Routeing Advice Please - Cleethorpes <> Derby <> Bletchley

[DeeGee]

Good afternoon, I wonder if I can trouble you again?

Would anyone please be able to tell me if my split point is acceptable, or whether I need to think of something else?

Following on from a question I had a few weeks ago, I think I've found the combination of tickets that work for me in terms of value for money and flexibility.

I'm travelling down from Grimsby to Bletchley on the 9th June and coming back on the Sunday. I have all day Friday to get up to BLY, and all day Sunday to get back - although I'd like to be back for teatime. I'm hoping to avoid having to change at Tamworth simply because there's not much there. My plan is to maybe stop for a bite to eat and maybe a pint at the stations where i have to change, so I'm after a route via stations with a bit of stuff nearby and relatively regular onward connections in the right direction..

By my reckoning, an Off-Peak return Cleethorpes-Derby (any permitted) and an Off-Peak Return Derby-Bletchley should let me do that journey flexibly.

I'd like to check a few routing options, though, if that's possible. I don't know how to do it myself and I want to familiarise myself with the available routes.

I think that the intended route of DBY-BLY would be via Bedford, but the Marston Vale line is out of action.

I think I'd therefore like to maybe travel via Birmingham New Street.

Is that combination of tickets valid for EMR Grimsby Town-Nottingham, then XC Nottingham-Birmingham (via DBY), then Avanti Birmingham-Milton Keynes and then LNR from MKC to Bletchley?
Is it also valid GMB-Sheffield, then XC from SHF-BHM and then on to BLY?

As I see it the only route I can't take would be via Nottingham and Leicester on a direct train between the two (ie avoiding Derby). Is that right? Am I restricting flexibility too much on the return by not going that way, or are there still plenty of trains available to me? Or is Birmingham going to be out of the question with all of these itineraries and I'll have no option but to change at Tamworth, in which case I'll rethink my itinerary.

I can't work out how best to work out permitted routes on the fly, so I want to know that I'm safe with my decisions before boarding.

Does this seem sensible?

 

[SargeNpton]

The Marston Vale line is not out of action, just that some (if not all) rail services are replaced by buses.

 

[DeeGee]

The Marston Vale line is not out of action, just that some (if not all) rail services are replaced by buses.

This is true. It's not an option for me anyway on Sunday, so I figure that I can't be obliged to go via the Marston Vale and there must be a suitable alternative.

 

[jfollows]

Derby to Bletchley permitted routes are mapped (https://data.atoc.org/routeing-maps) as

DG + EB
EM + EN
TV
The first of these (DG+EB) gives a valid route via Birmingham

Grimsby or Cleethorpes (Habrough is the routeing point) to Derby is mapped

BG
BH
DG
SH + DY
I'll leave you to look up the maps to work out the permitted routes here.

 

[Haywain]

I'm hoping to avoid having to change at Tamworth simply because there's not much there. My plan is to maybe stop for a bite to eat and maybe a pint at the stations where i have to change,

The CAMRA national pub of the year is in Tamworth, about a 10 minute walk from the station (so not at the station, but near).

 

[Gaelan]

I'll leave you to look up the maps to work out the permitted routes here.

(OP, you can "look up the maps" at https://data.atoc.org/routeing-maps.)

edit: oh oops, looks like jfollows provided the same link and I just missed it.

 

[DeeGee]

Derby to Bletchley permitted routes are mapped (https://data.atoc.org/routeing-maps) as
View attachment 135192
DG + EB
EM + EN
TV
The first of these (DG+EB) gives a valid route via Birmingham

Grimsby or Cleethorpes (Habrough is the routeing point) to Derby is mapped
View attachment 135193
BG
BH
DG
SH + DY
I'll leave you to look up the maps to work out the permitted routes here.

BH is Derby-Sheffield-Doncaster-Grimsby, and BG is via Lincoln And Nottingham, by the looks of things.

Looks to me as though my plan should be OK, then?

The CAMRA national pub of the year is in Tamworth, about a 10 minute walk from the station (so not at the station, but near).

Ah, OK. Thanks. I might look at that too...

 

[Watershed]

All of your proposed routes are permitted. It's also worth noting that buying a Derby-Bletchley return wouldn't actually limit you to travelling via Derby. This is because a Derby-Bletchley ticket is valid via Beeston or even Nottingham, so long as you continue via Leicester and Bedford.

 

[DeeGee]

All of your proposed routes are permitted. It's also worth noting that buying a Derby-Bletchley return wouldn't actually limit you to travelling via Derby. This is because a Derby-Bletchley ticket is valid via Beeston or even Nottingham, so long as you continue via Leicester and Bedford.

Thanks, is that via the mapped route EM+EN? How do I know that's valid between Nottingham and Loughborough? I can't get NRE to give me that itinerary on a single ticket.

 

[Llandudno]

The CAMRA national pub of the year is in Tamworth, about a 10 minute walk from the station (so not at the station, but near).

Tamworth has also one of the smartest Wetherspoons about 5 minutes walk from the station - at provincial prices for food and drink!

 

[DeeGee]

Tamworth has also one of the smartest Wetherspoons about 5 minutes walk from the station - at provincial prices for food and drink!

My apologies to Tamworth.

Sadly my impression came from a Sunday evening return trip in the middle of winter, when I found nothing in the station itself and sat cold in the upstairs waiting room.

Is it worth my while trotting out and seeing what I can see?

 

[Llandudno]

My apologies to Tamworth.

Sadly my impression came from a Sunday evening return trip in the middle of winter, when I found nothing in the station itself and sat cold in the upstairs waiting room.

Is it worth my while trotting out and seeing what I can see?

Agree Tamworth station is dreadful and first impressions when you leave the station aren’t much better, but once you cross the roundabout the town centre is quite pleasant!

 

[Watershed]

Thanks, is that via the mapped route EM+EN? How do I know that's valid between Nottingham and Loughborough? I can't get NRE to give me that itinerary on a single ticket.

That's right. It's valid via Nottingham as the link from Derby Group to Nottingham Group is shown on map EM, and can be traced as part of a route towards the intercept point at Bedford with map EN. Going via Nottingham involves a double-back between Beeston and Nottingham, but this is permitted for interchange purposes, as both are part of the Nottingham Routeing Point Group.

Your Grimsby to Derby ticket is also valid via East Midlands Parkway to Derby, so you are essentially 'doubly valid' between Nottingham and East Midlands Parkway. The doubling-back validity between Beeston and Nottingham is only necessary in case you want to take a train that doesn't call at Beeston.

 

[unlevel42]

We travel regularly between Sheffield and Leighton Buzzard.The via Tamworth route is usually the fastest and has the cheapest advances. The disadvantage is the number of XC trains arriving late at Tamworth and with only an hourly service to Milton Keynes a long wait in the bus shelter is not pleasant.
Travelling via Kings Cross or St Pancras/Euston is worth exploring as a short break in London is possible.

 

[DeeGee]

I've done Grimsby-Kings Cross-Euston-MKC on a few occasions now. It's certainly a good option if I can get the advances, but I'm after flexibility at the minute because I'm not yet ready to trust Transpennine again so I'd like the opportunity to switch things up and go either via Doncaster or Newark depending on what seems the best bet on the day. A flexible ticket to London from Grimsby comes in at nearly £50 more than this option, and the beer's much more expensive!

My favourite route always used to be Grimsby to Manchester and then Manchester to MKC, but that could only be affordable with Advances.