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Return routeing options from Kent to both ends of the Monsal Trail

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SandsofEss

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I’m trying to find the ‘best’ rail ticket to get to and from both ends of the Monsal trail this summer. My travel plan is:

Friday evening
Marden to Derby (via St Pancras but not HS1)

Saturday morning
Derby to Matlock

Sunday afternoon
Buxton to Marden (via Euston)

I think my best option is to buy an off-peak return from Marden to Buxton, and an off-peak single from Derby to Matlock. For one adult and one child, using our F&F railcard, the price for these is £92 and £5.85 respectively.

1) Am I right in thinking that an Off-peak Return from Marden to Buxton will allow me to travel via St Pancras on East Midlands Railway provided our train departs there after 18:59?

2) Can I end my outward journey at Derby
(I can’t see any restriction on Break of Journey for this ticket)?

3)
For our return journey, we’ll probably do Buxton – Stockport – Euston, but for options’ sake, are the Hope Valley railway and the line via Uttoxeter valid routes to return?

Any advice on the above would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
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Watershed

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1) Am I right in thinking that an Off-peak Return from Marden to Buxton will allow me to travel via St Pancras on East Midlands Railway provided our train departs there after 18:59?
Yes, off St Pancras you can leave from 10:26 till 15:15, or 18:59 till end of service. Note that there are no longer any peak restrictions out of Euston on Fridays, so you may wish to reverse the order of your journey.

2) Can I end my outward journey at Derby (I can’t see any restriction on Break of Journey for this ticket)?
Yes, that's fine. There are no break of journey restrictions on a Marden (Kent) to Buxton Off-Peak Return, as it has restriction code 9I (which does not restrict BoJ).

3) For our return journey, we’ll probably do Buxton – Stockport – Euston, but for options’ sake, are the Hope Valley railway and the line via Uttoxeter valid routes to return?
You can go via the Hope Valley, including doubling back between Hazel Grove and Stockport if you wish.

Going via Uttoxeter is not a permitted route, although I think many would consider it a reasonable route given the Hope Valley is also permitted.

There may well be cheaper combinations of tickets you could use for your journey; however these may involve a slower journey and/or being fixed to certain trains.
 

Llandudno

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I don’t know if it works out cheaper to just buy a train ticket to/from Derby and then the hourly 0800-1800 7 days a week TransPeak bus that runs from Derby (bus station) - Matlock - Buxton
 

Haywain

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I don’t know if it works out cheaper to just buy a train ticket to/from Derby and then the hourly 0800-1800 7 days a week TransPeak bus that runs from Derby (bus station) - Matlock - Buxton
That may depend on how the OP is planning to traverse the Monsal Trail.
 

SandsofEss

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Thank you for your replies. I'm keen to tick off some rail miles on both the Matlock and Buxton lines, otherwise the Transpeak bus service would be ideal.
 

johnnychips

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Note the Transpeak does not pass the end of Chee Dale at Topley Pike, but joins the A6 from Chelmorton. So you would need to go up a steep path from the end of the trail to the junction.
 

SandsofEss

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Thank you. I've battled up that path before. If we don't fancy it there's always the 65 from Topley Pike
 
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Would the Marden-Buxton ticket in fact be valid as far as Belper, so allowing a cheaper Belper-Matlock single?

I am sure that this has been covered previously, but can't think how to describe the issue in order to do a search. If a ticket without special BoJ terms covers a journey passing through a station on a train that doesn't stop there, is that (a) enough to make it valid to end a journey there? Or (b) does there need to be a service that calls at the stopping-short station that would get you to the destination without doubling back? And if so, (c) does there need to be such a service between the time you seek to break the journey and the end of service?

Northbound from Belper, in addition to Matlock trains, there is one solitary (Mon-Sat) morning stop on a Derby-Chesterfield service. So attempting to stop short on a Friday evening, one would be OK if (a), above, is true, or if (b) is true AND (c) is false.
 

Watershed

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Would the Marden-Buxton ticket in fact be valid as far as Belper, so allowing a cheaper Belper-Matlock single?

I am sure that this has been covered previously, but can't think how to describe the issue in order to do a search. If a ticket without special BoJ terms covers a journey passing through a station on a train that doesn't stop there, is that (a) enough to make it valid to end a journey there? Or (b) does there need to be a service that calls at the stopping-short station that would get you to the destination without doubling back? And if so, (c) does there need to be such a service between the time you seek to break the journey and the end of service?

Northbound from Belper, in addition to Matlock trains, there is one solitary (Mon-Sat) morning stop on a Derby-Chesterfield service. So attempting to stop short on a Friday evening, one would be OK if (a), above, is true, or if (b) is true AND (c) is false.
Quite right, you would only need a Belper to Matlock single, which is £5.20.

The only time where permitted routes are determined by reference to the train service is for the 'direct trains' rule (a direct train is always a permitted route, subject to route/TOC restrictions printed on a ticket).

For all other purposes, you simply need to ensure you're on a train that goes along the permitted route, regardless of calling patterns and whether or not you could actually complete the journey along your chosen route.
 

SandsofEss

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Would the Marden-Buxton ticket in fact be valid as far as Belper, so allowing a cheaper Belper-Matlock single?

I am sure that this has been covered previously, but can't think how to describe the issue in order to do a search. If a ticket without special BoJ terms covers a journey passing through a station on a train that doesn't stop there, is that (a) enough to make it valid to end a journey there? Or (b) does there need to be a service that calls at the stopping-short station that would get you to the destination without doubling back? And if so, (c) does there need to be such a service between the time you seek to break the journey and the end of service?

Northbound from Belper, in addition to Matlock trains, there is one solitary (Mon-Sat) morning stop on a Derby-Chesterfield service. So attempting to stop short on a Friday evening, one would be OK if (a), above, is true, or if (b) is true AND (c) is false.
That's interesting, though I don't believe it applies in my situation. Because we're planning to stay the Friday night in Derby, I couldn't use the outward ticket to cover me as fas as Belper the next morning could I?
 

SandsofEss

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I'm trying to book these tickets now, and am particularly keen to get a reservation on the 19:02 out of St Pancras as I can imagine it being fairly busy.

But I'm having trouble finding a booking engine that will give me an itinerary that includes this train, and I can't get through to EMR on the phone.

Any recommendations on a particularly flexible booking engine?
 

Kite159

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I don't think EMR are doing seat reservations on the Intercity services at the moment, so the most you will get will be a counted place reservation.

More a "free for all" with passengers requested to be sensible when it comes to social distancing
 

SandsofEss

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Thank you. I was wary of turning up with no reservation and being turned away on the platform, but it sounds as though that's unlikely.
 
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