Manchester Picc - Euston TfW/LNR Off-peak Return

[Adam Evans]

Does anybody know what's happened to the TfW/LNR Only Manchester Piccadilly - London Euston tickets? I can't seem to find it anywhere on any of the various ticketing websites including TfW and LNR themselves.

I previously was able to find it by inputting 'via Atherstone' into the search criteria but that no longer seems to work and instead just keeps directing me to the full price Avanti trains. Have they quietly gotten rid of it?

I hope not because the full priced Avanti tickets are just extortionate and I can rarely plan my journeys around Advance tickets.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Still there. I suspect you're ending up with trains in your search other than WMT/TfW and so it isn't coming up.

Putting via Atherstone may not work as all Trent Valley trains run via Atherstone whether they stop or not. You could try using Trainsplit and putting "stop at Atherstone" in the options?

 

[MrJeeves]

You could try using Trainsplit and putting "stop at Atherstone" in the options?

Alternatively, it may be easier to simply set only include West Midlands Trains and TfW?

TrainSplit

TrainSplit is a free service that makes it easy to find the cheapest train tickets for your journey.

beta.trainsplit.com

I only seem to get splitting options with separate TfW and LNR/WMR advances rather than the single through advance for both TOCs.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't think the OP wants an Advance to be fair.

 

[MrJeeves]

I don't think the OP wants an Advance to be fair.

Well in that case, no issue at all

 

[Adam Evans]

Still there. I suspect you're ending up with trains in your search other than WMT/TfW and so it isn't coming up.

Putting via Atherstone may not work as all Trent Valley trains run via Atherstone whether they stop or not. You could try using Trainsplit and putting "stop at Atherstone" in the options?

Thanks for your help. I managed to find it after a few tries. Glad that it hasn't been pulled.

Concerning though that it's become impossible to find via conventional means (ie the operators own mobile apps).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Concerning though that it's become impossible to find via conventional means (ie the operators own mobile apps).

Most of the apps etc are generally set up for faster journeys - slower but cheaper can be hard to find. That should perhaps be looked at in terms of the accreditation programme.

 

[Bungle965]

Most of the apps etc are generally set up for faster journeys - slower but cheaper can be hard to find. That should perhaps be looked at in terms of the accreditation programme.

As far as I am aware there hasn’t been any sort of accreditation for how a journey planner should work, each ends up with minor differences.

 

[plugwash]

Concerning though that it's become impossible to find via conventional means (ie the operators own mobile apps).

It always was hard to find. The way most rail retail sites are set up just isn't geared to such tickets, they generally let you restrict to a specific operator but very few let you specify a specific combination of operators. And most look for the fastest journeys rather than the cheapest. Sometimes you could trick them by using a via point

 

[Kite159]

Still there. I suspect you're ending up with trains in your search other than WMT/TfW and so it isn't coming up.

Putting via Atherstone may not work as all Trent Valley trains run via Atherstone whether they stop or not. You could try using Trainsplit and putting "stop at Atherstone" in the options?

The issue with putting 'via Atherstone' is due to the connection time at Crewe being something like 65 minutes between the TfW & LNR service so most journey planners will put in using a northern service from Manchester to Crewe to connect with the LNR service.
Same issue as northbound services as from memory the first train to Manchester from Crewe after the LNR arrives is normally a northern stopper (or even an Avanti service when those run).

Best site I find to look up these tickets is the likes of GWR whom still use the mixing desk layout.

 

[317 forever]

I have seen it on the LNWR website under the list of flexible fares.

 

[JW24]

Found on the forum's ticketing system only. Enter Crewe in the 'via' field and in operators exclude northern and avanti.