The Student Room Group

The Super Duper UK Public Transport Question Thread

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Reply 60
Original post by Rakas21
The student plus metrocard costs £67.50 per month and entitles you to free bus and train travel in Yorkshire. Your rail card will not apply. (although if going to Manchester, you would only have to pay from Stalybridge)


Oh okay, thankyou :smile:
Reply 61
Hi

I want to travel from Manchester Picnic to London Euston by rail. Where can I find the cheapest return ticket? I'm only going Sat morning and coming back Sun evening.

I am also planning to stay in a hostel on the Sat night. How can I book hostels?

Thanks

P.S - I have never been to London before.
Reply 62
virgintrains.co.uk

Buy a railcard. Don't expect there to be many cheap fares with such little notice.
No idea what Manchester Picnic is but I know the station manchester picadilly?
if so, I have no idea about cheap tickets, the only place I have ever got them from is national rail's website... And it can be a bit expensive. The more in advance you book, the cheaper they'll be so it really is just up to you to get on the website now! Unless you know another website where you can get them cheaper somehow...
You won't get cheaper tickets than the ones on the National Rail website. National Rail actually allows you to search all train operators at once and then directs you to the relevant company's website to actually buy the ticket. Don't get fooled by thetrainline.com - for one-off tickets they're pointless as they charge a booking fee.

BTW: If you want to make sure you get the very cheapest fares you should click the "Include slower trains" box on the National Rail website. I don't know if this applies for Manchester-London but for Birmingham-London the same route is operated by two different companies. By default only the (fast but expensive) Virgin services are shown. But if you click the "Include slower trains" you also get to see the (slower, but much cheaper) London Midland trains.

Edit: I should clarify that this reply was specific to the question originally asked in the thread where it was posted, and isn't necessarily true in general for all rail tickets. Depending on the exact route you are taking there are other tricks like split ticketing which might become useful.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by thefish_uk
BTW: If you want to make sure you get the very cheapest fares you should click the "Include slower trains" box on the National Rail website. I don't know if this applies for Manchester-London but for Birmingham-London the same route is operated by two different companies. By default only the (fast but expensive) Virgin services are shown. But if you click the "Include slower trains" you also get to see the (slower, but much cheaper) London Midland trains.


London Midland don't serve Manchester, you have to change at Stoke-On-Trent or Crewe, although you can get some pretty damn cheap fares by doing so.

Shark67, London - Manchester is a pig to get cheap tickets for.

Would you prefer a direct train or do you not mind going via a different route to get it cheaper?

What time do you have to arrive in London?

What time are you returning?

Are journey times important?

Do you have a railcard?

(edited 12 years ago)
anyone knows if i could get 18+ student oyster photo-card before September?
Original post by thefish_uk
You won't get cheaper tickets than the ones on the National Rail website.


That isn't strictly true.
Most of the time it is, but sometimes train companies have specific offers or discounts that are only available on their websites.

Also, don't forget about split ticketing. I am going to be going up near Derby sometime in the summer to see a friend, and I can save £10-15 by buying tickets from Cardiff to Birmingham, Birmingham to Derby, and Derby to Matlock, rather than buying tickets that are just Cardiff to Matlock.
Original post by WelshBluebird
That isn't strictly true.
Most of the time it is, but sometimes train companies have specific offers or discounts that are only available on their websites.

Also, don't forget about split ticketing. I am going to be going up near Derby sometime in the summer to see a friend, and I can save £10-15 by buying tickets from Cardiff to Birmingham, Birmingham to Derby, and Derby to Matlock, rather than buying tickets that are just Cardiff to Matlock.

Ok, you're totally right. That's why I shouldn't write replies to threads on here when I really should be in bed. :tongue: If there's a special offer on there's a good chance you'll see it advertised though. And I think I have picked up those tickets via National Rail in the past by picking the correct train... but the company's website will guide you to exactly how to find the cheap tickets :smile:

Yes split ticketing is a nuisance (but a very useful nuisance) but I don't know if you tend to save anything when the route you're travelling has a direct train anyway? I'm going Birmingham - Halesworth on Wednesday (Halesworth is a place in the middle of nowhere in East Anglia) and for a single ticket I could only get an Off-Peak for about £44, but by manually splitting it at London (which was the same route as using the Off-Peak ticket anyway) I could pick up two Advance tickets for less than a fifth of this. Plus the cost of a tube fare, which with an Oyster card isn't much.

TBH this practice by the mods of merging into a general thread annoys me as it changes the context of subsequent posts. Somebody can write a post which answers the specific question being asked in a thread but which is incomplete or plain wrong when taken out of context.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 69
Original post by shark67
Hi

I want to travel from Manchester Picnic to London Euston by rail. Where can I find the cheapest return ticket? I'm only going Sat morning and coming back Sun evening.

I am also planning to stay in a hostel on the Sat night. How can I book hostels?

Thanks

P.S - I have never been to London before.


An Off Peak open return ticket is priced at £70.00.

It's roughly half the price if you use London Midland to Stoke-on-Trent (£22.50 Super Off Peak return), then buy another ticket for the remaining distance to Manchester. If you have an extra hour to spare travelling and don't mind having to change trains, it's a good way to save money.
Original post by WelshBluebird
That isn't strictly true.
Most of the time it is, but sometimes train companies have specific offers or discounts that are only available on their websites.

Also, don't forget about split ticketing. I am going to be going up near Derby sometime in the summer to see a friend, and I can save £10-15 by buying tickets from Cardiff to Birmingham, Birmingham to Derby, and Derby to Matlock, rather than buying tickets that are just Cardiff to Matlock.


Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when you split ticket does that mean you have to change trains each time? Or can you just stay on the train? And doesn't that make it difficult if you want to book a seat?
Original post by jelly1000
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when you split ticket does that mean you have to change trains each time? Or can you just stay on the train? And doesn't that make it difficult if you want to book a seat?


As long as the train stops at the station you split at, you are fine and can stay on the train.

In terms of booking seats, personally I tend to ignore seat reservations anyway (as I always find there is someone in my seat, so I just find an unreserved seat for myself).

In the example I gave, going from Cardiff to Matlock I have to change at Derby anyway, so the only "problem" would come at Birmingham. If I do that I'd probably just stay in the seat if it wasn't reserved past there tbh.
Original post by WelshBluebird
As long as the train stops at the station you split at, you are fine and can stay on the train.

In terms of booking seats, personally I tend to ignore seat reservations anyway (as I always find there is someone in my seat, so I just find an unreserved seat for myself).

In the example I gave, going from Cardiff to Matlock I have to change at Derby anyway, so the only "problem" would come at Birmingham. If I do that I'd probably just stay in the seat if it wasn't reserved past there tbh.


Ah i see. I'd boot someone off if I found them in a seat I'd reserved.
What's the best way to do this? 3 people are travelling with 4 large suitcases. Roughly how much will it cost? Also how to get back from City Airport to Victoria coach station?
Thanks.
With that kind of weight, you might be best sharing a cab - it will probably cost about £30, so not too bad split between you.

The public transport route is via the tube and DLR, but they both involve a lot of annoying stairs and longish walks between changes.
Original post by emmanottinghil
With that kind of weight, you might be best sharing a cab - it will probably cost about £30, so not too bad split between you.

The public transport route is via the tube and DLR, but they both involve a lot of annoying stairs and longish walks between changes.


Ok cool how about for just one person getting from LCA to LV coach station? I have a 16-25 railcard and will most likely be using trains as £30 for a cab for one person is ridiculous.
Cheers.
Original post by Silver Arrow
Ok cool how about for just one person getting from LCA to LV coach station? I have a 16-25 railcard and will most likely be using trains as £30 for a cab for one person is ridiculous.
Cheers.


Do you have Oyster? I assume you're coming back lightly loaded, so just get an oyster card when you arrive at Victoria and then use the DLR and tube back. If not, put enough credit on it for the trip from LCA to LV. TFL website will tell you the exact amount you need for the journey - i can't remember how much it will be off the top of my head as i have a travelcard on mine, but it won't be much - a few quid.
You can order Oyster before you go of course on the TFL website as well.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/default.aspx
Reply 78
Original post by shark67
Hi

I want to travel from Manchester Picnic to London Euston by rail. Where can I find the cheapest return ticket? I'm only going Sat morning and coming back Sun evening.

I am also planning to stay in a hostel on the Sat night. How can I book hostels?

Thanks

P.S - I have never been to London before.


If you go after 12:55 on saturday you can get from Manchester Pickadily to London Euston for £23.50. Virgin train taking just over 2 hours. £30.50 to get back after 18:15.

Had you have booked earlier then you may have been able to get tickets for £11.50 each way.
Hi, I am just wondering if it is easy to get from London Euston to London Victoria? I have never been on the tube in London, thanks!

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