Sweep wrote:JakobW wrote:OTOH, an evening super off-peak (after 1830) single rail ticket to Walsall or Wolverhampton is £2.50, and you can take your bike on board; from either station you can be in the lanes in about 15 minutes.
Interesting.
Am arriving at Birmingham Moor Street on a cheap ticket from London.
Which station do I take these Walsall or Wolverhampton trains from Jakob?
I take it these are just walk up and buy fares, available from a ticket machine or ticket window?
Which train company so I can check out timetables? - prefer to use company websites rather than national rail.
These trains go from Birmingham New Street, which is a 5 minute walk/2 minute cycle from Moor Street; they're walk-up fares available from the machines or the counter. They are valid for any train between New St and Wolverhampton; these will either be fast services operated by Virgin or CrossCountry, or a local stopping service operated by West Midlands trains. I'd go for the West Midlands service, as it's only about about 10 minutes slower, and you don't need to faff with the bike - you can just put it in the vestibule (though there is usually one carriage with a bike space) - Virgin require a bike reservation, and though CrossCountry don't, the bike spaces are not always free. For trains see e.g. the timetable at https://traintimes.org.uk/Bhm/Wvh/18:30/today
I'd be quite tempted to get the train - the canal out to Wolverhampton is quite isolated in stretches, and the bits around Wolverhampton city can be a bit dodgy; the on-road bit is urban sprawl, and - frankly - West Mids drivers are bloody awful. On that cycle.travel route, once you hit Coven you're nicely in the lanes.