Great Western Coffee Shop

Gifts to these couples so they can be together for Christmas.  Once you have worked out what's going on (found the connection) please just give details for one couple each.

1. Patrick and Mary to the value of GBP 130.00 each

2. Randall and Shiela to the value of GBP 294.70 each

3. Orlando and Tina to the value of GBP 220.50 each

4. Nigel and Haley to the value of GBP 529.00 each

5. Kory and Edna to the value of GBP 335.00 each

Rovers/Rangers?

Hmmm ... no ...

Well. I'm totally stumped. ???

I wondered whether these might be fares for the train plus hotel deal using Eurostar to Paris from various British destinations. The connection then would be St Pancras. I've tried logging into the Eurostar website to investigate, but it keeps coming up as having a problem. Maybe everyone else is?

It's an all Great Britain question, but there is a fare element. Consider that in our courting days, Lisa and I often travelled (and paid return fares, of course) between her home and mine. As couples, please think of these pairs being in their courtship still, and not yet living together.

Nigel was brought up way, way up Scotland and Haley's a Cornish Lass.

Of course - nothing so obvious as something you couldn't see five minutes ago. Via London, though it's cheaper not to (450.90), and obviously if they both do the trip at once they'll pass each other somewhere near Grantham.

4. Elgin to Hayle ?264.50 each way?

Aha. Now I get it.

5. York to Dean. GBP 335.00 is the Anytime Return (+Any Permitted) fare.

They're quite sneaky, those anagrams. Got the last one just now: Shiela - I was going to ask Graham if that ought to have been Sheila, but his answer would have been "how would I know?"

1 Partick to Yarm off peak return ?130

3 Tain to Old Roan I like the Fare Any permitted is ?220.50 Via Lancaster ?278 both valid the same length of time usual mess.

And 2 is Darnall and Hilsea, of course.

All correctly solved ... and before you wonder, I amused myself writing a program to find anagrams comparing a list of people's names versus station names.

By providing tickets each, I am allowing for Christmas at one person's place, and then Easter at the other's - no need for them to pass at Grantham.  Love the Old Roan to Tain fare anomaly - I had spotted that too; probably been there a while, until Orlando hooked up with Tina, I would suspect that this was a rarely sold fare.

I have actually traveled to Old Roan last year from Bromsgrove. Didn't try from Pershore as Up trains on the Worcester-Pershore stretch have 2 hour gaps in the evening.
I didn't use a trough ticket though. First I split the fare to Lime street at Stafford. Then as I was going to a funeral at Sefton church I needed to use a bus from Old Roan to the edge of the built up area. Then walk the last mile. So once I got to Liverpool I bought a local Train\bus day ranger.