season ticket advice

[parchment]

First of all, this is such great website and forum - wish i found it years ago.

My query, which I hope you can offer advice about is a journey which I'm about to commence on a regular basis - Stockport to Birmingham.

Overall there are a number of ways to completed this journey i.e Virgin or Cross Country. Does anyone know what the rules are, once season ticket has been bought from one of the two operators. for example, is the season ticket valid for the route and operator or simply for the route? I'm puzzled

Many thanks.

 

[telstarbox]

Firstly, are you going to be making the return journey 5 days a week or less often?

The Stockport - Birmingham Stations season ticket is routed 'Any Permitted' which means you can use it on any valid route and any Train Operating Company between the two stations. (For the avoidance of doubt, 'Birmingham Stations' includes Birmingham New Street.)

CrossCountry run direct trains which will probably be most useful for you. You can also change trains at Stoke-on-Trent or Crewe if you need to, and there are other permitted routes.

With a season ticket you can also break your journey anywhere along a valid route e.g. Macclesfield, Stoke, Crewe, Wolverhampton.

However, there is likely to be a ticket which is better value but still offers the same validity. Tickets 'priced' by CrossCountry such as the one above tend to be overpriced compared to other options!

 

[YorkC]

Disappointed to see that Stockport to Stoke is no longer valid via the entirety of the West Midlands, as it previously was.

The cheapest one that I can see that gives reservations on the NRE website is Wilmslow to Birmingham New Street. There is another one that's a hell of a lot cheaper but where NRE doesn't give reservations, and which doesn't look reasonable. I'll let others discuss whether either of those matter...

 

[telstarbox]

Stockport to Stoke wouldn't help on the direct trains because most of those go via Stoke so it would be a double-back.

 

[yorkie]

Stockport to Stoke wouldn't help on the direct trains because most of those go via Stoke so it would be a double-back.

When Stockport-Stoke was valid via the West Midlands, doubling back would only have been an issue on a Single or Return ticket, not a Season ticket.

 

[parchment]

HI,

Thanks for all this.

So I can use the direct or indirect trains, whether I buy a season ticket from Virgin or Cross Country?

Day returns are not an option as my start/finish time will vary day to day - any other options that I could explore via train?

 

[telstarbox]

So I can use the direct or indirect trains, whether I buy a season ticket from Virgin or Cross Country?

Yes. It doesn't matter who you buy the ticket from (Virgin operate the ticket office at Stockport).

 

[island]

So I can use the direct or indirect trains, whether I buy a season ticket from Virgin or Cross Country?

Correct. If you're planning on buying a season ticket for over a week in duration you won't be able to buy it from CrossCountry anyway.

 

[bb21]

£123.10 per week!

Such a rip-off.

I will send a PM.