please empty your brain below
dg writes: Stansted's not an inspirational spot for a day out (but a more interesting station than Whittlesford Parkway).
(For example, it is almost always substantially cheaper, when going anywhere west of Didcot, to split tickets there, reflecting that that was the last Network SouthEast station on the line towards Swindon. Conversely, fares on the North Cotswolds line between Oxford and Warwick, which ended up falling under Network SouthEast, despite being not really that near the SouthEast, remain bargains, although they've increased a bit lately)
Yes Thameslink fares. Got picked up from Three Bridges yesterday instead of taking train to Horsham (engineering works) the TL only fare for 3 Bridges is about 40% of the non TL fare to Horsham whereas it is probably 80% of the distance.
These are the boxes where it's possible to save over £5 (with two ticks for over £10).
| ✓✓ | ✓✓ | ✓✓ | ✓✓ | ||
| ✓✓ | ✓ | ✓✓ | |||
| ✓✓ | ✓ | ||||
| ✓✓ | ✓✓ | ✓ | ✓✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
The biggest savings are:
» Lowestoft (£36)
» Norwich (£31)
» Leicester (£30)
I've tried complaining about this to the TOCs, but all I ever got was a non-reply about how wonderful they are (and by implication how stupid I was.)
But then I checked the fare from London Bridge and, guess what, £12.20 - provided I travel on Thameslink services!
I then looked up East Croydon and, rather curiously, it reports it as being valid from either East or West Croydon but, again, only valid on Thameslink services. No Thameslink services call at West Croydon.
dg writes: The slow Victoria train is a lot cheaper than the faster Waterloo train. Southampton to Victoria and back is only £19.
The Southern Rail Day Save is also great at £20 for the entire southern rail network but must be purchased 5 days in advance
Some of those prices might be ok for a single person but when you start adding in a partner and/or kids it rapidly becomes unaffordable!
Some of this may be logical, trying to fill up otherwise empty trains. But it all adds to the impression that train fares are set by someone rolling a dice.
Here in East Kent we have long got accustomed to the idea that it's generally far cheaper to stay on the train to a central London terminus, rather than get off at Bromley South or Orpington or anywhere.
Section 14.2 of the revised National Conditions of Travel mean that split season tickets are allowed, even if the train does NOT stop at the intermediate station.
Kent commuters have long been price gouged by Southeastern, but significant savings can now be made easily and legally, e.g. £428 from Canterbury and £560 from Sevenoaks, with even bigger savings if one leg is a Z1/Z2 Oyster season ticket replacing a Travelcard bolt-on.
It's a shame that the fastest London - Brighton services are now branded as Gatwick Express as these are excluded from the Daysave ticket.
| ✗✗✗ | ✓✓✓ | ✗✗✓ | ✗✗✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✗✗✗ |
| ✓✓✗ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ |
| ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ||
| ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ |
| ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ | ✓✓✓ |
With a Network Railcard, a trip to Norwich is three times the price of a trip to King's Lynn. In fact, it's cheaper to get to Norwich via King's Lynn (or more sensibly, Ely) than to go directly.
My belief is that it is only now that people have woken up to it.
dg writes: (£2.80 + £1.50)×2 = £8.60
Box Hill & Dorking can be reached by using South Western Railway services to Kingston,Surbiton,or Chessington South,all stations in zone 5, then using bus 465 to Dorking.
dg writes: (£4.00 + £1.50)×2 = £11
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 was extended to mainline railways w.e.f. 1 October 2016.
I suspect it's no coincidence that the NCoC were replaced by the NCoT on exactly the same date. Amongst other things, the TOCs must have realised that they could no longer get away with prohibiting journeys where the full distance was covered by two season tickets.
Surbiton etc are in zone 6, not 5
Waterloo to Zone 6 on Oyster, off peak, is £4, so a round trip by train and 465 bus to Boxhill can be done for (£4+£1.50) x 2 = £10.50. The daily cap is £12.50
You could, just about, do it for less than £9 by taking the Underground to Wimbledon (£2.80) and then two buses to Boxhill (£1.50 Hopper fare), although you would be cutting it fine to catch a second bus within the hour on the way back
Why am I not surprised that there are more comments on the fares than on the places to visit?
Plus the rolling stock on the Greater Anglia Express services is still the same as when I was using it in the late seventies and eighties. Even then it was rumoured to be reject stock from the East Coast main line. Thameslink may not be efficient, and may be overcrowded in the morning peaks ot the extent you cannot sit for your money, but at least the trains are 21st century
Direct trains from Venice to Trieste take two different routes, one taking 2 hours, the other taking 3. The quicker one is cheaper as they apparently charge by distance covered.
Give me the MkIIIs any day!
Refurbished, they look good too, and have power sockets which the 700s will never have. Despite which they will in any case be replaced by spanking new Stadler Flirts next year, which might even be comfortable (well, more so than 700s anyhow).
Some lucky few in Scotland, West Country and Chilterns will continue to luxuriate in MkIIIs for some time to come - even with power doors!
Apologies DG, slightly off-topic. [You can get very good advance deals to Norwich - especially with a railcard.]
Although built in the 1980s, the current Norwich Line trains have only been on that line since 2004. But give me a West Coast Main Line cast-off (which is what they are) rather than a brand new Thameslink cattle truck any day! (or for that matter the Pendolinos that now work the WCML)
@Kev
Not unknown here - some connections to my home town are made by a more circuitous route than others. You are expected to pay a premium for the 28-mile detour - on a "Pacer". Not only that, but there are no Advance tickets available by the longer route, so it's "Anytime" fares only.
(£4+£1.50) x 2 = £11.00, not £10.50
My maths was correct, my arithmetic wasn't
TridentScan | Privacy Policy