Leicester - London Blackfriars commuting

[capewellavc]

Hello,

I've been reading these boards for a few weeks gathering information. I would like some clarification about a commuter journey from Leicester to Blackfriars, via St Pancras.

I am working near the Tate Modern, on the South Bank, near the city. I have a partner with another year left of study in Leicester, so after much thought, I have decided it's financially viable to live there. I'm currently commuting from a small village near Milton Keynes Central, it takes me ~1h 45m each way, so I'm not scared of the long journey times, particularly when I know it's only for ~8 months, then I can move to the big city.

Because of the short period, I'll be buying monthly tickets (5 week blocks of Mon-Fri to miss those pesky weekends).

So, I'm looking at making my journey shorter and cheaper. My first thought is to travel on the Thames link line, changing to FCC at STP and travelling to Blackfriars, I know that the regular "London Terminals" ticket won't suffice. Will a "Thames Link" ticket do the job, or would that only work to Thames Link station itself?

Secondly, I've seen suggestions for travel from Narborough/Oakham as they are the same price but allow the flexibility of the WCML and the ECML respectively. To clarify, is one allowed to travel short on a season ticket? These tickets are priced at £762.30 (or £787.20 for Thames Link from Leicester)

I then expanded my search to other stations and I happened across a season ticket from Stamford, for £675.10 per month to London Terminals. This is almost £90 a month cheaper and £110 a month cheaper than the Thames Link tickets from Leicester (assuming £85 a month on Oyster PAYG to complete the journey). The conditions say: "Travel is allowed by any route option shown by the Journey Planner where the journey can be made using only one ticket." I checked, STP and LEI satisfy those requirements.

Is Stamford my best option? Has anybody got any better suggestions? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[John @ home]

Will a "Thames Link" ticket do the job, or would that only work to Thames Link station itself?

Tickets to "London Thameslink" are not available from stations north of Bedford.

To clarify, is one allowed to travel short on a season ticket?

Yes.

Is Stamford my best option?

My calculation of the validity of a Stamford - London Terminals season ticket is:
Routeing Points (RPs) for Stamford are Peterborough and Oakham.
London Group is a RP.
We must compare Anytime Single (SOS) fares to determine which RPs are appropriate for Stamford for this journey.
Stamford Lincs - London Terminals route Any Permitted SOS £55.
Peterborough - London Terminals route Any Permitted SOS £49.50.
Oakham - London Terminals route Any Permitted SOS £55.
Therefore Peterborough and Oakham are both appropriate RPs for a Stamford - London Terminals journey.
Mapped routes Peterborough - London Terminals are shown on map ER, allowing travel from Stamford via Peterborough to Kings X, Highbury & Islington or Liverpool St.
Mapped routes Oakham - London Terminals are shown on map ER and also on map MM, allowing travel from Stamford via Oakham to St Pancras via Corby or via Leicester.

 

[Paul Kelly]

A ticket from a station on the midland mainline to "London Thameslink" is valid to any intermediate stations on the Thameslink route as far as London Bridge and/or Elephant & Castle. There is no such station itself as "London Thameslink". A ticket to London Terminals from the north is not valid to or via Farringdon; you could not use it to travel on to Blackfriars.

Surprisingly there is a season ticket available from Leicester to London Thameslink; monthly price £787.20 as you say.

From Oakham or Narborough there is no such "London Thameslink" season available; instead you would need to buy a monthly travelcard (i.e. a season to London, which also includes unlimited travel within London Zones 1-6). This is slightly more expensive at £830.60 for a month.

 

[capewellavc]

Hi chaps,

Thank you for the responses.

Mapped routes Oakham - London Terminals are shown on map ER and also on map MM, allowing travel from Stamford via Oakham to St Pancras via Corby or via Leicester.

So I would be allowed to go from Leicester to St Pancras on a Stamford - Leicester season?

Tickets to "London Thameslink" are not available from stations north of Bedford.

That's a little mean! Why do they advertise them on-line if they aren't available?

From Stamford or Narborough there is no such "London Thameslink" season available; instead you would need to buy a monthly travelcard (i.e. a season to London, which also includes unlimited travel within London Zones 1-6). This is slightly more expensive at £830.60 for a month.

Or I could get a "St Pancras to Blackfriars season" at £58.80 a month with a combined cost of Stamford-London and STP - Blackfriars of £733.90 per month, saving me £53.30 a month, or £426.40 over the time I'm doing it. I realise I'd have to get a train that stops at STP, however, wouldn't they all (EMT's anyway)?

There is no such station itself as "London Thameslink".

Ahhh I get confused between City Thameslink and London Thameslink... City Thameslink - Wikipedia

 

[Paul Kelly]

I need to read original posts better. I got confused between Stamford and Oakham. According to John @ Home's reasoning yes, Stamford to London Terminals is valid via Leicester. A Stamford to London Zones 1-6 monthly travelcard season is only £732.70, so this would seem to be the ideal ticket for you.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

We must compare Anytime Single (SOS) fares to determine which RPs are appropriate for Stamford for this journey.
Stamford Lincs - London Terminals route Any Permitted SOS £55.
Peterborough - London Terminals route Any Permitted SOS £49.50.
Oakham - London Terminals route Any Permitted SOS £55.

Not sure about this? Oakham to London Terminals ANY PERMITTED SOS seems to be £84.

 

[RJ]

That's because it is £84.00. I've always known Oakham to fail the fares check for Stamford.

 

[capewellavc]

I'm confused, does this mean it will or it won't cover me for travel to Leicester?

 

[RJ]

I'm confused, does this mean it will or it won't cover me for travel to Leicester?

National Rail says no - you cannot use a Stamford to London ticket via Leicester.
East Midlands Trains journey planner says no.
East Coast journey planner says no.
My own interpretation of the National Routeing Guide says no.

I can understand why you are confused however!

 

[capewellavc]

Ahh, I see it now, it does say on National Rail Enquiries that I need to buy more than one ticket for that journey.

That's annoying. So, it'll have to be the Leicester to London Thameslink ticket for £787.20.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[RJ]

Tickets to "London Thameslink" are not available from stations north of Bedford.

capewellavc had it right in their first post. Season tickets to "London Thameslink" are most certainly available from several stations north of Bedford. They are shown on National Rail Enquires and one is indeed available from Leicester for £787.20 a month.

Ahh, I see it now, it does say on National Rail Enquiries that I need to buy more than one ticket for that journey.

That's annoying. So, it'll have to be the Leicester to London Thameslink ticket for £787.20.

Thanks for all your help!

That is one option.

I also commute along that line, although the nature of my commute is very different to yours. Over time, I have investigated anomalies occurring on this line and one such is the implementation of cluster pricing on season tickets.

I'm sure you appreciate that the price of period season tickets is based upon the price of the weekly season.

Leicester to London Thameslink is £236.00 per week.

You can buy a weekly season ticket from Hinckley to Mill Hill Broadway Not Via London for £172.70. Hinckley to Mill Hill Broadway is valid between Leicester and West Hampstead.

West Hampstead - London Thameslink return is £5.20 a day, so a fixed cost £26 for a 5 day week. There is no requirement for the train to stop at West Hampstead. If you only intend to buy monthlies or 5 week tickets, it is marginally cheaper than the Leicester - London Thameslink season. Any longer than 6 weeks however and it ceases to be cost effective as you cannot benefit from any economy of scale on the amount of day return tickets you buy, whereas it increases with the length of the season ticket purchased.

For example, a monthly season ticket would be £663.20. Assuming you work 20 days, you'd require 20 return tickets, which would cost £104. Total is £767.20 per month.

A season ticket for 1m4d would be £753. 25 day return tickets costs £130. Total £883. Leicester - London Thameslink would be £893.80.

The saving isn't much, but a Hinckley to Mill Hill Broadway season has added validity between Nuneaton and Willesden Junction. You would have to buy a Zone 1-2 Day Travelcard for £8.40 to complete your journey to Blackfriars.

You get more for your money, but the trade off is that you need to buy daily return tickets. If travelling direct from Leicester to St Pancras, you'd also need to be confident with explaining why there's a "gap" between Mill Hill/West Hampstead and dealing with staff who don't want to let it go. I'm very experienced with doing this as it's the kind of thing I have done in the past. Certainly not for the faint hearted. But then again, neither is paying full whack, when creative ticketing means getting away with legitimately paying a fraction of that price.

However, if creative ticketing isn't for you, then I'd suggest the simple Leicester to London Terminals ticket you have identified, though it's only valid on routes passing through both Kettering and Luton!