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lankeela | 19:24 Thu 07th Apr 2022 | Travel
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Travel advice please! Need to get from Attleborough to Green Park on Tuesday 3rd May arriving around 10 am and leaving after 4.30. I've been trying to compare train/bus prices and keep going round in circles. I haven't got a senior railcard but wonder if it is worth getting one (have to do the same journey on 26th May). The National Express bus to Victoria doesn't seem to stop at Attleborough now - and by train I could go either from Attleborough via Cambridge to Kings Cross, or from Diss to Liverpool St. What would you advise? Can't seem to find out what off peak times are. Your help would be gratefully received. If going from Diss I would need to park there too.
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Maybe a good reason to ask me, Jim, is because I know that it's always best to try different fare splitting options ;-) So here's the cheapest way to do it, Lankeela . . . Buy a return ticket from Attleborough to Cambridge (£35.80 or £23.60 with a Senior Railcard), travelling out at 0652, and arriving at 0754. Buy a return ticket from Cambridge to Kings Cross,...
23:55 Thu 07th Apr 2022
Give me a bit of time and I might be able to find something better than what's below. (I was out of action on Tuesday with a dodgy back, that left me almost unable to move and then I was up all night last night with a stomach bug, so I'm trying to catch up on loads of tasks at the minute!). However here are a few first thoughts:

The 'official' route (i.e. as found by the National Rail journey planner) is as follows:
Dep Attleborough 0652
Arr Ely 0732
Dep Ely 0744
Arr Kings Cross 0903
Dep Kings Cross 0913
Arr Green Park 0928

. . . returning as follows:
Dep Green Park 1654
Arr Finsbury Park 1707
Dep Finsbury Park 1712
Arr Cambridge 1812
Dep Cambridge 1830
Arr Attleborough 1928

The problem with following that plan though is that you hit peak time fares, so it would cost you £118.50 (or £78.20 with a Senior Railcard). The first service with an off-peak fare via Cambridge doesn't get you into Green Park until 1030. (0748 from Attleborough, connecting at Cambridge North). The fare is £55.90 (or £36.85 with a Senior Railcard).

Give me time to work on anything else and I'll get back to you soon!
Why "For Buenchico?" Do you honestly think that no-one else on this site, yourself included, is capable of Googling?
Good evening, Jim ;-)

Right, I've tried checking whether it would make any sense to travel up to Norwich from Attleborough (to save you driving to Diss and paying for parking there). However it doesn't seem to help :(

If you go by Diss, you'll need to factor in about a fiver in fuel and £7.50 for a day's parking when looking at the figures below. You should also note that Greater Anglia hasn't officially confirmed its timetables on that route yet, although I'd expect that the trains shown below should run as provisionally shown on the National Rail website. (Check a few days beforehand though, just to be sure!):

To confuse things somewhat, the cheapest way of travelling on that route is to buy an Anytime Single fare out and an Advance Single back. Your options are as follows:

If you leave Diss at 0724, you change at Stratford (not Liverpool Street), arriving at 0853 and departing at 0900. That gets you to Green Park at 0926. The Anytime Single fare for that journey is £74.20 (or £48.95 using a Senior Railcard).

Leaving Diss at 0744 requires you to change at Liverpool Street, arriving at 0926 and departing at 0941. That gets you to Green Park at 0959. The Anytime Single fare is £73.60 (or £48.55 with a Senior Railcard).

Coming back, leaving Green Park at 1627 gets to Liverpool Street at 1645, to catch the 1700 train to Diss, arriving at 1822. Somewhat oddly, although there's not a Standard Advance fare available for that journey, there is a First Class Advance one on offer, at £40 (or £26.40 with a Senior Railcard).

Leaving Green Park half an hour later, at 1657, gets you to Liverpool Street at 1715, to catch the 1730 Diss service, arriving at 1902. The Advance fare (Standard class this time) is £48.00 (or £31.65 with a Senior Railcard).

So, assuming that
(a) you bought a Senior Railcard ;
(b) getting to Green Park at 0959 isn't cutting it too fine for you ; and
(c) you could guarantee to be able to leave Green Park by 1627 (because Advance Tickets are only valid on the specific National Rail trains that are stated on them), your cheapest total fare would be £48.55 + £26.40 = £74.95. (It's only 40p dearer to get the earlier outbound train). However, by the time you've added on your fuel and parking costs, you might be looking at a total around £88, which is a tenner dearer than going from Attleborough, via Cambridge.

All of which means that I've just wasted my time looking at all that lot! Oh well, c'est la vie ;-)

A Senior Railcard costs £30 for one year (either at a rail station or online) or £70 for three years (online only).

Links:
National Rail journey planner:
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
Senior Railcard:
https://www.senior-railcard.co.uk/
Good old Chris, ever helpful.
Yep, have Google, will travel.
Maybe a good reason to ask me, Jim, is because I know that it's always best to try different fare splitting options ;-)

So here's the cheapest way to do it, Lankeela . . .

Buy a return ticket from Attleborough to Cambridge (£35.80 or £23.60 with a Senior Railcard), travelling out at 0652, and arriving at 0754.

Buy a return ticket from Cambridge to Kings Cross, departing 0809 and arriving at 0903. (£47.30 or £27.50 with a Senior Railcard). You can buy that ticket at Attleborough, so that you won't have to queue at Cambridge or, simpler, you can just buy your tickets online.

Use a contactless debit card to travel between Kings Cross and Green Park (£2.50 each way).

Arrive back at Kings Cross in time to catch the 1712 departure, arriving at Cambridge at 1805. Connect with the 1830 departure to Attleborough, arriving at 1928.

Total fare without a railcard = £35.80 + £47.30 + £5.00 = £88.10
Total fare with a railcard = £27.50 + £23.60 + £5.00 = £56.10
(So it's definitely worth buying a railcard, especially as you'll be doing the journey twice).
JIM,CHRIS has past experience on the railways and be honest, how long would it have taken you to go into the same amount of detail and then to type it up?
Wow Chris, that took some effort to type all that up x
When it comes to "Google", most of us just snorkel around the surface of it; however, Buenchico, is able to don a full scuba outfit and really delve into its depths and extract some amazing information.


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Thanks Chris, no wonder I was going round in circles.

To Jim: the reason I addressed it to Buenchico is because not only did he give me accurate advice on travelling in Finland when I would otherwise have missed my plane connection, he is one of the few on here who would know anything about parking at Diss!
^^^ I'm prepared to bet, Lankeela, that I'm the only person here who's actually measured Diss station car park! (It was one of the odder jobs that I got called on to do when I worked for Anglia Railways).

;-)
You measured a car park??
"how long would it have taken you to go into the same amount of detail and then to type it up?"

Exactly the same amount of time to copy and paste - no typing up necessary.
Jim, Buen did not C&P that post.
Mornington crescent...I win!
Leave him alone Jim, Chris is an absolute diamond when it comes to travel options.

However he might have included driving to Stevenage as an option !!!
Question Author
"I'm prepared to bet, Lankeela, that I'm the only person here who's actually measured Diss station car park!" Ah but have you ever spent the night sleeping there, having been out on the town before the days of mobile phones or spent a couple of hours in the station master's room in front of the fire on Christmas Eve waiting for your lift from Brockdish? As a teenager Diss was the hub of the universe!
Chris, would be my first “go to “re travelling.
I’m sorry you are unwell Chris..
Yes I'm sorry too Chris. I hope you are feeling better soon. Your little lodgers need you and so do we. xx

OOps sorry, I know you don't do sentiment LOL.
>>> As a teenager Diss was the hub of the universe!

Good grief, Lankeela! I didn't realise that anyone could have a childhood which was that deprived ;-)

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