South of Shotton, The Borderlands Line
is covered by the bus/rail rover tickets for either
North and Mid Wales or the whole principality. These include
Flexi-Passes, for example the "8-in-15-Day" pass which allows
daily travel on buses and eight days' rail travel in a period
of fifteen consecutive days.
For an adventurous day out from the Wirral the best bet is a Cheap
Day Return to Shotton - £1.65 from Heswall, for example - and the
North and Mid Wales Day Ranger ticket at £20 (£1.10 and £13.20
respectively for railcard holders).
Below is the 2004 summer weekday timetable for one of the nicest tours
possible, taking in three of Britain's most scenic rail routes: the
Cambrian Coast line through Barmouth and Harlech, the Ffestiniog
Railway and the Conwy Valley Line.
The Ranger ticket can be
bought on the train, although some conductor-guards take a little
while to fathom out how to issue it! It can also be used on North Wales
buses including the Snowdon Sherpa network. This includes the stunning
route from Porthmadog to Betws-y-Coed via Beddgelert and Pen-y-Pass, so
an alternative timetable can also be found below which allows
time for a meal break in Betws-y-Coed.
The connection at Shotton on the return journey to the Wirral allows only
eight minutes between arrival and departure on Mondays to Fridays, assuming
of course that both trains run on time. This means that it is actually
safest for Wirral motorists to park at Shotton station (although time
should be allowed for the road outside the station getting
very congested at times). In response to a request from the WBRUA, the Saturday train
from Shotton to Bidston now runs ten minutes later.
One more tip: it is often cheaper to travel to Shotton using a Saveaway
bus/rail ticket as far as Heswall. This has the additional advantage
that if you are unduly delayed arriving back at Shotton Low Level
on the return journey, you can stay on the train and get
home with only an extra Chester-to-Hooton fare
to pay for on the alternative route back to the Wirral.
(The Day Ranger covers Shotton to Chester).
