a ticket from Wemyss Bay to Bishopton. Furthermore, you are restricted to Greater Glasgow area and parts of Lanarkshire and Paisley. Check the map to see if it's suitable.

The finally from SPT is the SPT Zonecard. It's a very confusing ticket, but for £54.70, you can use all the services on this map (£19.50 if you're under 16). Again, the ferry is not included, and this is really more of a commuter ticket, so it's unlikely to be what you're looking for. But if you're going to spend a lot of time riding on trains and buses it could be a reasonable ticket for you.

Sadly, there's no easy option when it comes to trains in Glasgow; it's even more complicated when you throw the ferries into the equation. We don't (yet) have an Oyster-like system, which makes joining up journeys difficult and unappealing, despite what SPT are trying to do.

The final option is the Freedom of Scotland Travelpass. This lets you get ferries all over Scotland with Calmac, and all trains with certain restrictions. Again, it's aimed at people touring Scotland rather than the daytrip you're probably looking for, and consequently it's a rather more pricey option. But if you were interested, you could pop up to Inverness or Aberdeen for the day with this ticket quite easily, and take the West Highland LIne another day.

 

[John @ home]

connecting services at Wemyss Bay will require a minimal wait, but you can't get a through fare Indeed, there is no ticketing option combining the trains and ferries.

That's not right. Glasgow - Rothesay fares are on the NFM 03 disk, you can buy them on the NXEC site, and I bought a £12.40 CDR earlier this year. It saved about 10% on separate rail and ferry tickets.

There's even a £14.80 CDR Coatbridge Central - Rothesay!

John

 

[90019]

Slightly off topic, but I just want to clarify one thing about the Freedom of Scotland pass.
Do you have to pay extra on top of the price of the pass to travel seated on the Caledonian Sleeper from Fort William to Edinburgh?

 

[A60K]

No need to pay extra to travel in the seats - and at this time of year that can be an amazing journey.

 

[me123]

That's not right. Glasgow - Rothesay fares are on the NFM 03 disk, you can buy them on the NXEC site, and I bought a £12.40 CDR earlier this year. It saved about 10% on separate rail and ferry tickets.

There's even a £14.80 CDR Coatbridge Central - Rothesay!

John

I didn't know those fares existed; typical refusal to advertise the fares. But yes, they'd be good value for money as well.

Strangely enough, I can't get a fare to the Isle of Cumbrae which would actually be vaguely useful for me! It's listed on the destinations, but no fares exist to anywhere at all, despite it being only a short walk from Largs station...

 

[156499]

I didn't know those fares existed; typical refusal to advertise the fares. But yes, they'd be good value for money as well.

Strangely enough, I can't get a fare to the Isle of Cumbrae which would actually be vaguely useful for me! It's listed on the destinations, but no fares exist to anywhere at all, despite it being only a short walk from Largs station...

Google Calmac and you'll get fares, the best way to get around Glasgow is the £2.65 Child or £5.30 Adult Roundabout ticket, which does you over 110 Stations and the Glasgow Underground, Rail ticket holders are also aloud to use the Glasgow Central-Buchanan Bus station-Glasgow Queen Street bus service number: 398 for free

 

[A60K]

I didn't know those fares existed; typical refusal to advertise the fares. But yes, they'd be good value for money as well.

Strangely enough, I can't get a fare to the Isle of Cumbrae which would actually be vaguely useful for me! It's listed on the destinations, but no fares exist to anywhere at all, despite it being only a short walk from Largs station...

There were quite a few posters advertising the fares at SPT stations earlier this year. But it is annoying not having anything for Millport/Cumbrae - it would be easy enough to set up at least a rail/ferry fare, even if not the bus operator on the island.

There are also through fares to many other Calmac routes from Scottish stations - I believe Craignure (Mull) and Stornoway (Lewis) have them among others. Also through fares to Kirkwall (Orkney) and I think Lerwick (Shetland).

If it's possible to get all of these organised then hopefully the missing places can be added sooner rather than later.

 

[156499]

There were quite a few posters advertising the fares at SPT stations earlier this year. But it is annoying not having anything for Millport/Cumbrae - it would be easy enough to set up at least a rail/ferry fare, even if not the bus operator on the island.

There are also through fares to many other Calmac routes from Scottish stations - I believe Craignure (Mull) and Stornoway (Lewis) have them among others. Also through fares to Kirkwall (Orkney) and I think Lerwick (Shetland).

If it's possible to get all of these organised then hopefully the missing places can be added sooner rather than later.

That millport bus is daylight robbery, remember last time being on it, the tire burst

 

[me123]

I never use the Millport bus; I have relatives on the island who always give me a free lift

I know that Largs Railway Station isn't technically connected to Largs Ferry Terminal, but they're less than a 5 minute walk from each other! I usually do it in about 2 minutes; they're just as close as Gourock Station and Ferry Terminal.

The fares are very badly advertised for Rothesay, Dunoon and Brodick. Even know that I've found them, they're only mentioned briefly. Better advertising would improve passenger numbers on trains and ferries, and get people onto the smaller islands thus boosting the tourist industry on the Clyde. It's be good to get more people going "doon the watter" again!

 

[John @ home]

That millport bus is daylight robbery, remember last time being on it, the tire burst

Was that just before the masked bandits appeared?

 

[156499]

Was that just before the masked bandits appeared?

haha, wouldn't suprise me nowadays:P

 

[me123]

Was that just before the masked bandits appeared?

Obviously never been to Millport if you think anything that exciting ever happens