Platform tickets and trainspotting

[benjamin1945 16,200]

~# 1.........................Romance of meeting on a Railway platform al lah' 'Brief Encounter' gone forever then.........ahh,

[Merthyr Imp 729]

~# 1.........................Romance of meeting on a Railway platform al lah' 'Brief Encounter' gone forever then.........ahh,

But in 'Brief Encounter' they were both travelling by train - but different ones, leading to poignant situations when they had to rush off to separate platforms.

[catfan 14,793]

Two Together or Senior Railcard are good as Bubblewrap say's if you travel after 9.30am.

Rail fares are too complex to understand & suspect that's done for a reason to deter the less "savvy" rail passenger.

Advance purchase tickets can be cheaper if you KNOW on a particular date where you will wanting to travel to. Not much good if a urgent meeting or other occurs at short notice.

Where bus wins nowadays fare wise is the number of fare on NCT only a single or day ticket, so simple !

Also I can't for the life of me understand why a train doesn't stop but fly's through a station when there is plenty of available time for a short stop. The other day a woman getting off the Leicester train from Lincoln at Nottm had to catcg a train back to Carlton,.........................the train she was getting off just passed there without stopping & arrived in Nottm ahead of time !

[Merthyr Imp 729]

Also I can't for the life of me understand why a train doesn't stop but fly's through a station when there is plenty of available time for a short stop. The other day a woman getting off the Leicester train from Lincoln at Nottm had to catcg a train back to Carlton,.........................the train she was getting off just passed there without stopping & arrived in Nottm ahead of time !

Well, trains only stop where they're scheduled to according to the timetable.

Whether more trains should be scheduled to stop at Carlton is another matter for debate.

Presumably in this case the woman was aware the train wasn't due to stop at Carlton and had intended all along to get another train back there from Nottingham. Presumably (again) this worked out quicker for her than getting a later train which DID stop at Carlton.

[catfan 14,793]

My point was that the lady knew the train didn't stop at Carlton, just seemed a bit of a performance not stopping there when the train clearly had plenty of time to stop. The Robin Hood line train doesn't always stop at Bulwell either, so like many other train services.

Successive governments have tried to coax people on to use public transport, obviously they are not doing a good job at it..

[Merthyr Imp 729]

I'm afraid train operation has never worked like that anywhere or at any time.

Taking the example you've given, the first consideration is that even if the train was running early when passing through Carlton there's no guarantee it may still have arrived early at Nottingham given that it's not unknown for trains to be held at signals outside the station waiting for a platform.

Apart from this, the driver could hardly decide to stop at Carlton on the off-chance there might be someone wanting to get off there.

As I said - whether more trains should be scheduled to stop at Carlton (or Bulwell, or anywhere else) is another matter for debate, but trains have to run to timetables. If a train is not scheduled to stop at the station they want to go to you can hardly expect people to travel on it in the hope that it might be running early and make an extra stop.

[FLY2 10,109]

Catfan, I was going to suggest a day out in Worksop, as it's quite an interesting place, especially on market day.

Is Bulwell a request stop, or would I have to go to Nottm first, as I've never been on the RH line yet ?

[catfan 14,793]

It most certainly does FLY !

Been there mesen on it too.

Platform 1. (actually that's the only platform ) !

[FLY2 10,109]

So I presume it stops if I stick my arm out will it.

[catfan 14,793]

Yes, or if it don't it will take your bleddy arm OFF !

[FLY2 10,109]

We'll give it a go one day. I like Worksop.

[Merthyr Imp 729]

FLY2 - Bulwell isn't a request stop. If the train isn't scheduled to stop there it won't, no matter what gestures you may make to the driver!

You can download the timetable from a link on this page:

http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/train-times/printed-timetables/

In my day (pre-trams) all trains on that line stopped at Bulwell. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that they no longer do so because people travelling to and from Nottingham or Hucknall now have the option of the tram.

[catfan 14,793]

Before the tram they ran the same, some stopped & some didn't.

[notty ash 372]

FLY2 - Bulwell isn't a request stop. If the train isn't scheduled to stop there it won't, no matter what gestures you may make to the driver!

You can download the timetable from a link on this page:

http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/train-times/printed-timetables/

In my day (pre-trams) all trains on that line stopped at Bulwell. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that they no longer do so because people travelling to and from Nottingham or Hucknall now have the option of the tram.

It is supposedly due to the tight timings - trains can stop at either Bulwell or Newstead but not both. They generally alternate between the two. When there are potentially leaves on the line (Autumn) it is even more complicated, with some other stations only being served by alternate trains.

[catfan 14,793]

That explains why I can't get a train from Bulwell to Newstead or vice versa.

I would have to get a train from Bulwell to Nottingham & then get a train from Nottm to Newstead. (fare is £1 60) all in.

Return Newstead to Nottm then Nottm to Bulwell !

You couldn't really make this up

[ValuerJim 277]

On the point of fares, we are flying from Southampton early August. The best price I could find for 2 advance tickets, with two senior railcards, from Manchester to Southampton, change at Birmingham, was something like £125.00. I booked two tickets via Euston/Waterloo for £35.00. The journey takes two hours longer, one of which is between the London stations. I got the return tickets at the same price.

[Merthyr Imp 729]

Well, looking at the timetable it might be more straightforward to get a train from Bulwell to Hucknall and change there for Newstead, although there's almost half an hour to wait at Hucknall - maybe an opportunity to sample the delights of Hucknall High Street!

Vice versa of course for Newstead to Bulwell.

Or maybe get a tram from Bulwell to Hucknall and change to the train there?

By the way, I note on the timetable it has the station down as Bulwell (Notts) which seems strange as I'm pretty sure there's no other station of that name anywhere else.

[FLY2 10,109]

I think I'll give Worksop a miss. Thanks chaps.

[Merthyr Imp 729]

The best price I could find for 2 advance tickets, with two senior railcards, from Manchester to Southampton, change at Birmingham, was something like £125.00. I booked two tickets via Euston/Waterloo for £35.00. The journey takes two hours longer, one of which is between the London stations. I got the return tickets at the same price.

Have you tried getting split tickets? It may be even cheaper - although £35 each way seems pretty good.

Maybe you have in fact got this fare by doing that, but if anyone's not aware, it can produce even cheaper fares. Using your journey as an example, it's possible that if you got separate tickets from, say, Manchester to Crewe and Crewe to Euston it may have been cheaper still.

This is the website that explains it all and which you can use to check the fares and buy tickets. Personally I use it just to get the fares but then buy the tickets from another website so I can get cashback.

https://raileasy.trainsplit.com/main.aspx

[notty ash 372]

.For Birmingham-Southampton it might be best to go onto the Crosscountry Website. Some of the deals on there are exclusive to the site and are very good.

[notty ash 372]

That explains why I can't get a train from Bulwell to Newstead or vice versa.

I would have to get a train from Bulwell to Nottingham & then get a train from Nottm to Newstead. (fare is £1 60) all in.

Return Newstead to Nottm then Nottm to Bulwell !

You couldn't really make this up

Get a train to Hucknall and wait for the next one, which will take you to your destination. I think evening trains stop at both as they are only hourly.

[catfan 14,793]

Never thought of that !