So, how confusing is London - Brighton ticketing?

[Furrball]

So this comes around with looking at tickets from London to Brighton this weekend. There are engineering works so either a rail replacement bus or Southern services, taking longer, routed via Littlehampton.

London (All) to Brighton with Network Rail cards for 2 people is £40.80, which is a London Terminals to Brighton ticket.

If I put in Kentish Town to Brighton I can get a £38.90 fare, but this does not show any of the diverted services, just the ones with a rail replacement from Three Bridges - however, return journeys clearly show validity on Southern - I assume that despite not being shown that the ticket is valid on the diverted Southern service via Littlehampton on the Sunday (skip forward a week and with no engineering works both Southern and FCC services are shown on the southbound leg once again).

Quite why travel from a Zone 2 station to the North of the city is cheaper that a London Terminals ticket!!??!!

 

[calc7]

Which day are you travelling there and back?
What is your actual point of origin in London?
Would you consider a slightly longer route/changes to reduce the cost?

 

[Lrd]

It's presumably sending you via the bus because it will be a quicker journey than going via Littlehampton.

 

[Searle]

Can I just recommend the Southern Daysave for if you're planning on making this journey. Unfortunately you can't buy them for this weekend (have to be 7 days in advance), but at £12 each and valid all day on all services at weekends, it can be cheaper than a ticket from London to Brighton on it's own!

 

[Furrball]

Travelling this Sunday.

Do not have a problem with the fare, just puzzled that:

A. The fare from Victoria is higher than that from Kentish Town
B. That none of the booking sites show the longer, but without change, train service via Littlehampton.

 

[calc7]

It's a shame the booking websites won't let you use a £6.60ea London Bridge - Brighton Super Off-Peak Day Return as it's saying all the buses are run by Southern.

 

[paul1609]

Travelling this Sunday.

Do not have a problem with the fare, just puzzled that:

A. The fare from Victoria is higher than that from Kentish Town
B. That none of the booking sites show the longer, but without change, train service via Littlehampton.

If you're quick (booking is still open for the 25th at the moment) you want an All Network Downlander £12.50 (per adult) which gives you freedom of the Southern network plus some buses in the South Downs Area.
Its a print at home ticket available 2 days in advance. Obviously you need to make your own way to Victoria.
http://www.southernrailwaytickets.com/ticketing_promotion.php?iTicketPromotionId=6

 

[Furrball]

Aware of the Downlander, but we are travelling back on Monday so the £38.90 Off Peak return is cheaper and allows us to user Southern of FCC on the way back.

The point remains though that the direct (slower) trains are not showing on any booking site unless you specify London Terminals, or Victoria.

And just out of curiosity, why is the fare from Kentish Town (or for that matter Cricklewood) to Brighton cheaper than a London Terminals ticket, given that I assume you could rightly exit from a London Terminal with a ticket to either Kentish Town or Cricklewood?

 

[Be3G]

It seems to be because the two tickets are priced by different train operating companies. The SVR from Kentish Town (any permitted is the only option) is priced by FCC, whereas the any permitted from London Terminals is priced by Southern. FCC do also price their own SVR from London Terminals, at £37.60 for two passengers with railcard, but that ticket is only valid on FCC trains.