Brighton to Tamworth query.

[matt9f]

I'm travelling from Brighton to Beverley on 23/12/18, returning 28/12/18. For a change, I'm thinking of going via Tamworth, splitting at Sheffield. There's a £48.20 off peak return from Brighton to Tamworth (Southern and West Midlands only) but National Rail only finds a sole 09:27 departure at this price. All others seem to be £78.80. The only reason I can find is engineering works on the West London line between Clapham and Watford??? Will I be able to buy this ticket on the day and go via Euston?

 

[sonic2009]

Perfectly fine, there is a Maltese cross on the ticket so you can use the underground. Trainsplit offers journeys via London Bridge & Euston on the 23rd.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

If Advances remain available on Chiltern for both dates around the time you want to travel, you may find it significantly cheaper to get one ticket from Brighton to Birmingham Moor Street, and others from there onwards. You will normally need to manually route the journey planner via City Thameslink or the like to get it to offer the Advance in conjunction with a Thameslink service.

Having Southern services in the itinerary can increase the price of the Advance or prevent it from being sold entirely, since many Southern services to and from London are reservable and they often don't release much 'and connections' Advance availability on them. All Thameslink services are unreservable so this issue doesn't arise there.

Alternatively, if Advances remain on sale from Brighton to London and London to Tamworth that could also be a worthwhile option.

 

[matt9f]

Thanks for the advice. I need to be a bit flexible with departure times on the return so not using Advances. Will definitely look at going via Moor St in the future, even if just for a change of view!