Reading-Farringdon £24.80 return routing

[stq123]

Does anyone know what the route for the fare listed for this ticket is? I've tried basically every routing I can think of on journey planners but none works.

 

[lfc84]

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

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www.brfares.com

 

[nwales58]

CDR route Staines restriction code US is 30.00 in journey planners but 24.80 on BRfares. Presumably a recent change.

 

[wibble]

Does anyone know what the route for the fare listed for this ticket is? I've tried basically every routing I can think of on journey planners but none works.

Reading - Waterloo - Waterloo East - London Bridge - Farringdon.

CDR route Staines restriction code US is 30.00 in journey planners but 24.80 on BRfares. Presumably a recent change.

The £30.00 fare is Reading - Vauxhall/Waterloo then underground to Farringdon.

 

[Craig1122]

Search with Waterloo East as a via point & it will show in journey planners

 

[MrJeeves]

On the forum's site (and TrainSplit), as others have mentioned, you can get this ticket by adding via points of Staines and Waterloo East.



My first thought with this was that it should have been Reading - Staines - Clapham Junction - Denmark Hill - Elephant & Castle - Farringdon, but it seems most of the services you can take along this route aren't quite short enough for it to qualify as "the shortest route by rail" route dictated by the routeing guide.

I'm not quite sure what the electronic routeing guide data seems to suggest is the shortest route by rail as I don't have a calculator for this to hand, and the data from TrainSplit doesn't seem to match the data from the tool I'd normally use.

Hey-ho, just means another side project to indulge in at some point!

 

[Joe Paxton]

Reading - Waterloo - Waterloo East - London Bridge - Farringdon.

It's a somewhat daft route, and I'm rather surprised a specific fare exists for it at all!

 

[Horizon22]

It's a somewhat daft route, and I'm rather surprised a specific fare exists for it at all!

It's also incredibly slow comapred to the most direct option, which must be 1hr 15 mins quicker!

 

[OscarH]

On the forum's site (and TrainSplit), as others have mentioned, you can get this ticket by adding via points of Staines and Waterloo East.

View attachment 171170

My first thought with this was that it should have been Reading - Staines - Clapham Junction - Denmark Hill - Elephant & Castle - Farringdon, but it seems most of the services you can take along this route aren't quite short enough for it to qualify as "the shortest route by rail" route dictated by the routeing guide.

I'm not quite sure what the electronic routeing guide data seems to suggest is the shortest route by rail as I don't have a calculator for this to hand, and the data from TrainSplit doesn't seem to match the data from the tool I'd normally use.

Hey-ho, just means another side project to indulge in at some point!

The routeing data gives me the following at 48.56 miles when I force a via Staines:

RDG - Reading
EAR - Earley
WTI - Winnersh Triangle
WNS - Winnersh
WKM - Wokingham
BCE - Bracknell
MAO - Martins Heron
ACT - Ascot (Berks)
SNG - Sunningdale
LNG - Longcross
VIR - Virginia Water
EGH - Egham
SNS - Staines
AFS - Ashford (Surrey)
FEL - Feltham
WTN - Whitton (London)
TWI - Twickenham
SMG - St Margarets (London)
RMD - Richmond (London)
NSH - North Sheen
MTL - Mortlake
BNS - Barnes
PUT - Putney
WNT - Wandsworth Town
CLJ - Clapham Junction
BAK - Battersea Park
WWR - Wandsworth Road
CLP - Clapham High Street
DMK - Denmark Hill
EPH - Elephant & Castle
BFR - London Blackfriars
CTK - City Thameslink
ZFD - Farringdon

I don't immediately follow why it isn't validating on the itineraries which as far as I see follow this route when you via Staines and Denmark Hill on TrainSplit. I'll have a closer look later when I'm more awake

 

[Adoarable]

The routeing data gives me the following at 48.56 miles when I force a via Staines:

[…]
CLJ - Clapham Junction
BAK - Battersea Park
WWR - Wandsworth Road
CLP - Clapham High Street
[…]

This route means travelling between Battersea Park and Wandsworth Road. There are only two direct services per weekday between these stations, at 06:33 and 23:03.

 

[OscarH]

A more in depth look. The below itinerary changing at Clapham Junction, Denmark Hill, and London Blackfriars, using the following trains:

1. https://timetables.trainsplit.com/times.aspx?uid=Y21060&date=20241218
2. https://timetables.trainsplit.com/times.aspx?uid=P72389&date=20241218
3. https://timetables.trainsplit.com/times.aspx?uid=W26837&date=20241218
4. https://timetables.trainsplit.com/times.aspx?uid=W25378&date=20241218

Fare time restrictions - all good - only restriction that affects trains after 10am is Paddington, so doesn't apply here.
Fare train restrictions - all good - all barred trains leave their origin before 10am, all ours leave after, so none of ours can be in the barred list.
Route restriction on 735 (via Staines) - all good - only record is that the itinerary must go via Staines - it stops there

The route above is within 3 miles of the shortest route (46.21 miles), and is the shortest route to/from Staines if we do split routeing, so would be fine.

Battersea Park is an odd one - the train doesn't go via Battersea Park, but there's no direct link from Clapham Junction to Wandsworth Road (which I think there should be really). I don't think this is causing the issue, as routeing engines will presumably just automatically add in Battersea Park (something they generally have to do when there's no link between stations because not all stations are in the timetable as passing points)

Interestingly the diagnostics from TrainSplit's journey planner are suggesting a shorter route is possible, and that this route is longer - so I will ask some relevant people.

 

[Bread & cheese]

The National Rail website allows journeys on this ticket via Clapham Junction and Denmark Hill, if you specify: change at Clapham Junction.
It also allows journeys via Richmond and West Hampstead, if you specify: via Kew Gardens.
I don't know how to buy a ticket for the first itinerary, but the LNER app will sell one for the second itinerary.

 

[Joe Paxton]

[...]
Battersea Park is an odd one - the train doesn't go via Battersea Park, but there's no direct link from Clapham Junction to Wandsworth Road (which I think there should be really). [...]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but there is a direct link between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Road - the London Overground Windrush Line service (in operation since December 2012).

(And very useful it is too in making access to the Clapham Junction easier from several parts of south London!)

 

[OscarH]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but there is a direct link between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Road - the London Overground Windrush Line service (in operation since December 2012).

(And very useful it is too in making access to the Clapham Junction easier from several parts of south London!)

Sorry, yes I mean the link exists in reality, but is missing in the routeing data

 

[Joe Paxton]

Sorry, yes I mean the link exists in reality, but is missing in the routeing data

Yes, I suspected what you were getting at was something along those lines!