Why does it cost less for a station further away?

[startingaparty]

Hi,

I was wondering whether anyone could explain something for me.

A single fare with a 16-25 railcard from Preston to Manchester costs £6.80. However, a single from the next station towards Manchester (Buckshaw Parkway) costs £6.95.

Why? I always assumed the closer you got to the destination the cheaper the ticket.

 

[gray1404]

The fare you reference for £6.80 is only valid on Northern services, not on any other train operators. So it is therefore a restricted ticket. However, the ticket from Buckshaw Parkway is routed Any Permitted and, as such, there are not as many restrictions on that ticket (even though only Northern services depart from that station) as one can travel with any appropriate train company.

In short, there are more train companies competing for business on the Manchester route from Preston and wanting to increase their share of the revenue, hence the offer of more fares to try to attract more customers.

 

[Merseysider]

The £6.80 fare from Preston is valid only on Northern.

For a ticket valid on any operator, the cost is £8.20.

 

[A Challenge]

However, as long as you only get northern services, you can use a Preston to Manchester (NORTHERN ONLY) ticket on Northern services on any permitted route, which includes Preston - Buckshaw Parkway - Bolton - Manchester.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

However, as long as you only get northern services, you can use a Preston to Manchester (NORTHERN ONLY) ticket on Northern services on any permitted route, which includes Preston - Buckshaw Parkway - Bolton - Manchester.

So there's nothing to stop the OP from buying the Preston - Manchester Northern-only return, and just using it from Buckshaw to Manchester?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

So there's nothing to stop the OP from buying the Preston - Manchester Northern-only return, and just using it from Buckshaw to Manchester?

It has no break of journey restrictions, so no. Obviously that's a choice that you have to make - as a Northern only ticket cannot be excessed to an Any Permitted, for example in the case of serious disruption.

 

[kieron]

In this case, another factor is the way that flexible single fares aren't generally as well thought out as return ones. The cheapest return is £7.15 for Preston-Manchester, but only £7 for Buckshaw Parkway-Manchester. The gap for season tickets is larger again.

Fundamentally, though, there's no easy way to find out the cheapest fare for a journey.