Non-motoring > Manchester to London via Brighton - tip Miscellaneous
Thread Author: RattleandSmoke Replies: 21
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New Sun 11 Apr 10 17:48 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - RattleandSmoke
This won't always work but I am finding on certain days if you want go from Manchester to London on the train if you choose to go to Brighton instead the ticket is just £15 single. Now what is odd is the same train would be £29 if you didn't add the extra Brighton ticket on it. Now I am sure legally if you have to stay in the stations and go to Brighton but since you have to leave the station to catch the connection tube at Euston I don't see why you can't use a Brighton ticket and simply get off at Euston and not to go Brighton.

Its just utter madness and found this sort of thing a lot when I was away. £15 is what a taxi costs from picciddily station to my house!

It seems there is a lot more to getting cheap train tickets than booking in advance and trying out prices for singles or return.
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New Sun 11 Apr 10 18:46 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Bromptonaut
My only check would be that the fare was definitely via London. There used to be a through service Manchester/Oxford/Reading/Gatwick/Brighton and that will still be a permitted route. NRES does not suggest any connectiion routed that way however so I think you're probably on a winner!!
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New Sun 11 Apr 10 18:52 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - RattleandSmoke
Yep its a London one without a doubt, first train is Manc Picc to London Euston :).

I think the through service still exists but it takes longer than going via London anyway! My only concern is that there may not allow you exit the railway network until you get to Brighton I know this applies on some stations with barriers.

The ticket includes the tube so would they give you a tube ticket or would it be just a normal railway ticket which is valid on the tube?
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New Sun 11 Apr 10 19:34 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Bromptonaut
Your ticket is marked with a + to show it's valid for a single journey on the underground. It will operate the gates on the tube station on the day of validity for one single journey.

The only auto barriered platforms at Euston Main Line are the suburban ones, 8-11. The outer two are long enough for a Pendolino but are only used by Virgin in emergencies. Ticket checks on the other paltforms are by eyeball and are only concerned to make sure all pax have a valid (in terms of fare and time) ticket.

Both entrances to the tube are outside any main line barriers. There is absolutely no way you could be detected if you fail to use the ticket beyond Euston.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 11 Apr 10 at 19:36
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New Sun 11 Apr 10 20:12 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - bathtub tom
I've noticed this on a trip I make and I now buy two tickets, one for the first part of my journey (on a horse with no name?) and another for t'other. I tried entering all the possible combinations, but lost the will and gave up.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a website somewhere which does this for you.
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New Sun 11 Apr 10 21:59 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Mark
This type of anomoly also exists on tickets from Birmingham to Stanstead via Euston.

I was planning some work related trips a few weeks ago and was playing around with
dates/times/routes and found that;

I could travel on an afternoon train (Virgin) from New St to Euston (then tube) followed by the Stanstead Express from Tottenham Hale to the airport for £9.50 (total fare) in cattle class.

The cheapest possible single ticket on the same Virgin train from New St to Euston only, on the same day was £14.50 and the Stanstead single was then a cool £22.50 on its own.

Similar discrepancies operated on the way back as Stanstead to MKC (via Euston) was around £40 as a single but Stanstead to Coventry (again via Euston) was available for £9.50.

As a result of dicovering this booking a train ticket now takes me ages as I try a variety of permutations and breaks of journey whilst booking online.

I am typically finding that any journey that is broken at Birmingham for example Liverpool- Exeter or Runcorn - Gloucester is cheaper if bought say Liverpool to Birmingham then another ticket for the Exeter or Gloucester leg. Typically I can take about £20 off the through ticket price depending on the time of day.

HTH

As always

Mark

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New Sun 11 Apr 10 22:12 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - RattleandSmoke
I don't get why the media and especialy Martin Lewis dosn't seem to have cottoned onto this.l They always tell us do the obvious stuff but nobody has ever mentioned going too far.

Yet if i want a ticket to Newquay its over £140 cheapest fair. If I just book the two journeys as seperate ones it is much much cheaper, I can get there for £30.00. Thats 335 miles for £30.

So the secret seems to be if you have connections to make check the price of the ticket to each connection as it may work out much cheaper or much more expensive to it that way.

My guess is they sometimes charge less if the journey takes for ever. The train ticket from Newquay to Torquay for example cost me £8.00 That was about 85 miles in total distance but involved getting three trains, I did buy the ticket on the day too!

I wish trains were as cheap in Manchester as they are in the South West I will be much richer!!
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New Mon 12 Apr 10 09:14 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - rtj70
One reason multiple singles can sometimes be cheaper is the different parts of the journey use different companies. Proof why splitting up British Rail was never worthwhile.
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New Mon 12 Apr 10 11:58 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - RattleandSmoke
I have mixed feelings on it because there is no doubt things a much better now than they were 15 years ago. Ok it might be a lot more expensive but what is the point on having cheap tickets if you everywhere you go to you get delayed. Since privitisation rail usage has increased beyond even government hopes. Although with the same investment maybe things would have improved if BR still ran it.

Privitising the buses certainly hasn't worked though and I cannot believe its taken 25 years for them to do something about it.
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New Mon 12 Apr 10 14:07 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - rtj70
I didn't say BR should still run it - no doubt privatising it has made a difference. But if it was still one company that perhaps even looked after the infrastructure I am sure it would be better. It's not as if there is any competition because it's split into franchises based on area.
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New Mon 12 Apr 10 14:17 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - RattleandSmoke
There is supposed to be competition via the open access scheme but many areas don't have it. I know if I make the journey to Warrington there is three TOCs I could use, Northern, Arriva or East Midlands. All journeys cost the same.

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New Mon 12 Apr 10 15:51 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Bromptonaut
>> There is supposed to be competition via the open access scheme but many areas don't
>> have it. I know if I make the journey to Warrington there is three TOCs
>> I could use Northern Arriva or East Midlands. All journeys cost the same.

The fare for interavailable tickets is set by the main operator. Those between Milton Keynes and London for example are set by London Midland. This does not however prevent both Virgin and London Midland setting much lower fares for those passengers willing to limit themselves to the services of one operator or the other.

Open access services are another story. Before NatEx threw in the towel it was said to be almost impossible to get them to issue an Open First to York cross valid on GC services as well as their own.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 12 Apr 10 at 15:52
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 20:59 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Dr Prunesqualler
Martin Lewis does cover this on his website. See

www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets




Dr P.
Last edited by: Dr Prunesqualler on Thu 15 Apr 10 at 21:00
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 21:34 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Fursty Ferret
Company has booked a taxi from Manchester to Burgess Hill (virtually bleedin' Brighton) on Monday.

"Can't I fly?"
"No, take the taxi."
"OK".

Could virtually book a private jet for posh taxi to London. Will ask him to switch his meter on out of curiosity just to see how much it would have cost me!
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 21:52 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - RattleandSmoke
Last time I got a cabby in London he was telling me a story about a few weeks ago some posh bird (his language) got in his taxi and asked to go Manchester. He said surely you want me to drop you off at Euston the most expensive tickets will only be £200 and you will be there in less than three hours. It will take me at least four hours to drive there.

She replied no I just want you to take me, I haven't got time to mess about with trains. OK It will cost you £350 and I need it up front. When he finally got to Manchester he booked into a cheap hotel and spent the night in Wetherspoons. He said it was the best night ever because he got paid for it.

So London to Manchester can be done £350 off meter so I reckon Brighton to Manchester can be done for £400 off meter. The problem is I am sure the cab will only take cash unless its on account.

As a guide it cost me £11 to get from Picciddilly Station to my house (4 miles away) so say the journey is 260 miles I reckon on the meter that trip will cost £715!!!! And then how will you get back?

I think I would rather take my £15 train it would be quicker too!

Euston to Manchester is officialy two hours and 6 minutes but I have done in less than two hours a couple of times.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Thu 15 Apr 10 at 21:52
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 22:00 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Fursty Ferret
Should have said that a taxi is also booked to bring me back to Manchester 5 days later as well. There's some irony that I'm actually having to drive to Manchester airport and dump the car in the long stay car park in order to catch the taxi in the first place.
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 22:35 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - rtj70
At least the volcanic ash won't stop the taxi.
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 22:52 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Runfer D'Hills
I know someone who reckoned there was a ready supply of volcanic ash in Manchester. He was always a bit alternative though.
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 23:00 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - RattleandSmoke
There is a supply of anything in Manchester if you know the right people!
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New Thu 15 Apr 10 23:02 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Ted

How much do you want, Humpy ? Me and Rats can do you a good deal ( Cash only )

Ted
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New Mon 19 Apr 10 08:02 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Dr Prunesqualler
Looks like your company's astrology department is pretty good - predicting the lack of planes so far in advance
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New Mon 19 Apr 10 08:21 
 Manchester to London via Brighton - tip - Dave_
A minicab would do it for about £1.05 per mile in my experience. Of course it wouldn't be a suited and booted driver in an E class, but there's a fair chance it would be a half competent driver as the lower echelons wouldn't want a long distance job like that. In 2007 I did Bedford to Alderley Edge for £185, Bedford to Swansea for £240 and I had a regular lady who went to Southwold in the summer for a special price of £130 plus lunch each way, she insisted on taking the scenic route not the A14 though.
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Mon 19 Apr 10 at 08:22
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