Great Western Coffee Shop

Riddle ... what costs 18.70 from Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster, but 31.00 from  Chippenham and Melksham?

Answer ... a single journey this afternoon / evening to Farnborough Main.

Hmmm, and how much is a single from Melksham to Westbury?

2.90  ;D

But unless you are "in the know" you will end up paying 31.00 rather that 21.60.

Plymouth - Bristol return ^46.00
Plymouth - Exeter & Exeter - Bristol returns ^30.00

Is it a similar situation for Paignton to Bristol to, splitting journey at Exeter?

As i am travelling to Paignton Tuesday, and have yet to buy my ticket

Plymouth - Taunton & Taunton - Bristol off peak day returns:  ^26
If you are only going for the day and you don't want to book in advance it's cheaper to split at Taunton.

even better, thanks!

Thankyou

As I said above, it's actually cheaper to split at Taunton:  PLY - TAU off peak day return:  ^15.60.  TAU - BRI off peak day return:  ^10.40.  Total of ^26.

My bad Zo^, I've removed my rather convoluted post re PLY-BRI double splitting. I thought I was quite well versed in the arcane art of fare splitting. Turns out that I'm still trumped occasionally.  :D Thanks for pointing out the ^26. I've been double splitting for years on that particular journey.

try splitting at tivvy as thats the border of the devon fair zone (on the ranger anyway)

No, Taunton is cheaper. It's Savers from Tiverton to Bristol

ahh cool, was just curious i couldnt check myself for  some reason the fgw site keeps crashing on me

When i go to cardiff, i always split it Didcot Parkway to Bath Spa, Bath Spa to Cardiff Central.  It works out a hell of a lot cheaper.  It's madness really.

From where?

But for that journey it takes a fair bit longer than a direct train. The real anomalies are when you can catch the same train and save a fortune.

Here's another great fare anomaly (or rip off if you prefer)

Want to get to Birmingham NS from Exeter SD before 1200 on a weekday, returning up to 1 month later? Then NRES and TOCs will quote you ^123.00 for a  Standard Class Anytime Return (SOR).

Split the journey at Bristol and Cheltenham and you save over ^50

EXD-BRI (SOR) ^26.60
BRI-CNM (SOR) ^19.60
CNM-BHM (SOR) ^26.50
Total: ^72.60.

It don't end there....if you are coming back the same day you can buy Off Peak Day Returns (CDRs) from BRI-CNM after 0830 and CNM-BHM after 0930. So If you catch the 0743 XC service from EXD you can get a day return fare to BHM for:

EXD-BRI (SOR) ^26.50
BRI-CNM (CDR) ^7.40
CNM-BHM (CDR) ^18.00*
Total ^51.90

*XC set fare. So their petty CDR restrictions means no return between 1530 and 1815. The Off Peak Return (SVR) is ^19.60 and is valid on any return train.

I use this example to highlight what a complex system we currently have. A system that hides information from the public, overcharges the unwary or those 'not in the know' and generally treats the passenger as a cash cow. Even the publically available Avantix fares CD-ROM is full of errors and omissions when it comes to ticket restrictions. These restrictions form part of the contract between the TOC and the passenger, yet to get access to them the passenger has to buy the CD-ROM! Oh and don't say 'ask at the station'.  Some Ticket office staff are often in the dark as much as the passenger when it comes to what ticket's valid when. TVMs are even worse in giving accurate validity and you can't buy split tickets from them at all. 21st Century? Pah!