On 22/10/2012 14:47, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 14:13:40 on Mon, 22 Oct
2012, Mizter T remarked:
It's not a particularly fun journey either by train or car (and
traffic/parking in Oxford is even worse than Cambridge).

Park and ride.

Got the t-shirt. It adds about an hour to the round-trip time.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that anywhere with P&R is only
worth visiting if it's either essential, or one can arrive by train.

But that's what I'm sure the residents think too, so it's a bit of a
win-win situation.

Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

In message , at 15:12:35 on Mon, 22 Oct
2012, Mizter T remarked:

Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

Lots of people over a barrel, I'm afraid.
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 15:12:35 on Mon, 22 Oct 2012,
Mizter T remarked:

Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

Lots of people over a barrel, I'm afraid.
--
Roland Perry

That is no doubt true. However, the capacity of those Park and Rides is
such that I shudder to think where they would all park in Oxford if they
weren't there. Mind you I know people who use the P and R on the A40
towards London to park and take the Oxford Tube (or whatever it's called
now) to London. A similar situation applies in Bath and several other
places I know. Even somewhere as small (in relative terms) and
"untouristy" as Taunton has a P & R and it works rather well although your
point about journey times is well made - just need to plan in advance.

On 22/10/2012 15:40, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 15:12:35 on Mon, 22 Oct
2012, Mizter T remarked:

Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

Lots of people over a barrel, I'm afraid.

You're suggesting that none of the users are making a discretionary journey?

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 15:12:35 on Mon, 22 Oct
2012, Mizter T remarked:

Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

Lots of people over a barrel, I'm afraid.

Nottingham's P+R tram service from Phoenix Park works very well to the
city centre. Thanks to the 50mph off-street speed limit, which extends
halfway into the city, it's nearly as quick as the car at most times of
day, and it's cheaper than commercial parking. And unlike most P&R's
it runs until after midnight so you can stay for a meal or a pint.

Nick
--
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996

On 22/10/2012 15:12, Mizter T wrote:

On 22/10/2012 14:47, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 14:13:40 on Mon, 22 Oct
2012, Mizter T remarked:
It's not a particularly fun journey either by train or car (and
traffic/parking in Oxford is even worse than Cambridge).

Park and ride.

Got the t-shirt. It adds about an hour to the round-trip time.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that anywhere with P&R is only
worth visiting if it's either essential, or one can arrive by train.

But that's what I'm sure the residents think too, so it's a bit of a
win-win situation.

Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

I don't know about Oxford (although I used it a year ago), but one
problem my family always moan about is P&R schemes which stop running
early in the evening, so they are okay for workers/shoppers but useless
for leisure travellers who might want to eat out. York has been
mentioned as having had this issue.

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

On Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:40:19 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 15:12:35 on Mon, 22 Oct
2012, Mizter T remarked:

Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

Lots of people over a barrel, I'm afraid.

What's the alternative? Massive, choking traffic jams or demolishing
tracts of the City Centre to create massive car parks?

then demolish some more to widen the roads to get the cars in and out.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(Graham Harrison) wrote:

If your main interest is to stay in Cambridge so that you can visit
London you must understand how our railway works. If you want to
arrive in London before 1014 it will cost you at least £32.40. If
you take the train that arrives Liverpool St at 1014 the fare is £19
and you can also buy a Travelcard (which covers both your journey to
and from Cambridge as well as buses, trains and underground in
London) for £22.80 but trains to Kings X still cost £32.20. The
journey takes about 1 hour (slightly more to Liverpool St) each way
so staying in Cambridge to visit London could be expensive and time
consuming if you make several trips.

Cambridge Any Permitted Cheap Day Returns are valid from the 09:20 to King's
Cross and cost £22.20 without a railcard discount so the Liverpool St only
option isn't much cheaper, given how much slower it is. It arrives at King's
Cross at 10:14.

If travelling towards Liverpool St and using the tube it is often easier to
change to the Victoria Line at Tottenham Hale. The line from there to
Liverpool St is so speed restricted the Victoria Line is quicker to the West
End. One benefit of the Liverpool St route is that it has First Class day
returns that are cheaper than the Any Permitted Standard Class fare.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

If you wanted to use buses in Cambridge operate most of the local
buses plus some longer distance ones. Their tickets are often quite
good value.

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/East-tic.aspx

Cambridge County Council also have an "all operators" Multibus ticket
that gives unlimited travel for a day on most bus services in
Cambridgeshire. Note that Multibus is not valid on Stagecoach's
Cambridge Busway services.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/tra...ticketypes.htm


Happy travelling.

The main ticket option within Cambridge City and nearby villages is the
Dayrider which is usually good value.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 22/10/2012 18:38, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 22/10/2012 15:12, Mizter T wrote:
[snip]
Oxford P&R seems pretty well patronised (the car parks and the buses).

I don't know about Oxford (although I used it a year ago), but one
problem my family always moan about is P&R schemes which stop running
early in the evening, so they are okay for workers/shoppers but useless
for leisure travellers who might want to eat out. York has been
mentioned as having had this issue.

Agreed, but in this regard Oxford P&R seems fairly decent - see the
second table on this page for journeys starting in the city cent
http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/park-and-ride-bus-information

(To summarise, last buses are around 11.30pm, except on Sundays when
they're around 7pm.)

There's also the Oxford Tube (all night) and X90 (runs until late) from
Oxford city centre to the Thornhill P&R site - I had thought a return
bus ticket from Thornhill on the 400 P&R service would then be valid on
the X90 for late services (both run by the Oxford Bus Co.), but there's
nowt on OBC's website about that he
http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/main.php?page_id=22

Of course, to my London mentality the idea that the last bus might
depart before midnight is something of an anathema.

Anyhow, fair play to Oxfordshire CC for providing genuinely useful info
on their website (though the triple asterisked footnote next to route
500 to Water Eaton in the above mentioned table is unfortunately not
explained).