Fares Fair Quiz Question

[whole diary]

[eightf48544]

With the lockdown i've been setting the odd (some say very odd) quiz quearition for SWRS^» (Slough and Windsor Railway Society - about).

Between what two stations 8m 12c apart by dierect rail line does it cost a minimum of £20.80 and take a minimum of 1hr 28mon?

[grahame]

With the lockdown i've been setting the odd (some say very odd) quiz quearition for SWRS^» (Slough and Windsor Railway Society - about).

Between what two stations 8m 12c apart by dierect rail line does it cost a minimum of £20.80 and take a minimum of 1hr 28mon?

I can't answer you question ... but I offer you four that I looked up while I was waiting for a meeting this morning (assuming National Rail trains)

Chathill to Berwick-upon-Tweed
South Ruislip to South Greenford
Patchway to Bristol Parkway
Tamworth to Polesworth

[eightf48544]

Just in North Eastern territory from South.

[martyjon]

With the lockdown i've been setting the odd (some say very odd) quiz quearition for SWRS^» (Slough and Windsor Railway Society - about).

Between what two stations 8m 12c apart by dierect rail line does it cost a minimum of £20.80 and take a minimum of 1hr 28mon?

I can't answer you question ... but I offer you four that I looked up while I was waiting for a meeting this morning (assuming National Rail trains)

Chathill to Berwick-upon-Tweed
South Ruislip to South Greenford
Patchway to Bristol Parkway
Tamworth to Polesworth

Pewsey to Bedwyn

[grahame]

With the lockdown i've been setting the odd (some say very odd) quiz quearition for SWRS^» (Slough and Windsor Railway Society - about).

Between what two stations 8m 12c apart by dierect rail line does it cost a minimum of £20.80 and take a minimum of 1hr 28mon?

Pewsey to Bedwyn

I did wonder ... but it's £7.50 return, £6.30 off peak return.

Direct trains at 06:41 and 07:19 from Pewsey, returning at 19:18 from Bedwyn, 8 or 9 minute journey time.
I don't think there's a weekend service.
I have to wonder what the "Off Peak" fare is for. Is there an easement for doubling back somewhere?

[stuving]

The obvious way to produce such a case is a line with no passenger service over it, though some may raise "does that count as a direct railway line?" questions. For example, Bicester-Bletchley, which is similar but further and costs more and takes longer, and is complicated by the lack of a platform on that line at Bletchley and the lack of through tickets for the fastest journey!

[eightf48544]

Stuving is on the right lines no direct train service. This journey involves two changes to complete. You even get a choice of where to make the second change.

I also had a look at buses, most peculiar, one took over an hour and included a train journey to a nearby station not one of the ones in the question.

[grahame]

Stuving is on the right lines no direct train service. This journey involves two changes to complete. You even get a choice of where to make the second change.

I also had a look at buses, most peculiar, one took over an hour and included a train journey to a nearby station not one of the ones in the question.

I was looking at something like Knottingley to Doncaster, but it doesn't quite fit the latest hints.

[eightf48544]

Right area.

First change is Leeds going North

[grahame]

Right area.

First change is Leeds going North

Now looking at huge untapped passenger flows  such as Glasshoughton to Sherburn in Elmet - not quite reaching the high cost you quote and perhaps slightly longer distance - but an awful journey by rail, change at Leeds and then either Selby or Church Fenton.

[stuving]

Right area.

First change is Leeds going North

Ah - so that'll be between Sherburn-in-Elmet and Castleford. That line is pretty busy, but with goods trains - evidently none of the passenger trains arriving at Castleford can think of anywhere worth going to that's in the same direction.

[eightf48544]

Right area.

First change is Leeds going North

Ah - so that'll be between Sherburn-in-Elmet and Castleford. That line is pretty busy, but with goods trains - evidently none of the passenger trains arriving at Castleford can think of anywhere worth going to that's in the same direction.

Spot on Stuving. 2nd change can be York or Selby.

Now looking at huge untapped passenger flows  such as Glasshoughton to Sherburn in Elmet - not quite reaching the high cost you quote and perhaps slightly longer distance - but an awful journey by rail, change at Leeds and then either Selby or Church Fenton.

Near miss Grahame.

The passenger services round the maze of lines in South Yorkshire are very interesting. One of the bizairre things is that Knottingly doesn't have any paltforms on the Doncaster line so GC^» (Great Central Railway - link to heritage line) trains from London can't serve the town.

[TonyN]

Not sure what the dreaded routing guide makes of this but NRE^‡(resolve) is totaly confused.

The 09:33 train shown as £20.80 consists of 2 tickets CFD to Selby and Selby to SIE but the 11:04 also via Selby shows as 1 ticket. Then for the 11:33 the route is via York with no ticket and the 12:33 is also via York with a ticket available. both these journeys use Cross country Leeds to York so its not a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) restriction.

Looking at BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) Fares.com

The via york ticket is not shown but a cheaper ticket is but may have a route problem.

No wonder people don't travel by train.

[grahame]

Not just the time taken, but the fares ... train travel is for mass transit, and I can't imagine strong flows to Sherburn-in-Elmet from Castleford, let alone Leeds.   The very fact there's no direct service from Leeds to a place that's not all that far from there and the fares are a mess is a bit of a pointer.   

Looking at other train journeys in England, Wales and Scotland (and there is no direct railway in these cases, though there used to be in 2 cases), rail journeys would - I suggest - be most likely made only by the people who were travelling for the pleasure of the journey as well as (perhaps) for the destination.

£61.50 single (4 hrs 20 mins by train) - 19.5 miles by road
£74.80 single (6 hrs 20 mins by train) - 49 miles by road
£31.30 single (3 hrs 30 mins by train) - 40 miles by road

Sense might come in these cases by the offering of bus options too on ticket booking sites, especially now that buses and trains all seem to be much more directly specified by H M Government.

[stuving]

To be fair to "the system", the £11.90 single and £18.00 day return fares are on offer if you ask the OJP^▸ (Online Journey Planner) for journeys in September. That's via Leeds and Church Fenton, so presumably the current timetable (still suffering from Covid-19) has removed some required service via Church Fenton.