Andrew
Hertfordshire (Hitchin) not Herefordshire and no, no mistake, checked three times by two different people
My mistake. Read too quickly!
Was it an advance ticket you were looking at by any chance? Cos advance tickets are a pain. They have all sorts of quotas and things. The quota for a fare from Manchester may be taken, but Stockport may not be. Some companies (like Transpennine) will only just advance tickets from stations they serve. Other companies (like Virgin) offer advances from connecting stations. Earlier this year I booked tickets to Edinburgh. I found I could get a Virgin advance from Marple to Edinburgh. But not a Transpennine advance. It was infuriating.
I also note from BR Fares that LNWR offer Super Off Peak singles from Stockport, which are a lot cheaper. But they don't offer them from Marple. LNWR don't even run trains this north but it looks like they considered it worth their while to offer cheap tickets from Stockport as it's a big station. But probably didn't think it was worthwhile offering them from anywhere else. Or they could not get agreement with Northern to offer those fares.
Basically you have the perfect example of "our fare system is stupid.". Train fares sadly are mess.
Personally if traveling South I always get the train from Stockport. It's usually quicker to get the bus to Stockport than it is to get the train to Manchester. Takes about half the time, and the buses are usually reliable. But I also live close to the bus stop!
