Return trip... from the middle

[moogal]

Wasn't quite sure how to describe this, but here goes:

Next week (Tuesday) I need to travel from Leighton Buzzard to London around lunchtime, travel around in London for a bit, then get a train to Northampton at around 5pm, then a train from Northampton back to Leighton Buzzard later that evening. So it's basically a return trip from Northampton to London, but in an odd order so I assume I wouldn't be able to just use a standard return ticket.

Would it be best to get a Leighton Buzzard - London travelcard, and a Leighton Buzzard - Northampton return? Or is there some other combination that would work better for this type of journey.

I have a Network Railcard in case it makes a difference.

 

[Watershed]

Yes, from a quick look it would seem that your suggestion works out as the cheapest combination. The Network Railcard means you don't quite get the full discount on the Leighton Buzzard-Northampton return, since it would be under £13 when fully discounted - you instead pay the £13 minimum fare for that part. However it is still the cheapest option I can see.

As you say, you can't use a Northampton-London return (or Day Travelcard) for the journey you describe, as the ticket would expire once you reach Northampton on your way up from London.

Of course, "splitting" at Leighton Buzzard means you can't take the 16:19, 17:19 or 18:19 Northampton fast services as these run non-stop through Leighton Buzzard. If that's an issue for you, you'd need to split somewhere like Milton Keynes, which costs a few pounds more as you then wouldn't get any discount at all from the Network Railcard for the MK-Northampton return (as the undiscounted price is under £13).

 

[moogal]

Thanks for the confirmation - I'm not too bothered about the xx19 services, so this should work nicely.

 

[45107]

Yes, from a quick look it would seem that your suggestion works out as the cheapest combination. The Network Railcard means you don't quite get the full discount on the Leighton Buzzard-Northampton return, since it would be under £13 when fully discounted - you instead pay the £13 minimum fare for that part. However it is still the cheapest option I can see.

As you say, you can't use a Northampton-London return (or Day Travelcard) for the journey you describe, as the ticket would expire once you reach Northampton on your way up from London.

Of course, "splitting" at Leighton Buzzard means you can't take the 16:19, 17:19 or 18:19 Northampton fast services as these run non-stop through Leighton Buzzard. If that's an issue for you, you'd need to split somewhere like Milton Keynes, which costs a few pounds more as you then wouldn't get any discount at all from the Network Railcard for the MK-Northampton return (as the undiscounted price is under £13).

And a single ticket from Milton Keynes to Leighton Bizzard for the final leg of the journey.