London to Hereford (via Birmingham)

[trainosaurus]

I live in North London and regularly travel to Hereford. I used to take the FGW service from Paddington to Hereford through Worcester, however more recently I have been going from Euston to New Street on VT and down to Hereford on LM.

For some reason I am unable to purchase a ticket for the entire journey online, can anyone explain this?

If travelling from Euston I only seem to be able to book as far as Worcester (via NS) and then have to book a seperate ticket from Worcester to Hereford, despite the fact that I'm on the same LM train for the entire NS-Hereford leg.

 

[LexyBoy]

Presumably because Birmingham is not (or the web routeing engines deem it not to be) a permitted route for London-Hereford whereas it is for London-Worcester?

BTW, I don't know your reasons for travelling via Birmingham, but are you aware of the Network Railcard? You could save quite a bit by travelling from Paddington using one (though the railcard is only valid to Worcester so you'd have to split there)

 

[trainosaurus]

Is there any reason why it would not be a permitted route? It's not really a big deal I was just interested in the reasons behind it.

I have a 16-25 Railcard so I'm able to travel on VT peak evening services. I tend to go via Birmingham as it saves me getting across London to Paddington (I work 10 minutes tube ride from Euston and live far closer to Euston than Paddington too). So I can usually save 20-25 minutes of tube travelling time. Obviously VT services to Birmingham are far more frequent. And as I usually travel London - Hereford on a Friday the FGW services from Paddington are generally absolutely packed whereas the Virgin trains are relatively quiet.

 

[LexyBoy]

Ah, that makes sense - I'd assumed it was just that Euston is more convenient than Paddington, for some reason it didn't occur to me that you might have a railcard! (And VT's bizarre concession for railcard holders )

Permitted routes are described in the Routeing Guide. There are others far more knowledgeable than I about this arcane document, but essentially it tries to describe rules for deciding what is a reasonable route. In this case I guess that the route via Birmingham is too long compared to other routes so it's not allowed. (This is a non-technical, and probably wrong reason though!).

 

[John @ home]

I live in North London and regularly travel to Hereford.

It appears that London - Hereford via Birmingham is not a permitted route. The permitted routes are:

• Maps BD+LW+WW: Waterloo - Woking - (Ascot - Reading) or (Salisbury - Bristol) - Newport - Hereford.
• Maps CE+WR: Paddington - Reading - (Kemble or Yate or Chepstow) - Cheltenham - Worcester - Hereford.
• Maps CS: Paddington - Reading - Oxford - Worcester - Hereford.
• Maps CS+WX: Victoria or Waterloo - Clapham Jn - Reading - Oxford - Worcester - Hereford.
• Maps WR: Paddington - Reading - Swindon - Newport - Hereford.

Living in north London, you may be interested to know that any station South Hampstead - Watford Jn to Hereford is permitted via Birmingham.

 

[LexyBoy]

Living in north London, you may be interested to know that any station South Hampstead - Watford Jn to Hereford is permitted via Birmingham.

...and that if you have a Zones 1-2 (or further) Travelcard valid for 7 days or more, you can get a ticket from South Hampstead to Hereford and travel direct from Euston without having to stop at South Hampstead...

(If not, I suppose pick up the VT from Watford Jn - if they stop there)

 

[John @ home]

pick up the VT from Watford Jn - if they stop there

One of their three London - Birmingham services each hour stops at Watford Jn.

 

[trainosaurus]

Interesting, cheers for the info.

However having had a quick search on Nationalrail, Watford Junction to Hereford via Birmingham with a 16-25 railcard comes in at £56.80 return. Whereas Hereford - Worcester via Birmingham is just £28.40 return and Worcester to Hereford comes in at just under £9 return.

 

[John @ home]

Watford Junction to Hereford via Birmingham with a 16-25 railcard comes in at £56.80 return.

£56.80 is the Off-Peak return fare without a railcard (£62.30 from 2 Jan 2011). With a Railcard. it's £37.50 (£41.10 from 2 Jan 2011).

 

[Mintona]

I go via Birmingham between London and Hereford as well coz it's free.

Sorry, that doesn't help at all.