Complicated Journey - Help!

lufcgirl

I've just found out I have a job interview on Thursday in Manchester at Old Trafford, and I'll be travelling from Durham.
Now I need to split the journeys up into stages because it's not just as simple as a return...so it goes like this.

1) I need to get from Durham to Manchester (Old Trafford) by 10.45am
a) I get a train...but which station in Manchester do I get off at?
b) How do I get to Old Trafford from given station

2) After the interview, I'm going to fly straight to Dublin or Belfast to see OH. So journey back from either is a flight to Newcastle.
a) Any ideas which airports are cheapest to fly from in this area?
b) How to get to Manchester Airport/Liverpool/Any other place with cheap flights to Dublin/Belfast from Old Trafford after interview.
I'd need to be at the airport no later than 6pm for either, and looking for cheapest fares possible!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

terryya

When you buy your train ticket ask for one to old trafford rather than just Manc as you'll then be able to use it on the tram which stops next to the cricket ground and is about 5 walk to football ground. (You can't select this when using trainline.com etc. but can do it no porblem at stations) Trams go from either Victoria or Piccadily, but if you're coming from NE than your train will more than likely go to Piccadily anyway.

Don't know about the cheapest flights but you can get a train to Manc airport from Piccadily very easily or get a train and bus to Liverpool airport.

omelette451

terryya wrote: »

When you buy your train ticket ask for one to old trafford rather than just Manc as you'll then be able to use it on the tram

Yes if you buy it last-minute at the train station, but if you do the sensible thing and buy an advance ticket this won't be possible (TransPennine advance tickets aren't available with connections). Splitting and changing at York gives you a fare of about £15, but book soon as you have limited flexibility with your timings. The walk-on single fare is £43 (all without Railcard, less if you've got one).

How to go on from Piccadilly depends where exactly you need to go. Do you mean Old Trafford as a locality, Old Trafford Cricket Ground or Old Trafford Football Club? You can walk to most places locally from the Metrolink (tram) stops but it may be easier to get a bus - put your destination's postcode into the journey planner (go through the GMPTE website) and it will tell you. You'll probably arrive at Piccadilly station but if you get a train going to Victoria that's fine too.

For flights, you can use either Manchester or Liverpool airports. There's probably a bus straight to Manchester Airport from Old Trafford but if not it's an easy train ride from Oxford Road or Piccadilly. There are buses from Piccadilly Gardens direct to Liverpool airport (£5-7) but it may be easier to get the train (get one from Oxford Road, Deansgate or Piccadilly that stops at Liverpool South Parkway, from where there is an easy bus connection to the airport; through tickets are available).

I'm not going to do the flight times/fares leg-work for you, but airlines you should try are...
Liverpool - Belfast City, Ryanair
Liverpool - Belfast Intl, easyJet
Liverpool - Dublin, Ryanair
Manchester - Dublin, Aer Lingus and Ryanair
Manchester - Belfast Intl, bmibaby
Manchester - Belfast City, flybe

lufcgirl

How long does it take roughly from Manchester to Liverpool airport by train or bus? I'm taking a flight from Liverpool on the evening so thats great

I've found flights, thanks for the help with the airlines running, thats all I needed.

omelette451

lufcgirl wrote: »

How long does it take roughly from Manchester to Liverpool airport by train or bus? I'm taking a flight from Liverpool on the evening so thats great
I've found flights, thanks for the help with the airlines running, thats all I needed.

You're welcome.

The bus from Manchester city centre to the airport takes just over an hour (http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/serviceInformation.aspx?id=2827 for times) and travels straight down the motorway. There's also a terravision coach service that goes the same way but I'm not sure about frequencies or departure times. The train from Oxford Road to Liverpool South Parkway takes 34 minutes (express, 1xhourly, also calls at Piccadilly) or 51 minutes (stopping train, 2xhourly, also calls Deansgate for tram connection); the bus from LSP to the airport takes 10 mins and runs every five minutes or so.