• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Travelling to Birmingham from Bicester, best option?

Status
Not open for further replies.

choochootrain

On Moderation
Joined
19 May 2020
Messages
30
Location
Bicester
For the next two weeks I need to travel from Bicester to Birmingham, however as I'm working night shifts I'll need to be in Birmingham for 10 P.M and I'll be leaving at around 7 A.M. I've looked at fares and a return is around £25, any way to get it cheaper?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

30907

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Sep 2012
Messages
17,866
Location
Airedale
2x weekly season is cheaper for 8 or more return trips. Can't find an obvious split.
 

MichaelAMW

Member
Joined
18 Jun 2010
Messages
1,011
You'd also have to wait for the 0825 from Moor Street if you wanted to use the £25.80 Off Peak Return over night, as there is a 1000 arrival time restriction at Marylebone for your train, even though you're don't want to go that far. The 0711 back home would cost you the Anytime Return at £43.20, on a weekday, which sounds like a lot. If you're working two nights in a row the Anytime Day Return at £27.10, bought from Birmingham to Bicester, might be a useful ticket to buy but, as 30907 says, for a full weeks' work a season is your best bet. There are some Advance fares (must go on the specified train) for £6.90 eah way but I anticipate you would be lucky to get a full set of those for a whole week, which is the only way you'd undercut the season.
 

CyrusWuff

Established Member
Joined
20 May 2013
Messages
3,944
Location
London
The £25.80 Off-Peak Return isn't valid on trains scheduled to arrive in London before 1000 Mondays to Fridays (excluding public holidays), so wouldn't be valid until 0804 from Birmingham New Street (changing at Banbury) or 0825 from Birmingham Moor Street (direct).

As such, you'd be looking at the £43.20 Anytime Return as the base fare, which you could bring down to £40.50 by splitting at Banbury, but in practice I suspect you'll be better off buying two Weekly seasons at £98.10 each. You'll need to obtain a photocard if you don't already have one, which you can get at a Ticket Office by taking along a passport sized photo.
 

ForTheLoveOf

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2017
Messages
6,416
For the next two weeks I need to travel from Bicester to Birmingham, however as I'm working night shifts I'll need to be in Birmingham for 10 P.M and I'll be leaving at around 7 A.M. I've looked at fares and a return is around £25, any way to get it cheaper?
How many shifts are you doing within each 7 day period? If you are doing enough each week (and you don't have, and aren't eligible for, any Railcard), two weekly season tickets are worthwhile. You may wish to consider splitting tickets at Hatton - getting both a Bicester North to Hatton and a Hatton to West Midlands All Zones season, which saves you £4.30 a week over the through ticket. No need for your trains o stop at Hatton, but you can't go via Kenilworth as a diversionary route in case of disruption (as you would on a through ticket).

If you're eligible for a Railcard and/or you're doing less than 4 or 5 shifts a week, you'll want to get Day Returns - i.e. a single to get to the first night shift, then a Day Return (issued from Brum to Bicester) with the outward portion to get you home, and the return portion to get you back to work the same evening.

NB here splitting is also slightly cheaper, if you split at Banbury, albeit the cheaper Anytime Day Return from Banbury is route Chiltern only, so no immediate alternative routes/TOCs if your train is cancelled.

Alternatively, if you can bear waiting for the 08:25 departure off Moor Street, you could use an Off-Peak (Day) Return. Your journey into Moor Street in the evening is obviously valid with an Off-Peak ticket, whilst the 08:25 is the first valid southbound service in the morning.

If you book far enough in advance you might be able to get some Advance tickets, but TBH I think you're going to struggle to get anything attractively priced no matter how far in advance you book, when it comes to late evening ex-London services (which are typically busy until Leamington at least), and the first Off-Peak service to London!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top