• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Most pointless journey for which a fare is available

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Trackman

Established Member
Joined
28 Feb 2013
Messages
2,923
Location
Lewisham
And yet an amazing number of people turn up with claiming to have made this very journey.
Well for DGT to MCO it could be a double back. I know someone who worked near Deansgate station who walked to Occy Road as there would be no or little chance of boarding the train at rush hour.
I was thinking the same, especially if you don't know the route.
For MCO to MAN it's actually a straight walk down Whitworth street.
Problem is if you don't know the area it seems you are going in the wrong direction like away from the railway line.
 

Mcr Warrior

Veteran Member
Joined
8 Jan 2009
Messages
11,648
I can imagine there's some really useless fares like Reddish South to Denton or Gainsborough Central to Kirton in Lindsay
Admittedly these will be for services which even in normal times operate rather sparsely, but you'd still expect there always to be a fare quoted for the next stop up the line on a direct service, wouldn't you?
 

Mcr Warrior

Veteran Member
Joined
8 Jan 2009
Messages
11,648
We, of course, had a separate thread a few weeks ago about negligible point-to-point ticket sales on direct train services.

 

Watershed

Veteran Member
Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
Joined
26 Sep 2020
Messages
11,945
Location
UK
And yet an amazing number of people turn up with claiming to have made this very journey.
I wouldn't say it's a totally improbable journey, especially if you have walked across the bridge from the tram stop at Castlefield-Deansgate. But you would have to be rather silly to claim not to have had a chance to buy a ticket as revenue staff seem to be permanently stationed at Deansgate.
 

philthetube

Established Member
Joined
5 Jan 2016
Messages
3,749
Crofton Park -> Honor Oak Park

the £3.40 "Not via London" ticket doesn't appear in the National Rail Planner - is there any valid route for this ticket...?
If you had the ticket would it not be a contract which had to be honoured.
 

Hadders

Veteran Member
Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
Joined
27 Apr 2011
Messages
12,981
Farringdon to Chancery Lane looks a reasonable distance on the tube map but it's around a five minute walk for those in the know.
 

Old Yard Dog

Established Member
Joined
21 Aug 2011
Messages
1,466
In a similar vein, Manchester Piccadilly - Manchester Oxford Road (£2.40 single).

I once bought an annual season ticket from Oxford Road to Piccadilly. This cost me £36 but entitled me to buy an Annual Season Ticket holders railcard for an additional £5. This was a well known ruse at the time (late 1980s I think, after the withdrawal of Voyager tickets) which many rail enthusiasts and even normals took advantage of.

I kept tabs and the railcard saved me £175 over the course of the year (over and above what I saved by split ticketing). But I didn't use my season ticket once as all my journeys between Oxford Road and Piccadilly were covered by other longer distance tickets.
 
Last edited:

Class465pacer

Member
Joined
19 Jul 2020
Messages
177
Location
London
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.
Trainline gives me a fare of £663 for that
 

MedwayValiant

Member
Joined
8 Jan 2013
Messages
363
Kyle of Lochalsh to Mallaig

£136 single, 11 HR+ journey with brilliant connections

Under 2hr drive if using the ferry, if not closer to 3

I can drive from Manchester to Mallaig quicker than the train from Kyle

If we restrict ourselves to public transport, Mallaig to Kyle can be done in 2½ hours, although at present there is only one opportunity a day. Take the 1600 ferry from Mallaig, bus from Ardvasar to Broadford, cross the road and bus from Broadford to Kyle, and arrive 1834. Summer schedules probably provide more opportunities. The alternative route, staying on the mainland and taking two trains together with a bus between Inverness and Fort William, takes considerably longer.

I was musing on whether this is a unique instance of the quickest way between two mainland settlements being to travel via an island, but it won't be. If you want to travel from Gosport to Havant, the quickest way to do it is surely to use the Gosport Ferry and then a train from Portsmouth Harbour.
 

Statto

Established Member
Joined
8 Feb 2011
Messages
3,208
Location
At home or at the pub
Clitheroe to Skipton single is a mind boggling £38 Any Permitted or £23.20 via Burnley Manchester Road.

i wonder how much it is on the bus?
Colne-Skipton is £38 single too with a journey time of 3 hours 10 minutes, the bus Pendle wizz, takes around 40 minutes not sure of the fare.
 

delt1c

Established Member
Joined
4 Apr 2008
Messages
2,125
How about Mallaig to Kyle. Not to close together but a long way by train
 

ValleyLines142

Established Member
Joined
25 Jul 2011
Messages
6,844
Location
Gloucester
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.
Says £663?
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20201120-105358_Train Tickets.jpg
    Screenshot_20201120-105358_Train Tickets.jpg
    163.2 KB · Views: 58

ValleyLines142

Established Member
Joined
25 Jul 2011
Messages
6,844
Location
Gloucester
£852 via London.

I have a feeling I recall that one did top a grand but it was reduced a bit due to the adverse publicity it caused, given that that would cause no actual financial loss to the TOC because it's not a fare that would be likely to ever be sold.

Oh, I thought for such a long journey only one fare would be available.
 

jumble

Member
Joined
1 Jul 2011
Messages
1,099
London King's Cross to St. Pancras International via Finsbury Park - £6.50 single/£4.30 Railcard single
View attachment 86039


TFL cannot find either an itinerary or a single fare from Northwick Park to Kenton Which is a 4 minute walk
If you go from South Kenton to Northwick Park underground then TFL tells you that you can take the tube for 13 minutes, walk in 19 minutes or go via Boris bikes which will take you just north of 5 hours
 

david1212

Established Member
Joined
9 Apr 2020
Messages
1,464
Location
Midlands
BR fares gives ticket prices between Birmingham Moor Street & Snow Hill while AFAIK Chiltern & WM tickets are valid at both stations.

There is no fare from New Street to either. A rail journey via Smethwick Galton Bridge could be done with a return.
 

Glenn1969

Established Member
Joined
22 Jan 2019
Messages
1,983
Location
Halifax, Yorks
Tyndrum Lower- Upper Tyndrum
Helensburgh Central- Helensburgh Upper
Bromley North- Bromley South
Blackpool North- Blackpool South

How many of these are realistic ?
 

fgwrich

Established Member
Joined
15 Apr 2009
Messages
9,252
Location
Between Edinburgh and Exeter
Liskeard - Coombe Junction = £2.70 for a single, admittedly the journey is half the time of the walk (Train 6 mins, Walk 12 mins), though they are 0.6 miles apart - and one steep hill!

However, St Bueaux Victoria Road to St Budeaux Ferry Road is an impressive £18 for a Ride Cornwall Ranger, is a journey time of 36 minutes vs a walking time of 2 minutes and 130 yard.


But it does throw up some bizarre journey trips too, including a 8 hour 38 minutes, two change trip via Plymouth and Bodmin Parkway. However, it is nice of them to advise me that the journey involves an hour plus wait...
 

Mcr Warrior

Veteran Member
Joined
8 Jan 2009
Messages
11,648
Tyndrum Lower- Upper Tyndrum
Helensburgh Central- Helensburgh Upper
Bromley North- Bromley South
Blackpool North- Blackpool South

How many of these are realistic ?
Are fares available for any of these other than Bromley North - Bromley South? (Thread title refers).
 

61653 HTAFC

Veteran Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
17,624
Location
Another planet...
Just looked up Pontefract Monkhill to Pontefract Tanshelf out of curiosity on National Rail. An itinerary is given with changes at York, Leeds and Knottingley (the latter not really being a change, as the inbound and outbound services are formed of the same unit- though I'd have expected that change to be at Pontefract Monkhill to avoid doubling back). No fares are given for this itinerary however.

Changes at Moorthorpe and Wakefield Westgate give a fare of £8.10 and a journey of 2h16m for a journey that can be walked in 15 minutes. However I'm suspicious that that's actually the cost of a WY Day rover.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top