Pluckley to Shepherd's Bush

[freezingice]

Just checking out the cheapest way of doing this with a season ticket.

I don't understand this though...

If I put this into the season ticket calculator

a) Pluckley to Shepherds Bush...
It is PLC - 1-6 - £4,224 / £5,208 (with HS)

b) If I do Ashford International to Shepherds Bush
AFK - 2-6 - £4,052 / £4,860 (with HS)

1) Can I buy Ashford international (option b) pay £4,860 and then travel from Pluckley to Ashford - and then to st P on the HS.... (saving £348 - the difference between £5,208 and £4,860)

... and then get to shepherds bush... but how would you get to Shep Bush without using zone 1?

 

[yorkie]

Pluckley - London Zones 2-6 Travelcard £3908 annual (Rte: Not HS1)
Pluckley - London Zones 2-6 Travelcard £4860 annual (Rte: Plus High Speed)
Pluckley - London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £4224 annual (Rte: Not HS1)
Pluckley - London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £5208 annual (Rte: Plus High Speed)

Ashford Intl - London Zones 2-6 Travelcard £4052 annual (Rte: Not HS1)
Ashford Intl- London Zones 2-6 Travelcard £4860 annual (Rte: Plus High Speed)
Ashford Intl - London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £4052 annual (Rte: Haywards Heath)
Ashford Intl- London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £4368 annual (Rte: Not HS1)
Ashford Intl- London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £5208 annual (Rte: Plus High Speed)

A ticket from Ashford is clearly valid via Pluckley, yes.

A ticket from Pluckley routed HS1 must be valid via Ashford.

Normally, as a ticket to Zones 2-6 is not valid into Zone 1, it is not valid into a London Terminal. However, both Stratford Intl and London St Pancras Intl are not in the Travelcard zones, therefore I am unsure where this ticket is valid to. Is it valid to St Pancras? I am unsure; I don't see why not. It costs more than a HS1 ticket to London Terminals, this is in contrast to other tickets for 'classic lines' to Zones 2-6 that cost less than a ticket to London Terminals.

As for how practical it is to get to Shepherd's Bush avoiding both Zone 1 and avoiding HS1, it's not particularly easy. I'd suggest via Tonbridge/Redhill/East Croydon/Clapham Jn. Journey time is around 2 hours 13 mins from Pluckley. Cost: £3908

However if you are prepared to pay extra for the HS1 ticket, then it's actually quite simple, you 'just' need to change at Stratford, for a direct train to Shepherds Bush. (actually it's slightly more complex as Stratford Intl > Stratford Domestic involves the DLR, which would be valid on your ticket, however this is not yet open so you would need to get a replacement bus for now). If you were going from Ashford, this is the easiest and fastest journey however from Pluckley the advantage of HS1 is lost as you have to get to Ashford. You have to leave Pluckley at 0518 or 0648. The latter gives you 15 mins in AFK (0658-0713), gets you to Stratford Intl at 0742, and until the DLR is finished you need a bit of luck to make the 0759 from Stratford domestic to Shepherds Bush arriving 0849. This gives a 2 hour 1 min journey time if the connection is made. Once the DLR is up and running 17 mins should be plenty, but until then I am unsure, it depends on the bus link. Cost: £4860

If you wanted to avoid HS1 and go via Zone 1 then the simplest change is at Waterloo (walk from the East platforms to the main station), and again at Clapham Jn. Arriving at 0842 the journey time is around 2 hrs 13 from Pluckley however you should usually make it in 1 hour 53 arriving 0822 (due to extra padding for connections at WAT & CLJ). Cost: £4368

 

[freezingice]

cheers for that.

worked out that its too time consuming to do without zone 1.

But... if i got a season ticket from ramsgate or dover via HS1 thats the same as from ashford... (wierd!) and just slightly more than from pluckley.

so that would mean the whole of kent practically is open on any route to london - pretty much? so could use the chatham to victoria lines, go to the seaside at ramsgate from pluckley, and also use charing to london victoria too!

Is that right?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
thanks. its quite confusing to my little mind... must be valid to st - p ... even though not in zone 1.... or at least stratford... because there is no other way of taking hs1 and getting to bush.

 

[yorkie]

cheers for that.

worked out that its too time consuming to do without zone 1.

Actually, once DLR is up & running between the Stratford stations, I'd say via HS1 and avoiding Stratford will be the fastest route, however you are limited in terms of trains from Pluckley to Ashford to go that way. Of course a HS1 season is valid avoiding HS1 so if you miss the train to Ashford you can simply go the other direction.

But... if i got a season ticket from ramsgate or dover via HS1 thats the same as from ashford... (wierd!) and just slightly more than from pluckley.
so that would mean the whole of kent practically is open on any route to london - pretty much? so could use the chatham to victoria lines, go to the seaside at ramsgate from pluckley, and also use charing to london victoria too!

Is that right?

Yep that's right!

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
thanks. its quite confusing to my little mind... must be valid to st - p ... even though not in zone 1.... or at least stratford... because there is no other way of taking hs1 and getting to bush.

Well, Shepherds Bush has nothing to do with it as your ticket would be to London Zones 2-6. That's any station in Zones 2-6, you can travel anywhere in Zones 2-6 but you can't pass through Zone 1 (except on buses, which are allowed!).

Normally a ticket to London Zones X is priced as a ticket to boundary zone 6 + a travelcard. On HS1, unlike the classic lines, there is no boundary zone 6. Therefore I cannot determine where the validity ends, and I can only assume it means the whole of HS1. A season from Ashford to London Zones 2-6 (Plus High Speed) is £4860, this is higher than the price to London (Plus High Speed) which is 'only' £4608. Therefore I conclude there is nothing to say it isn't valid all the way to St Pancras, and nothing to say it is not intended to be valid all the way to St Pancras. I can only conclude it is valid to St Pancras, although if you did use it to St Pancras you'd have to get a bus or pay extra to get to Zone 2 to use your Travelcard.

 

[freezingice]

thanks everyone for advice.

I am now having another panic... the new timetable is on the setrains website for december onwards.... and the trains to pluckley in the evening are dramatically cut by the look of it..... argh!