Through fares to Dartmouth available via GWR - Summer 2022

[whole diary]

[RailCornwall]

Great Western Railway is inviting customers to take a unique journey to Dartmouth this summer – via train, steam railway and boat.

The train operator has teamed up with the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company to offer a through ticket direct to Dartmouth.

Sightseers can travel by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) train to Paignton, before connecting with the steam train to Kingswear, and then the foot passenger ferry service to Dartmouth.

https://news.gwr.com/news/dartmouth-gets-a-spot-on-national-rail-map-as-gwr-offers-unique-ticket-to-picturesque-town

https://www.gwr.com/stations-and-destinations/travel-inspiration/heritage-railways/dartmouth-through-ticket

[Ralph Ayres]

A bit odd that the destination has to be "Kingswear (for Dartmouth)" when the ticket takes you all the way to Dartmouth including the ferry (which isn't free).  I'm reserving judgement on how useful it will be until it's clear if the through ticket is reliably no more expensive than booking the National Rail leg separately, particularly taking into account Railcards, children and other discounts (all very likely for passengers heading for a tourist line).

[grahame]

Bookings are available from Monday (13 June) with Tuesday 14 June the first day of travel and will remain on sale until Sunday 30 October when the Steam service ceases for the winter. Tickets are only available when purchased in advance. Bookings close 23.59 the day before travel and reservations are mandatory.

Well - I tried to find them and failed - nothing from Paddington, Melksham or Exeter St Davids for a variety of dates.  Perhaps they're going to be on sale later today?

[JayMac]

Bookings are available from Monday (13 June) with Tuesday 14 June the first day of travel and will remain on sale until Sunday 30 October when the Steam service ceases for the winter. Tickets are only available when purchased in advance. Bookings close 23.59 the day before travel and reservations are mandatory.

Well - I tried to find them and failed - nothing from Paddington, Melksham or Exeter St Davids for a variety of dates.  Perhaps they're going to be on sale later today?

I've just tried a sample jpurney and been able to take a booking as far as payment. See attached.

[Red Squirrel]

Interesting that you can book to Kingswear (KWR) from the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website, but this station does not exist according the the National Rail Enquiries site.

I spent a week in Kingswear earlier this year. It's a lovely spot; the only disappointment was the steam railway!

When we visited, trains were only stopping at Paignton and Kingswear and all tickets were for timed trains. There's very little flexibility on times or fares - the round trip includes the ferry whether you want it or not. We were told that single fares were available, but these were almost the same price as the round trip.

The concession fare is £19.60, a 35p (thirty-five new pence) saving on the full fare...

It's a lovely little line. Can't say I'll rush back though.

[Ralph Ayres]

Fell at the first hurdle. Selected 1 adult + 1 child and was offered tickets for 2 adults, though that wasn't obvious (except for the high total price) without clicking a small drop-down arrow. Selecting just a child gets a response that no journeys can be found. Based on that I didn't bother with anything more complex like a Railcard. Can't say I'm surprised as the two organisations have very different arrangements for child age, percentage discount, Railcard acceptance etc so it would either need to be quite generous or ask lots of extra questions. I do think it might end up being a bit of a pointless gimmick. Back to the drawing board I think!


...and is a 35p (sic) discount for over-65s that I see is offered on the steam railway really going to attract much trade?

[JayMac]

There are no Railcard discounts. Railcard holders will be better off booking seperate tickets.

Also of note is the closure of intermediate stops between Paignton and Kingswear and the withdrawal of a rover style ticket.

[Mark A]

and the withdrawal of a rover style ticket.

Breathing a sigh of relief this morning as a too-long and increasingly off-topic post of mine on trains to Dartmouth vanished before hitting the forum.

Fired up by investigating the fares integration, and the discovery that a 1st anytime return Bath to Paignton is priced at £230 cf anytime standard return at £54, the post disappeared round a bend on the, I suspect, well worn trail leading to the discussion "We completely understand how it seemed a good idea at the time to truncate the branch, but Kingswear should now be part of the national network".

Update: recalling that the Coffeeshop forum software *never ever ever loses posts*, found mine lurking unposted in a tab, pasted below...

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Starting from Bath Spa, so a distance that's around 130 miles each way by road. Wishing there was a lazy rail distance calculator out there, as rail will be more direct.

Bath Spa - Kingswear: £72.60 peak and £63.90 off peak.

(Bath Spa - Paignton is £54.20 peak and £46.50 off peak.)

Ah, just noticed that Bath Spa - Paignton is, somehow, £230, which for some reason isn't proportionate to the standard fare.

Also, while I can see why it would have happened at the time, it was careless of BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) to allow Dartmouth to fall off the national network. Road connections, a bit gruesome, and do the ferries offer an advantage to the railway? The river crossings must go a little way to motivate people to travel without their vehicles.

On the negative side, Dartmouth's population, even with Kingswear, around 7000 between them, and most of those up a hill - measly, though Churston could pull in more, and Brixham's linkable by bus.

But on the plus side, a cracking destination for visitors.

*Switches off public transport utopia mode*

For a day trip to Dartmouth, there's a worse option than to take the train to Totnes, walk to the quay, boat down to Dartmouth, ferry, and back via Kingswear. Now trying to recall where the boat landing is in Totnes, last time it was raining so hard that its surroundings were indecipherable.

Mark

[grahame]

Update: recalling that the Coffeeshop forum software *never ever ever loses posts*, found mine lurking unposted in a tab, pasted below...

Thanks, and close to correct.
1. Very easy to preview and not post
2. If you say "post" but there have been other posts in the same thread while you compose, you'll get a warning and have to confirm your post. If you don't confirm, it just gives you a preview

We HAVE lost posts in the past when the database or server has crashed and we're had to restore from backups; very rare, but it has happened.

[LiskeardRich]

Liskeard to Kingswear 1 adult 1 child £67.20 return
Liskeard to Paignton 1 adult 1 child £12.85 with my family railcard (22.80 without rail card)

Would 1 adult and 1 child really cost £55 for a round trip Paignton to Kingswear. Nope it’s £19.95 adult and £13.50 child. Total £33.45 plus  the non railcard fare of £22.80 is still only £56.25

There is a major failing in the through  fares. The Convenience of a through fare adds over an extra £10 to the cost.

(All off peak fares)

[JayMac]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) fail.