Morecambe to London

= Southbound schedules = There are quite a few possible route options. This route goes through the middle of the Peak District, a particularly scenic area. It would be possible instead to go through the Potteries and Birmingham, and maybe even get to zone 1 the same day.

This itinerary is for a typical weekday; Saturday times are similar, but Sundays are not. (In particular, the X60 and X61 do not run on Sundays any more.) Most of the buses are normal buses, but a few (notably the Transpeak) are more like coaches (but reservations aren't needed or, as far as I know, accepted). This itinerary hasn't been tested so please check before travelling.

Unfortunately single fares on UK buses are not usually advertised. Day passes are, but these tend to be restricted to single operators, and many of the links are operated by smaller companies that aren't covered by these passes. A particularly useful one is offered by Stagecoach to cover the Leicester to Luton segment; Morecambe to Manchester is also probably cheaper with a pass than by paying cash, especially on Saturdays (or the rest of the week if travelling in the opposite direction).

There are other ways into central London (e.g. alighting the 321 at Watford Junction at 2201 and using London Overground, or even normal London buses); this is probably the easiest option though.

Rail alternatives
I have generally omitted rail services (except the London Underground) as there is no sharp dividing line in the UK between "local" trains (that in the US would be run by a commuter transit agency) and mainline ones; the same tickets are usually valid on both and commuters tend to use long distance trains whenever appropriate to their commute.

The St Albans Abbey line, however, can't reasonably be called a national long-distance line. So, bending the rules slightly, gives us this possibility:

A single from St Albans Abbey to London Euston is £10.00 so anyone without an Oyster card should buy a ticket to London instead of separate tickets to and from Watford. Oyster cards are available for a refundable £3 deposit at all staffed Tube and Overground stations except Watford Junction, which is unfortunate. If you do already have an Oyster card, however, it's cheaper to use it for the journey from Watford.

Some people might argue that anything within the Network Railcard area that isn't obviously a long-distance train is acceptable. Lenient passengers, or those who can't afford to be strict because they missed the last 81, can use Thameslink.

(They can also use East Midlands Trains, but these really are intercity trains so beyond the scope of the website. The fare's the same.)

It's also possible to get a London Midland train from Northampton. It's dubious whether it can really be classed as a "local" service as it accepts (but doesn't require) reservations and starts from either Birmingham or Crewe, but it does have doors in the middle of the carriages rather than at the ends, and it does run three times per hour for most of the day. (The stopping patterns vary; the xx05 trains stop at the most stations, and the xx50, which starts from Crewe, at the fewest.) If you do do this you won't need a dayrider gold from Leicester as a single to Northampton will almost certainly be cheaper. It's an option worth considering if you're running late as UK buses tend to thin out in the evening much more than UK trains do.

(If you're much earlier than this you might run into a time restriction; if you do, the fare's a few pounds more.)

People who really love trains will have already noticed that there are London Midland services from Crewe and Birmingham to London, and from Liverpool to Birmingham. They're also relatively cheap if you're happy to arrive after 1300 and if you're going back the way you came (return fares on UK trains are often a negligible amount more than singles). Going one way it's roughly the same fare wise as the original bus option, and it's a lot quicker. The Virgin train is of course an intercity train; for the same price there are TransPennine services from Lancaster to Preston and Northern services from Preston to Liverpool as alternatives. If you're going one-way only, you can save another 10p if you don't set off until after 0830; for 10 pence it's not worth worrying about.

Intercity equivalents
For comparison purposes, the equivalent journey using intercity trains would be:

Advance tickets (much cheaper) are available, of course; they have the usual airline-style "must use your booked train or pay full fare" rule. Full fare is £144.50, or £289.00 return, and applies if you want to travel earlier than this.