Kirk Sandall to Llanfairfechan off-peak return

[jennyb]

For travelling outward Thurs 27th August and back Tues 1st September,
if I split tickets and buy three off-peak returns Kirk Sandall-Stockport, Stockport-Chester and Chester-Llanfairfechan, will it be valid to change trains at Manchester Piccadilly (instead of Crewe and Stockport) on the return journey?
I think it should be OK, but I'd be grateful if anyone can clarify.

Thanks,
Jenny

 

[krus_aragon]

Yes, you can go via Manchester. The routeing guide shows CL+MH as one of three combinations to get from Chester to Stockport. CL allows travel from Chester to Manchester via Earlestown (ATW's Llandudno-Manchester service) then use MH to get to Stockport.

 

[jennyb]

Many thanks!

 

[John @ home]

For travelling outward Thurs 27th August and back Tues 1st September,
if I split tickets and buy three off-peak returns Kirk Sandall-Stockport, Stockport-Chester and Chester-Llanfairfechan, will it be valid to change trains at Manchester Piccadilly (instead of Crewe and Stockport) on the return journey?

If you want to travel via Manchester, it is a little cheaper to go via Leeds and Manchester and to split at Frodsham.

Through ticket
Kirk Sandal - Llanfairfechan route Sheffield SVR £53
Kirk Sandal - Llanfairfechan route Leeds SVR £59

Split Stockport and Chester
Kirk Sandal - Stockport SVR £16 (OUT not on train due to arr MAN before 0930, RTN any train)
Stockport - Chester SVR £13.20
Chester - Llanfairfechan SVR £16.20
Total £45.40

Split Frodsham
Kirk Sandal - Frodsham route Sheffield SVR £28.20 (OUT not on train due to arr MAN before 0930, RTN any train)
Kirk Sandal - Frodsham route Leeds SVR £26 (OUT not on train due to arr MAN before 0930, RTN any train)
Frodsham - Llanfairfechan SVR £18.80
Total via Leeds £44.80

John

 

[jennyb]

Thanks John,

I woudn't have thought of going via Leeds. The journey time is quite a bit longer, so I probably won't go that way this time, but worth considering in future if I can organise myself to book tickets sooner and look for advance tickets.

Can I ask you what prompted you to look at Frodsham as a place to split tickets? Is it to do with which TOC sets the prices between particular stations?

Regards,
Jenny

 

[yorkie]

A very useful ticket is KIRK SANDALL to ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE.

This fare is £16.90 for an Off Peak. It is valid via both Leeds or via the Hope Valley route.

Bizarrely, it is cheaper than a Sheffield to Manchester (which is a rip-off at £17.50). The same price ticket is available from Doncaster, so for £16.90 you can do Donny-Leeds-Ashton, yet this ticket is even cheaper than the complete and total utter rip-off Doncaster-Leeds ticket at a whopping £18.70!

The reason it is so cheap is unclear but I believe that the NXEC flow was deliberately overpriced at electrification when all ECML fares were massively increased (I have heard), and also GNER/NXEC have done larger increases than other TOCs in recent years. The Sheffield-Manchester flow is an example of a popular flow between major cities where TOCs put the price up higher than many other tickets.

The tickets from lesser places tend to get overlooked when price rises occur.

So this is an extremely useful ticket.