Cardiff to London Return

[ValleyLines142]

Afternoon,

Just wondering if anybody could find the cheapest ticket from Cardiff to London with a 16-25 railcard. A quick check on Train Splits shows a three-way split, at Swindon and Didcot, bringing the ticket down to £42 (Cardiff to Swindon £15.65; Swindon to Didcot £8.25; Didcot to Paddington £18.10). £42 isn't too bad, considering the standard Cardiff to London Off Peak ticket is £53.65. I imagine that is probably the best value.

Whilst I'm happy to pay £42, does anyone know of a cheaper option again, even if it means going to a station where I can complete my journey by Oyster?

Thanks in advance and happy new year!

 

[Clip]

It will all depend on the dates you want to travel dan

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

There's a through Off-Peak Return route "Warminster-Salisbury" priced at £40.60 (from the former infrequent but direct Wales & West service which went this way). Hardly much cheaper and with the new GWR timetable the journey time difference is even more pronounced (even when you compare it to limiting yourself to trains calling at Swindon as well as Didcot). During the course of the current SWR strike I certainly wouldn't consider this option unless every penny counts.

If you are happy to endure an even longer journey (and one potentially just as unreliable), extremely cheap tickets are available from Hereford to London on route "WMR/LNR only", starting at just £17.25 for the Super Off-Peak Return (which also carries heavy time restrictions every day except Sundays). It's then rather disproportionately expensive to get to Hereford, costing at least £15.90 for an Off-Peak Day Return. At least this fare will fall by a few percent in the New Year due to TfW's fare cuts, unlike all other fares in question. That makes for a current total of £33.15 which I'd imagine is about the best you'll get without buying Advances.

It may be possible to get to Hereford cheaper another way (I don't know if there are any bus services from the heads of the Valleys?). Admittedly this would make an already slow journey even slower. I guess that depends on your appetite for budget vs convenience! If you have access to a car it may be worth considering driving to Hereford but then I guess it depends on the cost of fuel and parking, and at that point it's almost worth railheading elsewhere...

 

[Wirewiper]

>>> if it means going to a station where I can complete my journey by Oyster? <<<

Look at prices to Slough, you can use the 81 bus from there as it is a TfL bus service. The bus station is directly opposite the rail station.

 

[Non Multi]

At peak times I've used Hayes and Harlington to change to Oyster for cheaper journeys into London. There's a more frequent service to Paddington there than at West Drayton. Off peak, the saving will be smaller and maybe not worth the effort. From 2/1/2020 it's £11.40 off peak return 16-25 Railcard, Didcot to Hayes and Harlington.

 

[mmh]

If you don't mind not being on a train, the cheapest way is by Megabus.

 

[extendedpaul]

I have to travel regularly between London and S.Wales and have switched to National Express as the cost difference is so great. I usually pay between £7.80 and £11.00 return to Cardiff, booking 1-2 weeks in advance. The advance train fare has doubled in the last 8 years whereas competition with Megabus keeps coach fares low. Megabus is usually slightly cheaper but less reliable in my experience, plus most journeys now go via Bristol.

I'd much rather go by train but even with a railcard the cost difference is substantial and for me justifies the extra journey time. When I had to travel at short notice recently a coach for the following day was priced at a quarter of the train fare.

 

[ValleyLines142]

I do usually use Megabus and it's quite good as you can now pay a supplement to reserve your seat. But because of the engineering work between Cardiff and Bristol they've hiked the prices up massively.

To be fair, the Slough option and using the 81 was a grand idea because I do enjoy stopping off at Heathrow and taking a couple of shots of some commercial aircraft coming in, and the 81 goes right along Bath Road! But my concern is I'm going to Woolwich later this afternoon, so I've somehow got to get from Woolwich to Slough, which could be a tour and a half!