We’re extremely pre-occupied with train travel in Manchester, and with the amount of train drama we have, it’s not hard to understand. So, perhaps it’s a bit of a surprise to hear that the cheapest train ticket in Britain is for a journey in Greater Manchester. At just 70p, Britain’s cheapest train ticket buys a nine-minute, six-mile journey on a Transport for Wales (TfW) train from Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport.
A standard anytime ticket covering the six miles of rail travel between Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport costs £4.90, but with five rail firms competing between the two stations, you could cover the same distance, non-stop for one-seventh of the price.
Northern Rail typically offers Manchester-Stockport (and a wide range of other short journeys) for a flat £2 – the same as the Bee Network bus fare. But TfW appears to have decided to try to capture as much of the market as possible with a fare of just 70p each way on many of its once-an-hour trains. While it is an advance ticket, there should be no problem buying tickets a few hours before departure, and Railcard holders can save a further 25p, taking the cost down to 45p.
Obviously, if you live or work in Stockport, you’re probably already taking advantage of this perk, much to the dismay of people coming from other parts of Greater Manchester who can pay over £10 per day, but what can the rest of us aim for to experience the cheapest train ticket in Britain?
Why not pay a visit to the Victorian market hall, slap bang in the town centre? Pick up fresh food, textiles, ribbon, tools or a cup of coffee, and enjoy a stroll around the historical building. You can hop across the road to the gorgeous St Mary’s Parish Church and take a walk around the grounds, and continue onto the cobbles, popping in and out of the old town shops. If you just fancy doing something different, Stockport offers a great day out, and at just 70p from Piccadilly, you can’t go wrong!
Transport for Wales also offers the cheapest advance deals from Manchester to two Cheshire stations: Wilmslow for £2 and Crewe for £3.80. The UK’s most expensive one-way rail ticket is a first class single from Penzance in Cornwall to Thurso on Scotland’s north coast, via London with a whopping fare of £500.10. A traveller with a railcard could shuttle between Manchester and Stockport 1,111 times for the same cost – madness!