Didcot to Paddington Off-peak day return

[jaffa]

Hi, I'm a bit confused as to the peak restrictions from Didcot to London Paddington. If I buy an off-peak day return then the last train before the evening peak I can use seems to be the 1622 out of London Paddington towards Didcot (apart from the slow trains). Is this correct?

Can I use the 1706 train from Paddington and change at Didcot? This train is not on the blocked list out of Paddington but doesn't call at Didcot so I would have to change at Reading. Or is this not permitted because the connecting train at Reading is listed on the block list from Reading (as the 1741 towards Swansea even though it goes to Carmarthen departing Reading at 1743).

If this is not allowed, would it be possible to buy a off-peak return to Reading from Didcot, and an Off-peak return to London Paddington from Reading and use the 1706 on the return journey, changing at Reading? There don't seem to be any evening restrictions on an off-peak ticket from Didcot to Reading.

Thanks!

 

[yorkie]

Welcome

1706 is fine.

I'm not certain on this but I believe the barred trains are the services that run non-stop to Reading (though this is merely an explanation rather than 'the rule'!). The 1706 does not run non-stop to Reading, therefore is not in the list of barred trains, therefore is valid.

All that matters is: is it in the barred list? If not, then it's valid.

As for a train from Reading to Didcot, it must be a train that is not barred too! The 1741 is barred, it doesn't matter if it's extended to Carmarthen (if anything that's going to make it even busier!)

LONDON TERMINALS [1072] to DIDCOT PARKWAY [DID]
CDR - OFF-PEAK DAY R GWR
00000 - ANY PERMITTED

1 Adult @£ 21.50 = £ 21.50
__________

Restriction : P7
OUTWARD TRAVEL:
By any train scheduled to
arrive London Terminals or
Kensington Olympia at or after
1000.

The following exceptions
apply:

* Valid for travel from Marlow
at or late then 0830.

* Valid for travel from Bourne
End, Cookham or Furze Platt
at or later then 0840.

* Valid for travel from all
stations on the 0834 Reading
to Gatwick Airport service.

RETURN TRAVEL:
By any train except those
timed to depart London
Paddington or Waterloo before
0920, and those shown in the
table below for boarding at
London Paddington and Reading:

From From Final
Padd Rdg Destination
1600 1627 Bristol TM (BRI)
1606___1633___Penzance (PNZ)
1615___1641___Swansea (SWA)
1630___1657___Taunton (TAU)
1636___1704___Exeter St D(EXD)
1645___1711___Swansea (SWA)
1649___1720___Oxford (OXF)
1700___1726___Bristol TM (BRI)
1703___1732___Penzance (PNZ)
1715 1741___Swansea (SWA)
1722 1750 Hereford (HFD)
1730 1756 Taunton (TAU)
1736 1804 Paignton (PGN)
1745___1811___Carmarthen (CMN)
1748 1816 Cheltenham (CNM)
1750 1822 Worcester (WOS)
1800 1827 Bristol TM (BRI)
1803 1833 Penzance (PNZ)
1815 1841 Swansea (SWA)
1822 1850 Hereford (HFD)
1830 1856 Weston SM (WSM)
1833 1902 Exeter (EXD) FX
1833 1902 Plymouth(PLY) FO
1845 1911 Swansea (SWA)
1847 1918 Cheltenham (CNM)
1851 1922 Oxford (OXF)
1900 1927 Bristol TM (BRI)
1903 1933 Plymouth(PLY)_FX
1903 1933 Penzance(PNZ) FO
1915 1941 Swansea (SWA)

Occasionally, the departure
time or final destination of
these services may change, due
to engineering work. When
this happens, the restriction
also applies to equivalent
service.

NOTES:
TRAVEL OVER THE CHRISTMAS/NEW
YEAR PERIOD: Restrictions are
lifted on First Great Western
services from 27 December 2011
to 2 January 2012 inclusive.

 

[wintonian]

I think some trains that stop at Slough may also be on FGW's barred list, but not the slow ones.

 

[jaffa]

Thanks for the quick reply! So I'd have to use split tickets at reading to get on the 1706 as it doesn't stop at Reading and I can't get on the 1743 out of Reading as this is blocked. The thing that is confusing me is that if I select an interchange at Reading on NRE it lets you select an off-peak ticket for the 1706 changing at Reading onto the 1743. This also works on FGW when you select an off-peak return/single. Is this just an error on the booking system? If I booked reservations would this be undeniably valid?!

Thanks

 

[yorkie]

I think some trains that stop at Slough may also be on FGW's barred list, but not the slow ones.

Correct, these are Oxford trains, departing 1649 and 1851. I've done a search and these are the only 2 I can find. Did a fairly quick search so can't be 100% sure. In any case, it appears that trains that are non-stop to Maidenhead or Twyford appear to be the best trains to catch as these are not barred yet still fast. They may be extremely busy though.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Thanks for the quick reply! So I'd have to use split tickets at reading to get on the 1706 as it doesn't stop at Reading and I can't get on the 1743 out of Reading as this is blocked.

Correct. You'd save 20p, and there are no trains that are non-stop from Didcot to London without calling at Reading, so no disadvantage to splitting. The Didcot-Reading 'CDR' priced at £5.30 is valid as follows:

Restriction : W3
OUTWARD TRAVEL

By any train except those
timed to depart Mondays to
Fridays before 0900

RETURN TRAVEL

By any train except those
timed to depart Mondays to
Fridays before 0900

The thing that is confusing me is that if I select an interchange at Reading on NRE it lets you select an off-peak ticket for the 1706 changing at Reading onto the 1743. This also works on FGW when you select an off-peak return/single. Is this just an error on the booking system? If I booked reservations would this be undeniably valid?!

Thanks

Yes, the system is very, what ATOC call "simple" (*cough*), but to a normal person is actually complicated, the booking engines really struggle with the complex restriction codes, easements, negative easements, barred trains, allowed trains, and goodness knows what else. If you booked a ticket with such an itinerary you should not be charged an excess, and if you were, you could write to the company and get the excess refunded (and this would also make the company try harder to remove the mistake!) however given that "splitting" is 20p cheaper and 100% legit and valid, I'd just "split" the journey into a combination of Didcot-Reading and Reading-London 'CDR' tickets.

 

[jaffa]

Thanks - I am going to buy a travelcard into London so I can use the tube, but it's only ~60p more splitting so it will be worth avoiding arguments! Thanks again, really useful stuff!

 

[34D]

Correct. You'd save 20p, and there are no trains that are non-stop from Didcot to London without calling at Reading, so no disadvantage to splitting.

Didn't there used to be one morning up service that does/did centre road at Reading (then again, might not call at Didcot)?

 

[yorkie]

Didn't there used to be one morning up service that does/did centre road at Reading (then again, might not call at Didcot)?

Yes, there still is, it's currently 1L20 0558 from Swansea that runs non-stop from Swindon at 0758 to London Paddington (arr 0854). However this isn't an appropriate train for the OP because:

• It's not valid on an Off Peak Day ticket; and
• It does not call at Didcot

 

[dzug2]

The explanation of the evening restrictions out of Paddington used to be simple - off peak tickets were valid on turbos but not on HSTs

Whether that reflect current realities I don't know

 

[yorkie]

The explanation of the evening restrictions out of Paddington used to be simple - off peak tickets were valid on turbos but not on HSTs

Whether that reflect current realities I don't know

I'll take a guess that the 1706 to Bristol isn't a Turbo and say that doesn't reflect the current reality

 

[TEW]

Yes, there still is, it's currently 1L20 0558 from Swansea that runs non-stop from Swindon at 0758 to London Paddington (arr 0854). However this isn't an appropriate train for the OP because:

• It's not valid on an Off Peak Day ticket; and
• It does not call at Didcot

The 0715 Didcot Parkway to London also runs non-stop through Reading but once again isn't valid with an Off Peak Day ticket.

 

[34D]

The 0715 Didcot Parkway to London also runs non-stop through Reading but once again isn't valid with an Off Peak Day ticket.

Bizarre. 1P16, starts at Didcot, non stop Tilehurst p4 to Maidenhead p4 so a turbo. Believe I'm right in saying that p4 at both is the up relief, so I wonder what route this takes at Reading? Someone will know.

 

[Paul Kelly]

It is a HST. It runs through Platform 9 at Reading and only crosses over to the fast lines after calling at Maidenhead.

 

[TEW]

Skips Reading because the capacity on the train is needed for the large amount of people who board at Maidenhead. The train would be filled with Reading commuters if it stopped there.

 

[dzug2]

I'll take a guess that the 1706 to Bristol isn't a Turbo and say that doesn't reflect the current reality

It is an HST (just checked) but it runs via Bedwyn from Reading to Bristol with a fair number of stops

 

[34D]

It is a HST. It runs through Platform 9 at Reading and only crosses over to the fast lines after calling at Maidenhead.

Wow - had no idea they'd started using HSTs on services at the local stations. Sensible though. Thanks for the info