Most pointless journey for which a fare is available

[Mcr Warrior]

Was Ride Cornwall hiked to include buses?

No idea on that, but it does seems strange that certain search engines are offering expensive day ranger tickets when no point-to-point tickets are available between a particular pair of stations. Even stranger that the day ranger product being offered in such circumstances often isn't the cheapest that would be valid between the two stations.

 

[Kite159]

Was Ride Cornwall hiked to include buses?

It was hiked by the bus companies (mainly First) wanting more money (as it undercut their own day explorer ticket), with the new Cornwall Ranger introduced at the older price for rail travel only.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

There are plenty of one-stop shortish journeys that people are putting down as "pointless" - several on Merseyrail, for instance Leasowe to Moreton is only about a kilometre, Walton to Orrell Park a bit shorter, Aughton Park to Town Green not much more. These might come in useful to someone in a hurry (or of limited mobility, perhaps) whose need coincides with the train time, though, so these aren't really pointless.

Indeed. Many passengers also do very short hops like Moorfields to Lime Street, Lime Street to Liverpool Central, or Manchester Victoria to Oxford Road, Piccadilly or Salford Crescent as part of a longer journey.

I've also done Wrexham General to Central to terminate a journey when the connection is good while many football fans must have done Exeter St Davids to St James' Park, or Cardiff Central to Ninian Park or Grangetown, or Birmingham stations to Bordesley, Aston or Witton. But you need to be careful when extending a journey beyond the main station in a city as your ticket might not be valid for the last leg unless it specifies your exact destination. Usually the fare will be the same so it is worth making the effort to buy the right ticket.

 

[Llandudno]

Indeed. Many passengers also do very short hops like Moorfields to Lime Street, Lime Street to Liverpool Central, or Manchester Victoria to Oxford Road, Piccadilly or Salford Crescent as part of a longer journey.

I've also done Wrexham General to Central to terminate a journey when the connection is good while many football fans must have done Exeter St Davids to St James' Park, or Cardiff Central to Ninian Park or Grangetown, or Birmingham stations to Bordesley, Aston or Witton. But you need to be careful when extending a journey beyond the main station in a city as your ticket might not be valid for the last leg unless it specifies your exact destination. Usually the fare will be the same so it is worth making the effort to buy the right ticket.

You are spot on with buying the ticket to the furthest station you may decide to use if the fare is the same.

A while back I bought a ticket to FiveWays to go and watch a Test Match at Birmingham.
When I got to New Street I bumped into a couple of friends and suggested catching the local train to Fiveways as it is a slightly shorter walk to Edgbaston, when we got to Fiveways my ticket was accepted but my friends who had paid the same fare but to ‘Birmingham’ were threatened with a penalty fare by station staff.

Fortunately after a very polite conversation common sense prevailed and my friends were allowed through the barrier.

It was a great day at the cricket, England scored 400+ in the day, and England won the test by a couple of runs, 2005 Ashes remember that?

 

[Bletchleyite]

It has long occurred to me that formalising those "same fare" long distance journeys would make a lot of sense, e.g. by creating "X City Zone" and "X Town Zone" so you can choose "on the fly".

 

[LOL The Irony]

It has long occurred to me that formalising those "same fare" long distance journeys would make a lot of sense, e.g. by creating "X City Zone" and "X Town Zone" so you can choose "on the fly".

I think most walk up tickets to Manchester are now Manchester stations.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think most walk up tickets to Manchester are now Manchester stations.

They are. But odds on Ardwick (!), Ashburys, Mauldeth Road, Salford Crescent and the likes get the same fare too, so why not widen it and encourage these convenient short connecting hops?

 

[Jamesrob637]

They are. But odds on Ardwick (!), Ashburys, Mauldeth Road, Salford Crescent and the likes get the same fare too, so why not widen it and encourage these convenient short connecting hops?

Possibly add Burnage and/or Levenshulme to that list.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I think most walk up tickets to Manchester are now Manchester stations.

If from another station within the Greater Manchester/TfGM travel area, they will be issued to "Manchester CtlZ" (Manchester Central Zone) rather than Manchester Stns, and so will also include city zone/zone 1 travel on the Manchester Metrolink tram system.

 

[plugwash]

There are some TOC-specific walk-up tickets that are issued to Picadilly explicitly rather than CTLZ or stations though.

For example.

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

Though at only 10p cheaper than the TOC-flexible fare to CTLZ you would be pretty silly to buy it.

 

[Traveller54]

Largs to Wemyss Bay.
About 1hr 55mins by train via Paisley for £8.60 single, hourly service.
18 minutes by bus, four per hour, £4.90

 

[Bletchleyite]

There are some TOC-specific walk-up tickets that are issued to Picadilly explicitly rather than CTLZ or stations though.

For example.

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

Though at only 10p cheaper than the TOC-flexible fare to CTLZ you would be pretty silly to buy it.

This sort of fare is everything that's bad about TOC specific fares - no market differentiation, no price differentiation (that anyone other than a kid would care about) - just a sly way of appearing as the cheapest fare on a journey planner. A nasty sharp practice.

 

[BigCj34]

Carlisle to Lancaster is £34.30 via the Cumbrian coast, which takes around 3h40, or £19.30 (£32.90 with first class) which is around 50 minutes via the WCML. The Round Robin Day ranger is £32.80.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Carlisle to Lancaster is £34.30 via the Cumbrian coast, which takes around 3h40, or £19.30 (£32.90 with first class) which is around 50 minutes via the WCML. The Round Robin Day ranger is £32.80.

Of course the only reason you would go from Carlisle to Lancaster via the Coast, other than in a situation where there was severe disruption on the WCML, is for the enjoyment of it. I suppose it depends on whether you would consider that "pointless" or not - I wouldn't otherwise every single preserved line is pointless!

What is pointless is Avanti's "via Penrith" Anytime Return at £64.60, because Northern's "Any Permitted" Anytime Return is just £41.80 - so the former should never be sold and probably shouldn't really exist!

 

[BigCj34]

Of course the only reason you would go from Carlisle to Lancaster via the Coast, other than in a situation where there was severe disruption on the WCML, is for the enjoyment of it. I suppose it depends on whether you would consider that "pointless" or not - I wouldn't otherwise every single preserved line is pointless!

What is pointless is Avanti's "via Penrith" Anytime Return at £64.60, because Northern's "Any Permitted" Anytime Return is just £41.80 - so the former should never be sold and probably shouldn't really exist!

Even in disruption it would be much quicker with a rail replacement bus up the M6, would imagine such a diversion would be more useful for freight.

Anyway, clearly the definition of pointless is subjective. It still doesn't make much sense to purchase that fare as anyone fancying a trip on the Cumbrian Coast can buy a Ranger that does it cheaper. Though let's be honest buying a through fare for many journeys is often pointless on the British network, usually when there is a cheaper split alternative, but let's not go there!

 

[60019]

I once bought a single ticket from Glasgow Central to Charing Cross (Glasgow), near where my hotel was. I bought the ticket from the TVM at Glasgow Central and changed at Partick without any problems. I had heavy luggage and hadn't done either line.

Some years later, I discovered that this was not a permitted route, in fact the fare to Charing Cross was less than the fare to Partick. Despite buying my ticket at Central, I was expected to make my own way to Queen Street and catch a train from there.

Are there any other instances of situations where a passenger buys a ticket from a TVM at a particular station but is not permitted to travel from that station?

What used to be the top trump for this question was an example, as I think it lasted until after TVMs were introduced. There used to be a ticket for W&E riverside to central, route not london, which IIRC cost £4 when they got rid of it. The only permitted route was to walk down Windsor high street.

The reason that fare existed was because it was originally the inter-company transfer fee that existed before nationalisation plus zero-chains of travel. That way a ticket from (say) Datchett to Slough could be priced by adding the prices for each leg.

 

[Steddenm]

From earlier on in the thread I have noticed that there are fares between East and West Croydon which are "Any Permitted" - would this include the Tram?

 

[island]

No, it would need the route TRAMLINK to do so. The fare above would have to go (for example) via Norwood Junction.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Ardrossan South Beach to Ardrossan Town/Harbour? Or even Ardrossan Town to Ardrossan Harbour.

South Beach to Town can be done in 10 minutes, same with Town to Harbour. All the stations are within walking distance and you can physically see the line running between Ardrossan Town and Ardrossan Harbour.

 

[adrock1976]

Ardrossan South Beach to Ardrossan Town/Harbour? Or even Ardrossan Town to Ardrossan Harbour.

South Beach to Town can be done in 10 minutes, same with Town to Harbour. All the stations are within walking distance and you can physically see the line running between Ardrossan Town and Ardrossan Harbour.

Would this be a zonal fare regardless, as all three Ardrossan stations are in the SPT area?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Fares seem to be available, the short hop from Ardrossan Town to Ardrossan Harbour costs £1.30 for an Anytime Single. Might be useful on a dreich day. Fare Setter is ScotRail.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Sorry if it's already been mentioned but here's two strange fares.
CDR Denton to Reddish South £2.80
7day season Pilning to Patchway £24.20
How many of these get sold?

 

[bussnapperwm]

Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town for £1.10 single

Cheaper than the bus (The Green Bus 242 from the station car park is £2.40 contactless only!!!)

 

[bussnapperwm]

That’s actually an incredibly useful ticket. I’m sure plenty of people have used it over the years.

Its useful if you want to avoid the councils car park fees (£3.50 a day pre Corona). Just park on the Junction and get the train into town!

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Its useful if you want to avoid the councils car park fees (£3.50 a day pre Corona). Just park on the Junction and get the train into town!

That's a useful tip.

 

[backontrack]

The one that gets wheeled out every time anyone wants to moan about the cost of rail travel - the Anytime First Class Return from Penzance to Wick that costs over a grand. No-one has, or ever will, buy it.

I bet an enthusiast has. Even though it's over a grand.

 

[philthetube]

agree, bet there is one in a ticket collection somewhere

 

[berneyarms]

I bet an enthusiast has. Even though it's over a grand.

It isn’t.

It’s £663.10 or £852 as pointed out several times above, depending on whether you route via London.

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

 

[backontrack]

It isn’t.

It’s £663.10 or £852 as pointed out several times above, depending on whether you route via London.

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

That makes it even more likely, then.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I believe that may have been the fare that did tip over a grand at one point, but it was reduced because (a) that was incredibly bad publicity, and (b) nobody ever bought it anyway, so you could easily take a hundred and a bit off it without it causing any issues.