Great Western Coffee Shop

Big ask this, but if any group of fare experts can crack it, it's this one...

What's the cheapest fare available from Brighton to Chelmsford arriving before 9.30am on 1 September 2021, willing to return any time after lunch.

Normal adult, no concessions, no railcard etc

£53.31

Out: BTN 0552/ ECR 0701/ NWD 0722/ HHY 0817/ SRA 0843/ CHM 0910
Back: CHM 1409/ SRA 1452/ CLJ 1622/ HHE 1713/ BTN 1727

Not sure how that £53.31 is calculated, Chris. 

I've "worried" this question in a couple of spare moments, Lee, not found anything that makes much sense to cut the £76 anytime day return. Even looked at "before 09:30" meaning "a long time before 09:30" - last train previous day, but that involves leaving Brighton late the previous evening and flips you over to singles; for this flow, singles cost almost as much as day returns, and you end up spending more rather than less.

It's actually £49.30 (the extra is a 'service fee' if you want to buy from the TrainSplit app)

It involves one Advance fare amongst this bunch of splits, and is now longer available for the 1st Sept, but can be got for the 8th....However, the splits are as follows on the trains above.

BTN - GTW Anytime Day single £9.50
GTW - ECR Anytime Day Single £5.70
ECR - Romford Anytime Day Single £6.70 (not London)
Romford - CHM Anytime Day Return £13.60

Romford - CLJ Anytime day single £5.30 (only via Hackney Wick)
CLJ - BTN Advance single £8.50

Many thanks for your suggestion, ChrisB, with bonus points for not going via the Tube which the passenger concerned hates, and to grahame for his input too.