Senior Railcard is available to people over the age of 60.
Are you happy with going the long way round if a cheaper split is available, or would you prefer to be on a more direct route (and generally speaking taking less time)?
As a benchmark,
Halifax - Taunton
Route Not London
Off-Peak Return
£112.20 (£74.05 with Senior Railcard) (Restriction 8X - Valid after 0500)
is almost fully flexible and has virtually no restriction on when you can travel (except a nominal restriction on trains departing before 5am).
Doing a series of splits along the direct Cross Country route saves a small amount. This is composed of:
Halifax - Sheffield
Route Not Doncaster
Anytime Return
£16.00
Sheffield - Derby
Route Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return
£17.80 (Restriction 2O - Valid after 0900)
Derby - Birmingham Stations
Route Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return
£14.80 (Restriction 2V - Valid after 0930)
Birmingham Stations - Cheltenham Spa
Route Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return
£21.10 (Restriction 2V)
Cheltenham Spa - Bristol Temple Meads
Route Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return
£15.50 (Restriction WG - Valid after 0833 with some small local variations)
Bristol Temple Meads - Taunton
Route Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return
£17.50 (Restriction WG)
Total:
£102.70
All tickets are unrestricted at any time at weekends, and remember that your train must call at the station where you change from one ticket to the next. The combination above should be valid on the majority of through trains on the Cross Country route between Taunton and Leeds, so potentially only involves one change of train in each direction.
There is a cheaper way to get to Birmingham via Manchester, using these tickets:
Halifax - Manchester Stations
Route Any Permitted
Anytime Return
£10.90
Manchester Stations - Stoke-on-Trent
Route Virgin Trnsonly
Anytime Return
£11.00
or
Route Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return
£14.00 (Restriction 2V)
Stoke-on-Trent - Birmingham Stations
Route Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return
£15.00 (Restriction 2V - Valid after 0930)
These, plus the same tickets above between Birmingham and Taunton, bring your total down to
£91.00.
Railcard fares are approximately one-third cheaper than the full fares quoted above.