Pretty much the going rate now for the cheapest journeys over that sort of distance.
It is a shame isn't it? Once upon a time I could get a £20 advance from Deal to Liverpool
Yes, as I already have a ticket from Kent
The £35 Super Off Peak Return (Route WMR/LNR/TfW only) is likely to be your cheapest walk up ticket from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, but is quite restrictive as regards times and the ToCs you can use. So not Avanti, Northern or XC. See link below.
Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.
www.brfares.com
Not sure if there is an equivalent ticket starting from Watford Junction.
It is certainly the cheapest although very very limiting! I suppose I could easily double back through Euston if I needed to
I haven’t looked so these combinations may be no use whatsoever but I’m aware of a few cheap advances that may line up quite well.
Look at going via Sheffield, split advances St Pancras to Sheffield and A Northern advance Sheffield to Manchester.
Chiltern Marylebone to Moor Street are sometimes a fiver without a railcard. If you can match that with a good one to Manchester.
Probably won’t beat the wmr/lnr/TfW super off peak fare in total but may get a bit more suitable timings.
I did take a look at going from St Pancras to Sheffield although strangely this came out as more expensive. I have wanted to have a ride of the Hope Valley line though so it is a contender.
Have you tried Trainsplit?
If you don't mind a slow journey, Trainsplit in value mode should find whatever is cheapest out of the combined West Midlands Trains (LNR/WMR brands) & TfW tickets, or a combination of tickets.
Yes, sadly it didn't produce many other alternatives.
£25 is quite good for London to Manchester on Avanti, is it not? They often charge me far more and that's with a 16-25 Railcard.
In the current circumstances it would seem that £25 is good value. Although Liverpool is a similar distance yet is only £15 and £13 at around the same times. I also will have to book a return leg. I suppose time is money and that this is the market price. Tickets are no cheaper even 3 weeks later
Lowest tier on Chiltern from London to Birmingham is now £6.40, with not much availability. More typically in the £10 - £16 range now.
Now that does sound appealing, I hadn't considered looking at Chiltern - thank you!
The £45 "Off-peak return" version has a lot less restrictions in terms of timings (no afternoon restrictions, only morning). Although that ticket seems to be only London Euston to Manchester, doesn't exist if you start from Watford (or end at Stockport), but I can't see any "break of journey" restrictions like on the Super Off-peak ticket [so the OP could purchase a London - Manchester ticket and start short at Watford)
Just beware they can be a bit awkward to purchase due to the longer journey times, especially if you come back on a Sunday from Manchester as the Manchester - South Wales train isn't an official connection to the Crewe - London train [but as most of the Manchester - South Wales use P6 and most of the Crewe - London trains use P7 it's an easy enough connection unless the train is late
The long journey times are a pain. I have made the 3 minute connection at Stafford a few times before when heading to Liverpool. From Kent the end to end journey time is around 5 hours, not great although fine when on a budget.
You are thinking of the Liverpool/Glasgow/Edinburgh/Blackpool - London Avanti services which call at Crewe, but the poster above was talking about using tickets only valid on West Midlands Trains (LNR/WMR brands) between Crewe & London, which are the Crewe - London services starting at (bay) Platform 7.
That is correct. If only LNR ran directly to Manchester and Liverpool on through trains, maybe one day eh?
The Route WMR/LNR/TfW only tickets are normally good value, but currently TfW are terminating many S Wales - Manchester trains at Crewe. That means the ticket often won't cover the Crewe - Manchester leg, or not without a long wait or an extra ticket. Northern advances can be cheap, but the trains are even slower!
Ironically, paying for an extra ticket to travel to Manchester on Avanti from Crewe does save time.
