Huntingdon to London - valid via Cambridge?

[XmaX]

I commute between Cambridge and London every day on an off-peak return ticket. This week, I might have to go to Huntingdon after work. I can of course take the busway from Cambridge, but it would be much quicker to instead just travel by train from London directly to Huntingdon.

I am assuming however that a Huntingdon-Cambridge ticket is not valid via Cambridge? I've seen someone mention that Peterborough-London would be valid, but it doesn't seem to work when I try to search a fare.

I've also seen reports on including the busway in the fare somehow, but it doesn't seem like the option for this even shows up on BRfares.

 

[ainsworth74]

I am assuming however that a Huntingdon-Cambridge ticket is not valid via Cambridge? I've seen someone mention that Peterborough-London would be valid, but it doesn't seem to work when I try to search a fare.

Is this meant to be Huntingdon - Cambridge via London? Or Huntingdon to London via Cambridge because otherwise I'm struggling to parse your question! A ticket to Cambridge would typically be valid via Cambridge as that's the destination!!

 

[XmaX]

Is this meant to be Huntingdon - Cambridge via London? Or Huntingdon to London via Cambridge because otherwise I'm struggling to parse your question! A ticket to Cambridge would typically be valid via Cambridge as that's the destination!!

I mean Huntingdon to London via Cambridge! That's what happens when you proofread your whole post, except the title

 

[HughT]

So far as I'm aware the only fares that include travel on the Busway are to/from St Ives (via either Huntingdon OR Cambridge).

 

[jfollows]

Peterborough-London includes routeing guide map AD which I attach below and includes Cambridge. It doesn't include Cambridge-Hitchin you will see. However, map KP is also valid and this does. However this wasn't your main question, I don't see Huntingdon-London as valid via Cambridge, no.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I'm not convinced that's within 3 miles of the shortest route

 

[4COR]

The Cambridge-London return would be valid as far as Hitchin. Single to Huntingdon from Hitchin, ensuring that the train calls at Hitchin. Then just a £5 single home from Huntingdon to Cambridge on the bus. (You'd need an Any Permitted to do this not the Greater Ang one).


EDIT - Just re-read that you're on an off-peak return - singles as below won't be cheaper unless you travel in the peak!
But, if you do Cambridge->London and then London->Huntingdon (presumably commuting in the morning), it looks cheaper to do it with singles, rather than buy the Hitchin-Huntingdon fare on top (and without the need to get a train stopping at Hitchin). There are even some Cambridge to London advances in the mornings. On the way back, splitting at Arlesey and Biggleswade looks cheaper by a pound or so for the single than the London - Huntingdon ticket.

 

[Hadders]

I commute between Cambridge and London every day on an off-peak return ticket. This week, I might have to go to Huntingdon after work.

So you want to travel from Cambridge to London, and then after work return to Huntingdon? Do you also need to travel from Huntingdon back to Cambridge?

I am assuming however that a Huntingdon-Cambridge ticket is not valid via Cambridge?

If you mean a Huntingdon to London ticket isn't valid via Cambridge. It's not.

I've seen someone mention that Peterborough-London would be valid, but it doesn't seem to work when I try to search a fare.

Peterborough to London is valid via Cambridge but the Off Peak fare isn't valid in the evening peak meaning you'd need an eye watering Anytime ticket.

I'd buy a March to London Terminals ticket route 'Great Northern Thameslink and connections' where an off peak day return is £37.10 with no evening peak This is valid via Cambridge or Huntingdon so start short at Cambridge on your way to work and finish short at Huntingdon on the return.

 

[XmaX]

So you want to travel from Cambridge to London, and then after work return to Huntingdon? Do you also need to travel from Huntingdon back to Cambridge?

If you mean a Huntingdon to London ticket isn't valid via Cambridge. It's not.

Peterborough to London is valid via Cambridge but the Off Peak fare isn't valid in the evening peak meaning you'd need an eye watering Anytime ticket.

I'd buy a March to London Terminals ticket route 'Great Northern Thameslink and connections' where an off peak day return is £37.10 with no evening peak This is valid via Cambridge or Huntingdon so start short at Cambridge on your way to work and finish short at Huntingdon on the return.

Yep, and I do also want to travel back to Cambridge after getting to Huntingdon.
March-London looks like the best option, but wouldn't be the cheapest. It is £24.70 with a railcard, so £5.85 more expensive than Cambridge-London. A one way busway ticket from Huntingdon to Cambridge is £5 I believe, but a day ticket is £6.60 and I might actually need to take another local bus in Huntingdon anyway. Financially, it makes sense to just take the busway both ways. The question is if an hour of extra travel is worth the few pounds I'll spend on the more expensive rail ticket!

 

[Hadders]

Using the March ticket you could travel by train from Huntingdon to Cambridge. The latest train you could get would be the 21:50 from Nuntingdon, changing at Peterborough, arriving Cambridge at 23:09. You would need a March to Cambridge single ticket costing £13.90 if you chose this option.

Alternatively you could use the following combination which is slightly cheaper overall:

Cambridge to London Terminals £28.60 off peak day return
Hitchin to Huntingdon £12.10 off peak day return

Use the outward portion of the Cambridge to London ticket to travel to work
Return to Huntingdon using the return portion of the Cambridge to London ticket as far as Hitchin then switch to the outward portion of the Hitchin to Huntingdon ticket (note the train you take from London to Huntingdon must call at Hitchin - there are a handful of peak time extras that don't call at Hitchin)

Then travel from Huntingdon to Cambridge via Hitchin. Use the return portion of the Huntingdon to Hitchin ticket as far as Hitchin then resume the use of the return portion of the Cambridge to London ticket to travel to Cambridge.

Travelling this way gives later journey opportunities from Huntingdon to Cambridge, the latest journey opportunity being departing Huntingdon at 23:34 arriving Cambridge at 00:55

 

[XmaX]

What about off-peak day return Whittlesea-London? There appears to be an option "GN TLINK & CON" on BR Fares and no evening peak restrictions, but it's cheaper than March-London. Would that also be valid via Cambridge?

 

[4COR]

Ely appears to be a valid routing point for Whittlesea to London, and C4 is the same restrictions as the March ticket - though, I can't get an itinerary with the GN TLINK & CON route ticket...? There are some restrictions on departing in the morning and time of arrival in London, but these also appear to be the same as the Cambridge-London Off Peak return you are using.

Is the GN TLINK & CONNECTIONS route valid to Liverpool St in any way (eg if you take the Kings Lynn GN service from Ely to Cambridge)? Going Cambridge to Kings Cross uses them so that shouldn't be an issue?

 

[Watershed]

Is the GN TLINK & CONNECTIONS route valid to Liverpool St in any way (eg if you take the Kings Lynn GN service from Ely to Cambridge)? Going Cambridge to Kings Cross uses them so that shouldn't be an issue?

There is nothing in the public facing information which indicates that this wouldn't be permitted. But if you intend on travelling via Cambridge, you may as well buy the cheaper VIA CAMBRIDGE fare and then, if necessary, excess the relevant portion to the more expensive GN TLINK & CON fare.

 

[Hadders]

There is nothing in the public facing information which indicates that this wouldn't be permitted. But if you intend on travelling via Cambridge, you may as well buy the cheaper VIA CAMBRIDGE fare and then, if necessary, excess the relevant portion to the more expensive GN TLINK & CON fare.

I don't think you can excess into an operator restricted ticket.

 

[Watershed]

I don't think you can excess into an operator restricted ticket.

You can't excess from an operator restricted ticket, but there is nothing in the NRCoT which says you can't excess to one. There are numerous journeys where doing so is necessary and/or cheapest.

 

[arb]

I can get Mixing Deck to sell me the GN TLINK & CON off-peak day return from Whittlesea to London via Ely if I select an itinerary with a CrossCountry train from Whittlesea, of which there aren't many during the day, and you need to go into the slower trains option to select this route before it will show the few that exist. I guess the journey planners are electronically treating the GN TLINK & CON route as if it had a NOT GREATER ANGLIA restriction?

 

[kieron]

Yes, the only operators you will be given initeraries for "GN TLINK & CON" tickets with are Great Northern, Thameslink, Crosscountry, Heathrow Connect and Heathrow Express.

There's some extra logic for "& connections" advance tickets to ensure that you actually use the named operator, but flexible tickets like these ones can't use it.

If they wanted to let people use any operator to Peterborough, what they could do is to permit Greater Anglia and East Midlands Trains trains (but not LNER or any of the open access operators), but only permit travel via somewhere like Stevenage.

 

[arb]

Yes, the only operators you will be given initeraries for "GN TLINK & CON" tickets with are Great Northern, Thameslink, Crosscountry, Heathrow Connect and Heathrow Express.

Is that level of information available anywhere to be (easily) seen by the public? My usual go-to site for hidden electronic restrictions is brfares, but as far as I can see that only has the info for the two-character restriction codes, not for routes.

 

[kieron]

I don't know if there's anything as convenient as brfares.com is for restriction codes. Restriction codes have somewhat better documentation in the public domain.

I've included a list of the route code data from the routeing feed, and a list of the train company abbreviations used in it. The fare feed also contains data for route codes (especially for advance tickets), but I haven't included that here.

"GN TLINK & CON" is the only route code which uses an "& connections" description for flexible tickets. There are a few others for which web sites use operator restrictions but where this isn't clear from the text on the ticket. The ones I noticed are:

A6 VIA PADDINGTN (00184) only permits GWR.
HATFLD/ALBNS BUS (00356) only permits Great Northern & Thameslink
VIA NORTHOLT UND (00265) only permits Avanti for some reason,
VIA TRAMLINK 1 (00250) (and 2, 3 and 4) only permit Southern.

A few allow more than one operator, but forbid others

CITY THAMESLINK. (00792)
LEI & CITY TLINK (00791)
STANSTEDCITYLINK (00167)
VIA CITY THAMESL (00790)
VIA HIGH WYC&SHR (00362)
VIA H WYC & BIRM (00363)

 

[arb]

Thanks, that really interesting. Trying to stay on-topic for this thread, I am somewhat surprised by the difference between "GN TLINK & CON" and "GN TLINK & CONN"!