Most pointless journey for which a fare is available

[The DJ]

London King's Cross to St. Pancras International via Finsbury Park - £6.50 single/£4.30 Railcard single

 

[philjo]

Or the “Go Faster” option shown for £7.20 - it would be faster to walk for free !

 

[NoMorePacers]

In a similar vein, Manchester Piccadilly - Manchester Oxford Road (£2.40 single).

 

[Journeyman]

The one that gets wheeled out every time anyone wants to moan about the cost of rail travel - the Anytime First Class Return from Penzance to Wick that costs over a grand. No-one has, or ever will, buy it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

In a similar vein, Manchester Piccadilly - Manchester Oxford Road (£2.40 single).

That might be useful if you had a TOC specific Advance that only got you to Picc and were going to the university or around there. I've certainly bought a non-zero number of that ticket when I was at uni.

 

[voyagerdude220]

I wonder how many people buy the annual First Class season ticket between Berwick Upon Tweed and London Kings Cross, which was roughly around the £42,000 mark last time I checked.

 

[steamybrian]

Two on London Underground..
I understand that a number of foreign visitors buy a £4.50 single to go on the Piccadilly Line from Covent Garden to Leicester Square a distance of less than quarter of a mile or 5 minutes walk.
Embankment to Charing Cross is also 5 minutes walk along Villiers Street.

 

[Irascible]

I'm not good enough at using the National Rail site to find a ticket from Waterloo to Waterloo East, but I'm sure someone can find one.

Edit: I stand corrected - http://www.brfares.com/#!fares?orig=WAT&dest=WAE

£19 for a walk round the corner! assuming a TC is really the cheapest fare...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Here's a good one.

Burscough Bridge-Burscough Junction, Anytime Day Single £11.20:

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

About 15-20 minutes' walk if that. By train, you'd have to go via Wigan and Preston which would take well over an hour, though you can't actually buy it (I just tried) as it doesn't look like there are any Permitted Routes.

 

[youngiecj]

That might be useful if you had a TOC specific Advance that only got you to Picc and were going to the university or around there. I've certainly bought a non-zero number of that ticket when I was at uni.

I certainly used to buy them as a student. Mainly a return if there was a required unit out. I would nip out and back and come home!

 

[Merle Haggard]

Those short journeys seem to confuse NRES.
Birmingham New St to Birmingham Moor Street gives two options; walk ( no fare) or walk to Snow Hill (further, I think than to Moor St) and catch a train from there.
Someone else pointed out a while ago asking for Liverpool Central to Lime St (on a one way loop, trains travel in the opposite direction) which gives walk Central to Lime St., catch a train back to Central then walk, again, Central to Lime St.
Not a short or pointless journey, but I once asked NRES for the next train from Kings Cross to Hull, and I chose the option, further down the page, to select an operator. I selected Hull Trains only; so it gave me Kings Cross - Hull by VTEC (as it was then ); Northern, Hull to Brough; Hull Trains, Brough to Hull.
Far from 'the computer says no' it always comes up with an answer...

 

[DelW]

Two on London Underground..
I understand that a number of foreign visitors buy a £4.50 single to go on the Piccadilly Line from Covent Garden to Leicester Square a distance of less than quarter of a mile or 5 minutes walk.
Embankment to Charing Cross is also 5 minutes walk along Villiers Street.

Bayswater to Queensway via Notting Hill Gate looks a reasonable route on the tube map, but not on the ground.

 

[Irascible]

I think there's walks inside tube stations longer than CG to Leicester Sq...

 

[Trackman]

In a similar vein, Manchester Piccadilly - Manchester Oxford Road (£2.40 single).

Well, walking from Oxford road to Picc is not as easy as it looks.
I’ve done once, must have took 15 mins.

 

[Ianno87]

Lidlington to Ridgmont (Route London). A mere £63 Day Return to end up 2 miles down the road.

 

[3rd rail land]

I think there's walks inside tube stations longer than CG to Leicester Sq...

Yes, King's Cross Victoria Line to the King's Cross NR station must be longer if you follow the signage in the station.

 

[greatkingrat]

London King's Cross to St. Pancras International via Finsbury Park - £6.50 single/£4.30 Railcard single

There isn't a specific fare for that journey - it is just offering a generic single to Zones 1-2, which could be used to travel to St Pancras, but is also valid for many more useful journeys.

 

[Cambus731]

Skipton to Colne?

 

[steamybrian]

I think there's walks inside tube stations longer than CG to Leicester Sq...

I agree- How far is Monument to Bank using the subway connection..?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Well, walking from Oxford road to Picc is not as easy as it looks.
I’ve done once, must have took 15 mins.

Deansgate to Oxford Road is probably more useless (as it's far shorter and basically straight down one road), and indeed I've never done that by train.

 

[Watershed]

In a similar vein, Manchester Piccadilly - Manchester Oxford Road (£2.40 single).

Whilst that's a steep fare for a distance walkable in 10 minutes (if you know where you're going), it would not be true to say it's totally pointless. There are even circumstances in which Oxford Road to Deansgate would not be a pointless journey (though I admit it would make little sense to pay for it specifically).

 

[Bacon_BMW]

Wembley Stadium to Central is a 15 minute walk. Quickest rail journey is a little over an hour via Marylebone and Queen’s Park with an Underground journey in between.

 

[Meole]

Wrexham Central to General, only £ 1.60.

 

[mirodo]

Those short journeys seem to confuse NRES.
Birmingham New St to Birmingham Moor Street gives two options; walk ( no fare) or walk to Snow Hill (further, I think than to Moor St) and catch a train from there.

Same with the Burnley stations. For Manchester Road to Barracks, the planner suggests walking to Central (which is further away than Barracks), then getting a train from there.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

duplicate of another post.

 

[2L70]

Worcester Shrub Hill to Foregate Street, I walked it in 12 mins the other day.

 

[Llandudno]

Rice Lane to Walton on Merseyrail
NRE is coming up with £25.20 Anytime single

Not even 2 minutes walk between the two stations!

 

[simonw]

Pilning to Severn Beach. Has to be a Saturday as that's the only day trains stop. A fit person could walk between the two stations in about the time taken to travel there (1 hour 15 min) You can buy a day return ticket from the train line on the 14.33 departure from Pilning, but it is impossible to use the return portion as there are only two trains a week and the 14.33 is the later of the two.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

It used to be the case that you could pay £13 for the privilege of travelling between St Budeaux Victoria Road and St Budeaux Ferry Road stations, who’s entrances effectively face one another across a public road. Although there wasn’t a specific fare, the option still came up on NRE as the £13 represented a Cornish rover ticket of some kind. There was even a direct train at the time, being a Gunnislake-Liskeard via Plymouth service that stopped at both St Budeaux stations approx 25 mins apart.

 

[2L70]

Barrow Haven to Hull, £41.20 Anytime Day Single.
To Barton it’s only £2.10.
Or Now a direct bus from Barrow Village and it’s no more than £6