New rail rovers?

[Polarbear]

Those that purchase rover tickets will know that the products available today have been around, generally unchanged (other than price) for many years.

Which got me thinking? If you had a blank canvas, what rovers would you come up with today? Are there any areas of Britain where you would like to see a new, or different rover product to be introduced?

For me, there are a couple of areas that could benefit from the introduction of some form of rail rover;

1) South West Trains

Although there are rovers that cover the more westerly parts of SWT territory, there is nothing that covers the patch nearer to London. There are many tourist attractions in that part of the world and I personally think a rover ticket would be of benefit.

2) Essex & south Anglia

Again, no rover covers those routes out of Liverpool Street. Whilst there may not be as much tourist potential, I'm sure there would be a market for such a product.

Any other ideas?

 

[D1009]

Since BR days has there been a rover valid into any of the London terminals other than the all line? I think the problem is for a rover ticket to be of any real use it would have to be valid in the evening peak, when capacity is over subscribed.

 

[Ianno87]

I agree, an 'Essex & Suffolk Day Ranger' covering Shenfield to Ipswich, plus branches always strikes me as an "obvious" missing Rover.

Since BR days has there been a rover valid into any of the London terminals other than the all line? I think the problem is for a rover ticket to be of any real use it would have to be valid in the evening peak, when capacity is over subscribed.

The Thames Rover is valid into Paddington.

 

[Mag_seven]

Since BR days has there been a rover valid into any of the London terminals other than the all line? I think the problem is for a rover ticket to be of any real use it would have to be valid in the evening peak, when capacity is over subscribed.

You could argue that a "one day travelcard" is a Rover of sorts.

 

[IanXC]

Id like a 'Yorkshire Day Ranger' along the historic county boundaries. Probably similar in area and price to the West Midlands Say Ranger.

 

[roversfan2001]

I'd like to point out the patheticness of the North West Round Robin. It would serve much more of a purpose to reach further into south Lancashire to the border with the Merseyside and GM PTE's.

 

[sonic2009]

Since BR days has there been a rover valid into any of the London terminals other than the all line? I think the problem is for a rover ticket to be of any real use it would have to be valid in the evening peak, when capacity is over subscribed.

Thames Day Ranger I belive is one, but it is barred on certain peak trains.

 

[Mojo]

Have the Thames Rovers and Thames Day Ranger actually been around that long? I thought they were a FGW creation.

 

[Starmill]

A good way to piece together Day Rangers is to combine cities with scenic routes and tourist attractions. The Borders Railway and Edinburgh to North Berwick fits this bill relatively well. A seaside town, the beach and the Scottish Seabird Centre, all of the mass tourism and attractions of Edinburgh City Centre, and the new Borders Railway sold as a scenic route, with attractions in Melrose, Galashiels and the museum at Newtongrange.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

It's worth remembering that BR introduced what are now known as Rangers and Rovers as tickets promoting off-peak travel (with very few exceptions). Given the heavy loadings of even off-peak services these days there is bound to be pressure behind the scenes to reduce, rather than increase, the range of such tickets available. As such I think we should be grateful that not only so many still exist but also that there have been various new options introduced relatively recently. But I think the chances of any appearing in former NSE-land must be just about nil.

One that I certainly miss is the various versions of the North West Day Rangers, introduced by Regional Railways as part of the launch of Network North West which was accompanied by the green stripe version of Regional Railways livery on a good number of 156s.

And on a slightly related note has the Borders line been added to the validity of the Central Scotland Rover? This was certainly valid to Newcraighall previously.

 

[Blindtraveler]

No it hasnt l, the official boundry is still Newcraighall. That said when out bashing with another forum member who was in posession of one of these the other week he did manage to get to Newtongrange without question
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I wouldnt introduce any new ones myself but maybe a 1 day clversion of the Central Scotland would be good and the option of a peek version of certain others for a few quid extra would be nice, the WMDR being a key example
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
A Pluss High Speed supplement allowing a single trip to or from a boundry station and STP might also be a handy thing on the Kent rover

 

[dave87016]

It's worth remembering that BR introduced what are now known as Rangers and Rovers as tickets promoting off-peak travel (with very few exceptions). Given the heavy loadings of even off-peak services these days there is bound to be pressure behind the scenes to reduce, rather than increase, the range of such tickets available. As such I think we should be grateful that not only so many still exist but also that there have been various new options introduced relatively recently. But I think the chances of any appearing in former NSE-land must be just about nil.

One that I certainly miss is the various versions of the North West Day Rangers, introduced by Regional Railways as part of the launch of Network North West which was accompanied by the green stripe version of Regional Railways livery on a good number of 156s.

And on a slightly related note has the Borders line been added to the validity of the Central Scotland Rover? This was certainly valid to Newcraighall previously.

Oh yes I to miss them North West Day Ranger tickets that were split into 4 zones IIRC with zones 1-4 covering as far as Wrexham Bidston and Shotton I had many a weekend on them tickets

 

[SGS]

I'd like a 3-days-in-7 or 4-days-in-8 All-Line Rover.

 

[Polarbear]

I'd also like to see some form of flexi-rover for the All-Line product. I doubt it'll happen any time soon though as no-one would want to run the risk of potentially abstracting revenue from their own business to set this up.

 

[JohnR]

I dont know if there would be a lot of demand for it, but I'm disaapointed there isnt a Tayside Rover:

Montrose-Ladybank-Blair Atholl-Gleneagles

 

[Sleepy]

Seem to remember NXEA did introduce a rover for Shenfield ? to Ipswich and branches briefly.

 

[greatkingrat]

Yes they did, but it was just a one-off special offer rather than a permanent product.

 

[Wookiee]

Bring back the old Area D Rover. That was a basher's dream!

 

[Blindtraveler]

I'd like a 3-days-in-7 or 4-days-in-8 All-Line Rover.

Iether of these would be much welcomed by people from more rural areas traveling to from and around a well connected rail area. I would use such a product to travel from Scotland to the South East and for travel whilst there and then to go home again, particularly handy for charging up and down HS1 and for using IC services with no good advance quotas

 

[ashworth]

Iether of these would be much welcomed by people from more rural areas traveling to from and around a well connected rail area. I would use such a product to travel from Scotland to the South East and for travel whilst there and then to go home again, particularly handy for charging up and down HS1 and for using IC services with no good advance quotas

Using a rover to travel to and from a destination as part of a longer holiday including rai travel often saves money.
Next month I am travelling down from Nottingham for a 7 night stay in Exeter and making use of the 8 days in 15 South West Rover. I've managed to get cheap Advance Fares from Nottingham to Cheltenham and same for the return journey. Then I can use the rail rover to travel the rest of the way from Cheltenham to Exeter and return, plus 6 days travel around the South West whilst I am there. I'm staying in the Premier Inn straight across the road from Exeter St Davids Station so hope to at least do all the Devon and Cornwall branch lines plus Salisbury and Weymouth.

 

[3141]

Not a Rover, but SWT have just announced a £16 off-peak return across the network till 9 September.

 

[LAX54]

The mention of 'rovers'.... anyone remember the RED ROVERS and TWIN ROVERS issued by London Transport ?

 

[D6975]

Have the Thames Rovers and Thames Day Ranger actually been around that long? I thought they were a FGW creation.

You're right, they are recent additions.
They are not alone either, there are a few recent ones, plus several have had their areas changed.

The South west rover for example used to stop at Bristol Parkway. It now goes to Cardiff, Cheltenham, Great Malvern, Swindon.
The Severn Solent and Wessex (formerly just Wessex) has had at least 2 changes, the first lost south of Salisbury but added Cardiff, Cheltenham and Taunton (among other changes), the second saw Salisbury - Pompey reinstated.
The North Country rover is another relatively new one, which explains the absence of a straight 7 version.

 

[Starmill]

The Coast & Peaks Rover doesn't appear to have a 7 day version either, strangely.

 

[Polarbear]

The Coast & Peaks Rover doesn't appear to have a 7 day version either, strangely.

It certainly used to have a 7 day option - I used enough of them back in the day! I think that was quietly dropped a few years back.