DynamicSpirit
Established Member
Would a Southport to Liverpool South Parkway ticket be valid via Lime Street and getting a train from Lime St to South Parkway?
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Southport to Liverpool South Parkway
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Yes. However it'll likely cost you more than a Merseyrail day ticket if off peak, and it wouldn't surprise me if you were questioned a bit about it.
DynamicSpirit
Established Member
Thanks. Ticket is a straight single Southport to Liverpool South Parkway.
I'm travelling on to London on a separate South Parkway to London LNR ticket. I'd imagine it'll be easier to get a seat if I board that train at Lime Street
I'm travelling on to London on a separate South Parkway to London LNR ticket. I'd imagine it'll be easier to get a seat if I board that train at Lime Street
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Sounds a good plan.
Mcr Warrior
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What are the possible alternative(s) to buying an Anytime Day Single from Southport to Liverpool South Parkway (route via Liverpool) at £7.45 ?
Lloyds siding
Member
Merseyrail Day Saver (all areas) is £5.60. Arguably not valid on the non-Merseyrail bit from Lime street,
in which case the Merseytravel all area Saveaway is valid and costs £5.65.
NorthWestRover
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The Day Saver is NOT valid on the City Line out of Lime St. The Saveaway is.
One being a TOC specific ticket (Merseyrail only) and the other being a PTE ticket, effectively a Merseyside day ranger.
The Saveaway is the better option as it covers travel within the Merseytravel area. However, it is only valid to travel from 09.30hrs. (see: https://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/tickets-and-pricing/ticket-types/saveaway-ticket/)
Fawkes Cat
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For completeness, per https://www.merseyrail.org/tickets-passes/daily-travel/day-saver.aspx the day saver is also only valid from 0930.
lyndhurst25
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Remember that MerseyRail (i.e. Northern and Wirral line stations, so presumably including Southport ) will only issue SaveAways onto “Metro” smart-cards. If you don’t already have one then there is a £1 charge for the smart-card. If you don’t want to pay £1 for a Metro card, and you are travelling off-peak, then the £5.50 Southport to Halewood cheap day single may be your best bet.
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DynamicSpirit
Established Member
Drat! So in other words, I guess the £7.65 I paid for a South Parkway to Southport single this afternoon (for which I was travelling directly on the Northern line) was a waste of money
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Drat! So in other words, I guess the £7.65 I paid for a South Parkway to Southport single this afternoon (for which I was travelling directly on the Northern line) was a waste of money
I find Merseyrail booking offices offer the day ticket when cheaper, so that is odd.
DynamicSpirit
Established Member
I bought it at Euston, prior to travelling up. So I guess the issue is that booking offices outside the Merseyrail area - and journey planner sites - don't know about the Merseyrail day saver (just as I didn't know about it until I read the replies to this thread)
lyndhurst25
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Yep, another downside (for the passenger, not for Merseyrail) of the dubious decision to allow Merseyrail to abolish all their off-peak fares and replace them with the Daysaver. The Daysaver is not well known outside Merseyside, is not offered by booking sites, does not attract Railcard discounts, is not route inter-available on the City and Northern lines between Liverpool and Liverpool South Parkway / Hunts Cross, and is cynically priced at just a few pence below the equivalent Saveaway PTE rover that is much better value as it also includes all TOC trains, bus and ferry travel, although Merseyrail will only sell you it on a smart-card with a £1 surcharge for first time buyers whereas all other TOCs are happy to issue it on a paper ticket.
The workaround is to see how much a ticket to a station just off the Merseyrail network costs e.g. Halewood, Edge Hill, Meols Cop, as at off-peak times, and especially for railcard holders, the fares can work out cheaper, with off-peak singles and returns being offered to those destinations. But I bet that most passengers on Merseyside don’t even know to do that and end up paying over the odds with an unnecessary anytime ticket at off-peak times, or get pushed into buying Daysaver.
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JBuchananGB
Member
So the best deal if travel after 9.30am M-F or anytime on weekend seems to be the Off-Peak Day Single Southport to Halewood. £5.50. This is valid for theleg fo the OP's proposed journey from Lime Street to South Parkway. As a Senior Rail Card holder not entitled to a Merseytravel Pass, I am well acquainted with the good value of tickets to Halewood. An Off-peak Day return at £3.65 compares favourably with Daysavers and Saveaways for visits from Southport to Liverpool, and my ENCTS pass for the buses is valid on the buses in the Liverpool City Region.
PMH
Member
I'd never heard of the Saveaway, so that's solved a separate issue for me (getting from Wavertree Tech Park to Birkenhead, then dicking around on Merseyrail for a bit).
Hadn't realised there was a Merseyrail option that would work, so cheers for the shout m
JBuchananGB
Member
The Saveaway is a Merseytravel product, hence valid on trains buses and ferries. The Daysaver is a Merseyrail product, valid on Merseyrail trains only.
PMH
Member
Cheers for that. I've previously bought bus and train day tickets separately, so will get the Saveaway now I know it exists.
Having to buy it from a manned station is the only faff, but otherwise it's outstanding value.
JBuchananGB
Member
Saveaway tickets can be bought at PayPoint stores in Merseyside, Merseytravel Centres and staffed stations in Merseyside.
No, for the sake of 15p, the best deal is the Saveaway, goes anywhere train or bus in the Merseytravel boundary, there and back by what ever route you wish within the travel boundary. (The boundary train wise, goes to Southport, Ormskirk, Rainford, Garswood, Newton le Willows, Hough Green, LSP, West Kirkby, New Brighton, Ellesmere Port and Chester). Why would you pay £5.50 for a single journey anyway when get all in for £5.65? ? I also would also assume you do not live in Merseyside (Southport) then as otherwise you would be entitled to over 60's / 65's free bus / train travel pass too?
PMH
Member
Cheers again.
I'll be asking you to buy the ticket for me at this rate.
I don't live in the area but visit often, and due to my own ignorance and lack of curiosity had never heard about this ticket. The faff it'll save me in future will be more welcome than the few extra quid I was happy enough to pay, so thanks.
lyndhurst25
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If roving around on Merseyrail, I would always support the Savaway scheme and buy one of those over the dubois Merseyrail Daysaver, even though they are 10p more. However, if like the OP, I was travelling from Southport to LSP to connect to a long distance train, with no intention of using other train/bus/ferry services that day then why not just buy a single to Halewod and save the 15p (£1.15 if they don’t already have a Metro smartcard)?
Back in the day you could also buy a scratch-off Savaway tickets from all Post Offices and public libraries on Merseyside. Remember them? It was quite convenient.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
...as a means of evading Penalty Fares. Carry one in your wallet unscratched, and if the inspectors get on scratch it off.
Going off topic a bit but they were very susceptible to fraud. Confiscated many on the buses. The common theme was to buy 2, leave one blank and seal it. Scratch all the dates off the other and seal it. They then used to cut the scratched one into individual days, months,years and just stick them over the unscratched dates on the blank one depending what day they were travelling! Not obvious from a distance, but easy to spot up close.
JBuchananGB
Member
For roving around, the one to use is the Saveaway. Most of my trips are out and back from my nearest station which is Birkdale. I live 25 minutes walk from the station, but not in Merseyside, so no Merseytravel pass for me. I can get out and back on the Northern Line (not including the Kirkby & Ormskirk branches) for the Off-Peak fare to Halewood, and to almost anywhere on the Wirral Line (not down as far as Chester) for less than the price of a Daysaver. Of course the tickets allow break of journey, so multiple stop-offs on both outward and return trips are OK. My current Senior Railcard was bought free with Tesco Vouchers, and ENCTS pass covers the buses.
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