Kidderminster to Ludlow

[peteb]

Planning to travel to Ludlow and back tomorrow. Northern Rail App is routing via Hereford but ticket validity any permitted. Is "any permitted" also via Shrewsbury? Would be good to know so could do a circular trip. Thanks

 

[greenline712]

If you try (on NRE) Kidderminster to Ludlow via Shrewsbury, this message comes up:

This journey is not a permitted route and may require multiple tickets. Please re-plan your journey
The journey you are searching for:

Kidderminster(KID)to Ludlow(LUD) Stopping at Shrewsbury​

is returned . . . so no. NRE is pretty often right; basic, but right.

 

[peteb]

If you try (on NRE) Kidderminster to Ludlow via Shrewsbury, this message comes up:

This journey is not a permitted route and may require multiple tickets. Please re-plan your journey
The journey you are searching for:

Kidderminster(KID)to Ludlow(LUD) Stopping at Shrewsbury​

is returned . . . so no. NRE is pretty often right; basic, but right.

Ok thanks! Don't suppose you know if a circular ticket is possible using some other route eg: day return to Hopton on the central Wales line would require travel via Ludlow to Craven Arms from Kiddy?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

A "Heart of England (3 in 7 days) Rover" would allow for a circular itinerary from Kidderminster to Ludlow (out via Hereford and return via Shrewsbury) but at £104.00 it's a rather expensive option.

Of course, the product would then allow for another two days of journeys elsewhere that same week, and over quite an extensive portion of the Midlands area, including possible destinations such as Chester, Nottingham, Matlock, Northampton, Oxford and Gloucester.

 

[jfollows]

"Any permitted" route is via Worcester (group) and Hereford and map HB at https://data.atoc.org/routeing-maps

In this case the map shows the only route as Kidderminster-Worcester-Hereford-Ludlow.
Shrewsbury isn't an option because the other routeing point for Ludlow (Craven Arms, thence Shrewsbury) is disallowed by the fares rule.

 

[30907]

Playing with NRE suggests that a Stourbridge Jn-Ludlow ticket at £23.30 would cover you by starting or finishing short; you would need a single Stourbridge-Kidderminster as well.

 

[jfollows]

Stourbridge Junction to Ludlow "any permitted" is still only allowed via Worcester and Hereford, with the route via Craven Arms not being permitted for the same fare rule reason as for tickets with an origin Kidderminster. The £23.30 SDR ticket is for the same origin cluster as Kidderminster also (https://www.brfares.com/!expert?orig=SBJ&dest=LUD&period=20231203).
But, of course, if something generates a valid itinerary for a different route, that's authoritative and permits travel.

However

Journeys from Ludlow via Shrewsbury and beyond may travel via Craven Arms. This easement applies in both directions.

So the easement may allow this despite the other conditions. Even though I don't find its wording very helpful, what does "via Shrewsbury" mean in the text?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

How else do you get to/from Ludlow to/from anywhere via Shrewsbury, without travelling via Craven Arms? Without a detour via Hereford? Am I missing something?

 

[JB_B]

... So the easement may allow this despite the other conditions. Even though I don't find its wording very helpful, what does "via Shrewsbury" mean in the text?

I haven't checked the data to see what that easement is actually doing but in any case Stourbridge Junction to Ludlow is going to be valid either way by the 3 mile rule - it's ~74 miles via Hereford and ~74.5 miles via Shrewsbury.

 

[jfollows]

I haven't checked the data to see what that easement is actually doing but in any case Stourbridge Junction to Ludlow is going to be valid either way by the 3 mile rule - it's ~74 miles via Hereford and ~74.5 miles via Shrewsbury.

That's a very good point, thank you.
So Kidderminster-Ludlow isn't valid via Shrewsbury, because the mileage difference will be more than 3 miles, whereas Stourbridge Junction - with the same priced ticket - is valid via Shrewsbury for this reason.
So from Kidderminster, an option would be to buy a ticket from Stourbridge Junction, as 30907 says above, and an additional single in one direction.
EDIT It's officially 7 miles from Stourbridge Junction to Kidderminster, so the mileage difference for the two routes from Kidderminster will be whatever it is (less than 3) from Stourbridge Junction plus 14, so clearly >3.

 

[geoffk]

there's a direct bus Kidder to Ludlow, every 75 minutes, taking around an hour via Bewdley and Cleobury Mortimer. The OP doesn't specify "train only".