Birmingham - Banbury - Nuneaton - Birmingham

[phil35]

What's the cheapest combination of ticket available here?

Travelling Birmingham - Banbury at 4pmish tomorrow, then Banbury - Nuneaton midday on Saturday, then Nuneaton - Birmingham on the Sunday.

I believe Birmingham - Banbury isn't valid via Nuneaton, so I can't just use one off-peak return.

Thanks for any suggestions!
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By the way I have a railcard.

A Tamworth - Banbury off peak return is valid via both Birmingham and Nuneaton, for £16.50. That wouldn't cover the final Nuneaton - Birmingam leg though, that by itself is £5.60.

Total: £22.10

Was hoping for cheaper though!

 

[Ivo]

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OK; I believe I've found one. Buy a return from Rugeley Town. This is valid via map MW combined with either BP or TL, and from what I can see the former will cover you. This will cost £11.60 - barely half of the price you quoted.

If yorkie/similar could verify this though, it would help. I'm not entirely certain this one works, because one would have to assume that the required interchange point between maps is supposed to be Birmingham (even though Nuneaton does match both).

Based on what I've seen on NRE, it does work!

 

[phil35]

Awesome thanks. Are you sure that the Rugeley - Banbury Off peak return covers the final Nuneaton - Birmingham leg though? Seems a bit strange that the routing guide allowed a Rugeley - Banbury journey to be via Birmingham and Nuneaton in the same journey.

 

[Ivo]

I'm seeing different things here... Some journey plans suggest it is valid, and some suggest it isn't.

In the event that it isn't, it's just a case of returning via Rugeley (not an easy task!) and buying a single between it and Birmingham (£3.45 w/ RC).

I'll keep trying, and get back to you
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I think it would be best to play this one safe and not try Nuneaton to Birmingham on it. Instead, use said ticket as far as Lichfield Trent Valley, from which a single to Bumis only £2.70 w/ RC. Total: £14.30

 

[bb21]

The £11.60 ticket is from Rugeley Town. Rugeley Trent Valley is NOT a valid Routeing Point for Rugeley Town - Banbury as it does not pass the fare check rule.

Only valid RP for Rugeley Town for this journey is Walsall and this is only permitted on map MW, which is NOT valid via Nuneaton.

Bad luck.

A Rugeley Trent Valley - Banbury ticket is pretty pricey.

 

[Ivo]

How can they possibly justify such a ridiculous jump? Even by XC standards this is an outrage. To charge almost double when the two serve the same town and are linked with no intermediate station is unacceptable.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Another idea:

Wolverhampton to Hanborough SVR, LM railsale with railcard £9.10 will get you down to Banbury and back as far as Coventry I believe.

Coventry - Nuneaton CDR rte NOT BIRMINGHAM, LM railsale with railcard £1.45 and throw away the return half.

Bedworth - Smethwick Rolfe St CDR (start short at Nuneaton), LM railsale with railcard £2.85 (and throw away the return half).

Total £13.40 (need to buy on the London Midland website to get this price)

The only debateable thing from my point of view is whether the return portion of Hanborough to Wolverhampton is valid via Coventry, however the journey planners show it as so - so you can get a reservation. Oxford fails the fares check as a routeing point for this journey but via Oxford, Banbury and Leamington Spa is permitted by the shortest route rule. Otherwise you would need to buy a single from LMS to NUN which would make the total £16.50 by my calculations.

 

[wintonian]

The £11.60 ticket is from Rugeley Town. Rugeley Trent Valley is NOT a valid Routeing Point for Rugeley Town - Banbury as it does not pass the fare check rule.

Only valid RP for Rugeley Town for this journey is Walsall and this is only permitted on map MW, which is NOT valid via Nuneaton.

Bad luck.

A Rugeley Trent Valley - Banbury ticket is pretty pricey.

Just looked this up myself so I might as well just confirm that this is correct and Rugeley Trent Valley is not a valid routing point as it fails the fares check.

Using Walsall we can only use map MW which would require double backing through both Leamington Spa and Coventry.

 

[bb21]

Another idea:

Wolverhampton to Hanborough SVR, LM railsale with railcard £9.10 will get you down to Banbury and back as far as Coventry I believe.

Coventry - Nuneaton CDR rte NOT BIRMINGHAM, LM railsale with railcard £1.45 and throw away the return half.

Bedworth - Smethwick Rolfe St CDR (start short at Nuneaton), LM railsale with railcard £2.85 (and throw away the return half).

Total £13.40 (need to buy on the London Midland website to get this price)

The only debateable thing from my point of view is whether the return portion of Hanborough to Wolverhampton is valid via Coventry, however the journey planners show it as so - so you can get a reservation. Oxford fails the fares check as a routeing point for this journey but via Oxford, Banbury and Leamington Spa is permitted by the shortest route rule. Otherwise you would need to buy a single from LMS to NUN which would make the total £16.50 by my calculations.

Otherwise a Wolves - Banbury SVR is £13.45 and is valid on the return journey Banbury - Coventry - Nuneaton - (change map) - Nuneaton - Birmingham - Wolves.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Well for the expense of 5p I think that WVH-BAN SVR sounds a much more convenient option

 

[wintonian]

As long as you go via Coventry on the way from Banbury to Nuneaton and via Coleshill Parkway back to Birmingham, which looks like the obvious route anyway.

 

[bengolding]

If you're travelling tomorrow, I'd forget using the Nuneaton-Coventry leg as it appears all services on this route tomorrow are replaced by buses, taking significantly longer! However, the xx15 bus from Nuneaton will probably take 45 mins, so you'll only have a 25 min wait on the XC service (probably full and standing on the Cov-Leamington stretch).