Heart of Wales Day Circular validity check

[whole diary]

[NickF]

I^m planning to do a 2 Day Wales bash in October; and wanted to check on the validity of the Heart of Wales Day Circular.
On the first day I have a single from Chippenham to Newport.  Then will use the HOW ticket from there to Swansea.  Next I plan to do the HOW line from Swansea to Shrewsbury at 0933, then back on the HOW again arriving in Llanelli at 1752.  My question is although the HOW ticket is marketed a ^circular^ I believe it can be used for unlimited travel on the HOW itself line in any direction.  I just wanted to check before I purchased it that this is correct and I wouldn^t get questioned by a ticket inspector not realising this and thinking that I am not actually doing a circular.  Can anyone confirm?
Thanks in advance.

[bobm]

Not an official source but I have always found the GB^▸ (Great Britain) Rovers site to be accurate

http://www.railrover.org/pages/heart-of-wales-circular-day-ranger.html

The Heart of Wales Circular Day Ranger allows you to make a circular journey from and back to any station located on the lines from Shrewsbury to Cardiff via Hereford and Newport; from Cardiff to Swansea; from Swansea to Llanelli; and from Llanelli to Shrewsbury via the Central Wales Line.

The journey can start and finish at any of the stations on the route and can be made in either direction but must be made in a circular direction. doubling back is not permitted.

Note it is only valid on Arriva Trains Wales services between Newport and Swansea - you can't use FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services.

[NickF]

Thanks bob, but i noticed this on Arriva trains Wales Website:

The Heart of Wales Circular Day Ranger offers you a circular one-day tour with unlimited travel in either direction on the Heart of Wales Line ?

[bobm]

Meanwhile National Rail enquiries says

A circular journey in either direction Cardiff Central-Craven Arms-Shrewsbury-Llandrindod Wells-Llanelli-Swansea-Cardiff Central.

Starting at any station on the route of validity.

Which to me would suggest once you get to Shrewsbury your only option is to Cardiff via Craven Arms.

None of the sites are terribly well worded in my opinion.

[ChrisB]

That's *either* direction, not both!

[JayMac]

My reading of the various sources is that you can make one circular trip as well as/or unlimited travel up and down the HoW^‡(resolve) line. To Shrewsbury and back shouldn't be a problem, but a call to Arriva Trains Wales may be worthwhile to clarify.

Is there further rail travel on day two? If so an Explore South Wales Pass my be worth looking at. Includes bus travel and a host of discount vouchers. http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/ExploreWales/ExploreSouthWalesPass/

[NickF]

Thanks all to your replies.  There certainly seems to be a hell of a lot of ambiguity depending on where you look.
On day 2 I plan to hit the West Wales branches, returning home late in the afternoon.
The South Wales flexi pass looks like it may be the better option (even though I may end up only using the rail validity 2 days out of the 4) as it may work out cheaper than the HOW + West Wales Ranger, plus separate tickets between Llanelli / Carmarthen which the West Wales ranger doesn^t cover.
I did try to call ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) to check validity of various tickets but as soon I realised I was through to an Indian call centre I knew I didn^t have a hope in hells chance of them understanding what I wanted or providing me with an answer. No offence intended to anyone by that.

[ChrisB]

Try emailing them?....

[JayMac]

If the bash is weekdays using the Explore South Wales Pass then you will need a ticket through to Swansea from Chippenham if your day one itinerary stays as planned. The Pass is only valid on trains from 0915 M-F.

[grahame]

I don't think it helps for your particular query, NickF, but don't count on the HoW^‡(resolve) ticket being the cheapest especially over 2 days. 

From Melksham, I found a return ticket to Llanwrtyd Wells offered me the best deal as it's valid via Craven Arms or via Swansea ... and I stayed on the train at Llanwrytd. One train manager chuckling at the ticket selected - when they swapped, the other dour faced and felt I was milking the system.

Note that you could also buy a ticket to Sugar Loaf.   I'm not sure, though, what the rule is about the train having to stop at the end station or whether you can stay on the train and split from outward to return without a stop.   I think all trains call at Sugar Loaf on request, so you could always get them to stop if they need to in order to fulfil the rule.  Cue even more unpopularity with the crew!

[NickF]

Try emailing them?....

No need as I think from the help and assistance already received I am coming to some conclusions as to what to do

If the bash is weekdays using the Explore South Wales Pass then you will need a ticket through to Swansea from Chippenham if your day one itinerary stays as planned. The Pass is only valid on trains from 0915 M-F.

Sure - Already a have an advance for ^10 

--

So I think my plan will be to buy an Explore South Wales pass for ^66 which will mean I have no issues on my up and down leg on the HOW plus will cover me for day two which will to try and cover as much as possible west of Llanelli after my overnight stop there.

I already have another ^10 advance for the return from Swansea on day 2 leaving at 1528. (MrsF insists I return at a sensible time  ), which although the South Wales pass would be valid on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to Newport was cheaper than than using that and buying a single from Newport for ^15.70 

This means my total travel costs will be ^86 for the 2 weekdays (14th / 15th Oct)

Addtionally I have a free afternoon on Friday 9th so if I buy the South Wales Pass valid from this day I may be able to do one of the valleys or something close by.
Unsure if I will be able to utilise the 4th day of validity yet