Manchester to Dundee

i_wanna_save_money!

I was wondering if anyone knew if the train ticket from Manchester to Dundee could be split. I am currently coming up with just over £119 for 2 adults one child (return) on a family railcard. Any help appriciated

Livingthedream

Try spliting at either Edinburgh or Glasgow, if possible use Transpennine Express to travel from Manchester Pic to one of the above stations as their cheap advance singles don't sell out as quick as Virgin trains'.

Glasgow requires either a 5min walk or a bus trip (free) to go from Central to Queens St stations

pogofish

Yes, Edinburgh - Haymarket usually IIRC. You can get all the northbound trains there as well. First Scotrail has/had a cheap return deal to Dundee & IIRC, Cross Country services through Haymarket were reasonable once.

I have also found that booking through the First/Scotrail site can yeild a better range of fares compared to other providers & they have a shorter standby minimum period than most as well.

i_wanna_save_money!

ok I was wondering if someone could help me if they have a spare moment I am going to book tickets today for Manchester to Dundee, for 2 adults, 1 child with a family railcard. (RETURN)

If I book Man-Dundee it costs £119.65.

If I book Man-Edinburgh haymarket, the Edin-Dundee, it would cost £88.55, and £39.15, so £127.70 in total.

Is this right as I assumed I would get the fares cheaper by splitting the ticket or is that not always the case.

Hope someone can help, thanks X

dzug1

Splitting is not a panacea - it doesn't always work out cheaper.

It should also not be the first resort - advance purchase SINGLES each way (NOT returns if that's all you've been looking for) are usually better where available. When they've gone, or don't exist, splitting will work on some routes but not on others. It depends which train company is setting the fares

omelette451

If you post your dates, perhaps we could help?

i_wanna_save_money!

omelette451 wrote: »

If you post your dates, perhaps we could help?

Well, no fixed dates as such - just during the easter hols. Kids are off from school 3rd April until 20th April. I was looking to go for a week(ish), and the dates I have been using to get ticket quotes were 7th til the 14th. These dates do not have to be set in stone as we are staying with family.

Thanks very much for offering to help!

omelette451

Well I've had a play and I've come up with a few options. All these are available on your dates but there is much greater availability if you do Wed-Wed instead (i.e. 8th-15th). The fares are for two adults and one child with a family railcard.

MAN-EDI £27.10 + EDI-DEE £15.10
DEE-EDI £15.10 + EDI-MAN £21
total £78 ish

or

MAN-GLC £15.10 + GLQ-DEE £9.05
DEE-GLQ £9.05 + GLC-MAN £18.10
total £51 ish
This is the absolute cheapest I found it, but it involves times you and/or the child may find somewhat inconvenient (leaving MAN at 0633 and returning fairly late), so you may wish to pay a bit more for a more convenient time. In this case the above would read MAN-GLC £27.20 and GLC-MAN £23.70 (for this last one you need to buy two separate tickets GLC-PRE and PRE-MAN); the total would therefore be something like £68.

Obviously these are all single tickets, so there would be no problem going one way via Edinburgh and the other via Glasgow if it works out best. Obviously too you may wish to look at the timings - the outward parts will be fine, but to get the cheapest fares on the return journey you need to come back in the evening, which may or may not be a problem for you depending on where exactly you live. Finally, make sure you use the nxec website to search - it's much simpler and clearer than others.