Advice re Season Ticket

[skizz]

Morning all,

I have a small query, brfares isn't really helping me too much and Southern's site is...well, useless for giving detailed information.

My wife and I are looking at a house near Horsham and as such are planning our travel if we are to move there. We both work in Westminster so need to get into Victoria and then either use the tube or bus to get over to work. Herein lies my problem.

There are multiple different fares coming up on the Southern season ticket website with little explanation of the differences or any routing restrictions. So my questions are:

1) What are the cheapest fares available for an annual ticket from Horsham to London?

2) How much extra is it to get a Zone 1 travelcard, is it possible to get a Horsham - Zone 1 season ticket and travel onward from there as the only one I can see is a Horsham - Zone 1-6 on the southern website and I don't need all zones.

3) Can I break my journey on the ticket, for example get off at East Croydon as we have family there and then get back on with no onward travel?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[maniacmartin]

Victoria station to Westminster tube station is just under a mile and the cheapest way is to walk between them. For this, you would only need a HORSHAM - LONDON VICTORIA at 3712/year each. On a rainy day, you could then just use Oyster Pay as you Go on the tube or bus.

With a HORSHAM - LONDON TERMINALS ticket at 3788/year ticket, you could also alight at Clapham Junction, take a SWT train to Waterloo (if you can squeeze on...) and then walk to Westminster from there Alternatively you could change at London Bridge for a Charing Cross train and walk from there.


If you wanted to take the tube or bus, then note that you cannot buy a Horsham - London Zone 1 season. You would have to get HORSHAM - LONDON ZONES 1-6 at 4592/year.


Yes, you can break your journey anywhere on a permitted route with a season ticket.

 

[cuccir]

Just a small correction (if I understand the Season Ticket Calculator correctly!): the £3,712.00 is a Horsham to London Victoria season ticket. The fare to London Terminals (which also allows travel to Waterloo or any of the stations listed at the bottom of this post) is £3,788.00.

London Terminals from Horsham:
London Bridge
London Cannon Street
London Charing Cross
Vauxhall
London Blackfriars
London Waterloo East
London Victoria
London Waterloo
City Thameslink

 

[CyrusWuff]

So my questions are:

1) What are the cheapest fares available for an annual ticket from Horsham to London?

Ignoring splits and routeing anomalies for a moment, a "point to point" ticket between Horsham and Victoria would set you back £3712. Though you'd then need to walk or pay for the tube or bus separately.

A more flexible ticket to London Terminals (essentially valid to Waterloo, Waterloo East, Charing Cross, Victoria, Cannon Street, London Bridge, Vauxhall, Blackfriars and City Thameslink) would be £3788 for the year and that would be valid by any operator, but still wouldn't include the bus/tube.

2) How much extra is it to get a Zone 1 travelcard, is it possible to get a Horsham - Zone 1 season ticket and travel onward from there as the only one I can see is a Horsham - Zone 1-6 on the southern website and I don't need all zones.

Leaving aside the fact that TfL require a minimum of two zones for an "in-boundary" Travelcard, as you pass through Zones 1 to 6 on the way to/from London you can't get a Horsham to Zone 1 Travelcard.

A Horsham to London Zones 1-6 Annual Travelcard is £4592, and again valid by any operator.

Considering a standalone Zones 1-2 Annual is £1256, and a Zones 1-6 is £2288, the premium of £804 (£20.10 per week) over the London Terminals ticket represents good value for money in my opinion.

3) Can I break my journey on the ticket, for example get off at East Croydon as we have family there and then get back on with no onward travel?

Yes. A season ticket is valid for unlimited journeys between any stations on a permitted route between the origin and destination named thereon.

 

[bb21]

2) How much extra is it to get a Zone 1 travelcard, is it possible to get a Horsham - Zone 1 season ticket and travel onward from there as the only one I can see is a Horsham - Zone 1-6 on the southern website and I don't need all zones.

Outboundary Travelcard seasons must include a minimum of two consecutive zones and must include Zone 6. See our Fares & Ticketing Guide, Section 5.10.

Horsham to London Zones 2-6 is £3660 a year, for which you can use to Vauxhall and change onto the 87 bus, but it will obviously take longer.

 

[skizz]

Thanks for the help guys, think the Victoria ticket makes the most sense and then Pay as you Go from there!