Trivia: What is the furthest distance you could travel on the British rail network for £50?

[Tayway]

Question is per the title – if I arrived at a ticket office with only a £50 note, how far I could travel on one ticket?

For clarity, I want the furthest distance between any two National Rail stations measured by the shortest permitted route between them, and the ticket must be a walk-up Anytime Single, without any railcards or other discounts.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not quite what you asked, but if you are happy with using walk up Off Peak singles, you could certainly travel from Adlington (Lancs) to Edinburgh Gateway (route via Carlisle) on an Off Peak Day Single for £43.80, provided you travel after 0929 (Mon-Fri) or at the weekend. That's 205 miles.

P.S. Should you wish to continue onwards from Edinburgh Gateway, an Off Peak Day Return, this time to Dunfermline Queen Margaret, would cost you all your remaining £6.20. That's another 13 miles (total = 218 miles) for an expenditure of exactly £50 in total. Again, not quite what you asked for, as it means buying multiple tickets.

 

[P Binnersley]

Wick to Gleneagles - £48.30 Anytime day single (via Aviemore). 294 miles by train (228 miles by car).
Also an additional 13 miles if you (legitimately) stay on the train from Georgemas Junction to Thurso and back to give 307 miles.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Wick to Gleneagles - £48.30 Anytime day single (via Aviemore). 294 miles by train

Beat me to it and that one might just be the best on the GB network. Another one, meeting the OP's criteria, i.e. using one undiscounted, walk-up, point-to-point ticket, would be an Anytime Day Single, from Stranraer to Lochgelly, which can be done for £49.80. That's just short of 157 miles according to RailMiles.

 

[AlterEgo]

Not quite in the premise of the OP but was fun to do…

Manchester Airport to Belfast is £50. Anytime Day Single.

284 miles to Stranraer and a further 62 to to Belfast, plus a 7 mile bus journey included in the ticket is 353 miles.

Someone will improve on this by searching stations further south!

 

[ivorytoast28]

Not very far with today's crazy prices... But you can cash in your £50 and get a ryanair return flight to anywhere in Europe instead

 

[alistairlees]

Ramsgate to Weymouth with a route Barnham ticket is 216 miles for £29.80 off peak single or £30.40 anytime single. Or just £29.90 for an off peak return for 432 miles.

 

[Alex365Dash]

Someone will improve on this by searching stations further south!

How about Pwllhelli to Belfast route Cairnryan Stena for £50 for an Anytime Day Single?

385 miles to Ayr, plus the same 62 on the ferry and 7 for the bus would equal 454 miles.

As a suggestion between two actual National Rail stations, Cathays to Bursledon route via Salisbury is £49.90 for an Anytime Day Single covering 124 miles. Not sure what you’d get with the leftover 10p…

 

[danm14]

Question is per the title – if I arrived at a ticket office with only a £50 note, how far I could travel on one ticket?

For clarity, I want the furthest distance between any two National Rail stations measured by the shortest permitted route between them, and the ticket must be a walk-up Anytime Single, without any railcards or other discounts.

Slightly more than £50, but if you were able to beg, borrow, or steal another £1.90, you could get from Thurso to Dublin via Holyhead on a SailRail Standby Single (effectively an Anytime Day Single with no BoJ permitted, although in practice there's nothing stopping you walking out of Holyhead station and not taking the ferry)

This journey can be made leaving Thurso at 8:34am, changing at Inverness, Edinburgh and Crewe to arrive in Holyhead at 11:01pm, in good time for the 2:15am Stena Line sailing to Dublin.

Thurso-Holyhead is around 370 miles as the crow flies, so probably somewhere in the region of 500-600 miles by rail.

 

[Parallel]

If you could find £1.40, you could make a journey on an anytime single for £51.40 from Whitehaven to Whitby changing at Carlisle and Hexham. I’m not sure what that is in mileage but must be fairly substantial!

 

[scrapy]

Not very far with today's crazy prices... But you can cash in your £50 and get a ryanair return flight to anywhere in Europe instead

You would probably struggle to do that as a walk up passenger though. Maybe if booked at least a week or more in advance.

Edit: Ryanair charge a £55 per seat fee for seats booked at the airport within 2 hours of departure. So not possible to get anywhere for under £50 if you walk up just before check in closes.

 

[PeterY]

Wick to Gleneagles - £48.30 Anytime day single (via Aviemore). 294 miles by train (228 miles by car).
Also an additional 13 miles if you (legitimately) stay on the train from Georgemas Junction to Thurso and back to give 307 miles.

I couldn't believe just how cheap the fare was when I did Inverness to Wick, via Thurso return ( with senior rail card) £20.80. 336 rail miles. A long day though.

 

[greaterangrier]

Anytime Day Single Weymouth to Margate, via Barnham gives 211.25 miles for £45.60, £0.22p per mile

 

[alistairlees]

Anytime Day Single Weymouth to Margate, via Barnham gives 211.25 miles for £45.60, £0.22p per mile

In 1st Class.

In Standard Class it's £30.40.

 

[greaterangrier]

In 1st Class.

In Standard Class it's £30.40.

Whoops and wow! That is some amazing value - £0.14 per mile instead

 

[richw]

Not very far with today's crazy prices... But you can cash in your £50 and get a ryanair return flight to anywhere in Europe instead

I went to Budapest for 9.99 each way in February.

Alternatively for 2 adults and 4 children from Liskeard to Stockport is coming up at nearly £1600 return.

 

[Howardh]

Crewe to London with LNW is £39.50 on the 1633 (next available LNW service) which is a good distance; note it's £68 from Liverpool on LNW yet the single Liverpool - Crewe is £13 so two tickets combo would get you to London for a snitch over £50, what's that, 180 miles?

If you did Crewe-London where another tenner could get you to? Southend? Gatwick?

 

[pdq]

I went to Budapest for 9.99 each way in February.

As a walk up ticket?

 

[SeanG]

I did Stanstead - Budapest for £7.99, a week in advance. However, I doubt that many people will need a walk up ticket for a plane journey, given that there usually would be hotels etc required

 

[richw]

As a walk up ticket?

Booked a couple of days in advance. The only price available at that time for any ticket on that flight

 

[mm333]

A Cononley to Ayr single, route via Appleby and Dumfries is £48.10 for approximately 247 miles going via Glasgow Central.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

A Cononley to Ayr single, route via Appleby and Dumfries is £48.10 for approximately 247 miles going via Glasgow Central.

Surely the shortest route (having passed through Dumfries) is via Kilmarnock and Barassie.

Going via Glasgow Central would add another 56 miles.

(OP was looking for the shortest permitted route).