Cheaper via Hastings ?

[ngood77]

Hi guys,

Hope you’re all well. I’m intending to travel off peak this week from Tonbridge to Hastings. Off peak return, with Network Railcard.

£14.75 is the fare, but if I make the journey Tonbridge to Bexhill via Hastings it’s £13 with seemingly no break of journey prohibition at Hastings. Am I permitted to do that ?

It might even spur me on to continue to Bexhill later in the day.

Thanks.

 

[Watershed]

Yes, that's fine. No restrictions on break of journey as you say. The reason it's cheaper is that the fare to Bexhill is priced by Southern, who have (historically speaking) increased their fares by lower percentages than Southeastern who price the fare to Hastings. Hence a fare for a longer journey can be cheaper, as you have found.

 

[30907]

Hi guys,

Hope you’re all well. I’m intending to travel off peak this week from Tonbridge to Hastings. Off peak return, with Network Railcard.

£14.75 is the fare, but if I make the journey Tonbridge to Bexhill via Hastings it’s £13 with seemingly no break of journey prohibition at Hastings. Am I permitted to do that ?

It might even spur me on to continue to Bexhill later in the day.

Thanks.

You are. Even Eastbourne is cheaper!

Is either ticket valid via Rye as well, I wonder?

 

[Watershed]

You are. Even Eastbourne is cheaper!

Is either ticket valid via Rye as well, I wonder?

Tickets to Pevensey Bay and west thereof pass the fares check for the Eastbourne Routeing Point Group, and therefore allow travel via Ashford/Rye (as well as via Redhill/Lewes).

 

[ngood77]

Thanks all !

I’m slightly confused by the comments about Rye, Ashford etc but it seems that if I just want to visit Hastings/Bexhill then the £13 ticket is my best bet ? Many thanks

 

[dastocks]

If it's valid now it probably won't be for much longer.

As rule it's best *not* to go public with situations like this because the fare setters read these forums. You can expect a break of journey restriction to be added in the near future.

 

[Watershed]

If it's valid now it probably won't be for much longer.

As rule it's best *not* to go public with situations like this because the fare setters read these forums. You can expect a break of journey restriction to be added in the near future.

I doubt it. Southern don't really "do" break of journey restrictions. Plus St Leonards Warrior Square is unbarriered so it wouldn't really be practicable to stop people breaking their journey there and walking to Hastings...

 

[dastocks]

I doubt it. Southern don't really "do" break of journey restrictions. Plus St Leonards Warrior Square is unbarriered so it wouldn't really be practicable to stop people breaking their journey there and walking to Hastings...

I've just checked a ticket/routing on the journey planner that did get blocked a couple of years ago, and it now appears to be valid again!

 

[ngood77]

Tickets to Pevensey Bay and west thereof pass the fares check for the Eastbourne Routeing Point Group, and therefore allow travel via Ashford/Rye (as well as via Redhill/Lewes).

Just to go back to this point about Ashford/Rye, and purely for my education purposes...is there a suggestion that via Ashford/Rye is a permitted route for a Tonbridge to Hastings ticket ? I have tried to follow the Routeing Guide (TON and HGS are both RPs) which lands me on the TN map, but that map does not highlight the Ashford to Hastings line. The fare is also vastly different. Have I done something wrong or is this route actually NOT permitted ? Many thanks again.

 

[Haywain]

is there a suggestion that via Ashford/Rye is a permitted route for a Tonbridge to Hastings ticket ?

No. The suggestion is that tickets from Tonbridge to Pevensey Bay and stations east of there are valid via Ashford and Rye.

 

[ngood77]

Hastings is east of Pevensey. Could you expand ? Thanks

 

[jfollows]

Hastings is east of Pevensey. Could you expand ? Thanks

Post #4 says west, not east.

I once submitted maths homework with a last minute annotation “if west were east and east were west, the answer would be correct”. It happens! I got no marks, though.

 

[ngood77]

Post #4 says west, not east.

The post I was replying to doesn’t.

Why would Tonbridge to Pevensey via Ashford/Rye be permitted but not Tonbridge to Hastings via Ashford/Rye ? Because Pevensey is not an RP and hence the fare check applies ?

 

[Tester]

The post I was replying to doesn’t.

Why would Tonbridge to Pevensey via Ashford/Rye be permitted but not Tonbridge to Hastings via Ashford/Rye ?

Welcome to the wonderful world of rail fares - applying logic will not assist you.

In simple terms, different fares are set by different organisations with different mindsets - a 'benefit' of privatisation.

Just make the best of what is on offer!

 

[ngood77]

Taking this to conclusion - if I wanted to travel between Tonbridge and Hastings via Rye then I’m permitted to buy a £14.10 off peak ticket (Network Railcard) from Tonbridge to Pevensey Bay, and break my journey at Hastings ? As opposed to the laughable £52 on the day price (TON to HGS via Rye) ?

 

[Watershed]

The post I was replying to doesn’t.

I think @Haywain was mistaken or may have misread my post. My post noted that the ability to travel via Ashford/Rye is only for tickets to Pevensey Bay and west thereof.

Why would Tonbridge to Pevensey via Ashford/Rye be permitted but not Tonbridge to Hastings via Ashford/Rye ? Because Pevensey is not an RP and hence the fare check applies ?

On that route the Routeing Point Groups are Hastings (St Leonards Warrior Sq and Hastings) and Eastbourne (Hampden Park and Eastbourne).

For tickets to/from members of the Hastings/Eastbourne RPGs, no fare check is needed. You simply find the maps which show the permitted routes to Hastings or Eastbourne.

For travel to intermediate stations between St Leonards Warrior Sq and Hampden Park, you have to perform the fares check. Pevensey Bay is the first station where the Eastbourne RPG passes the fares check. That's essentially because the fares from Tonbridge to Bexhill, Collington etc. are all cheaper than the fare to Eastbourne.

By contrast, the fare to Pevensey Bay is the same as the fare to Eastbourne since they are both set as part of a 'cluster' to Q433, a fares location which includes Eastbourne, Hampden Park, Pevensey & Westham and Pevensey Bay.

Taking this to conclusion - if I wanted to travel between Tonbridge and Hastings via Rye then I’m permitted to buy a £14.10 off peak ticket (Network Railcard) from Tonbridge to Pevensey Bay, and break my journey at Hastings ? As opposed to the laughable £52 on the day price (TON to HGS via Rye) ?

Yes, that would be perfectly valid. There isn't a £52 fare from Tonbridge to Hastings valid via Rye so I imagine that is a series of split tickets, perhaps suggested by NRE. NRE often suggests sub-optimal splits for non-permitted routes like that.

 

[Haywain]

I think @Haywain was mistaken or may have misread my post.

Probably. I thought I understood the thread but I am more confused than ever!

 

[ngood77]

I think @Haywain was mistaken or may have misread my post. My post noted that the ability to travel via Ashford/Rye is only for tickets to Pevensey Bay and west thereof.


On that route the Routeing Point Groups are Hastings (St Leonards Warrior Sq and Hastings) and Eastbourne (Hampden Park and Eastbourne).

For tickets to/from members of the Hastings/Eastbourne RPGs, no fare check is needed. You simply find the maps which show the permitted routes to Hastings or Eastbourne.

For travel to intermediate stations between St Leonards Warrior Sq and Hampden Park, you have to perform the fares check. Pevensey Bay is the first station where the Eastbourne RPG passes the fares check. That's essentially because the fares from Tonbridge to Bexhill, Collington etc. are all cheaper than the fare to Eastbourne.

By contrast, the fare to Pevensey Bay is the same as the fare to Eastbourne since they are both set as part of a 'cluster' to Q433, a fares location which includes Eastbourne, Hampden Park, Pevensey & Westham and Pevensey Bay.


Yes, that would be perfectly valid. There isn't a £52 fare from Tonbridge to Hastings valid via Rye so I imagine that is a series of split tickets, perhaps suggested by NRE. NRE often suggests sub-optimal splits for non-permitted routes like that.

Many thanks @Watershed for your comprehensive reply, it’s greatly informative.

You’re right, I was using NRE for the TON to HGS via Rye. Using TrainSplit I see it can be done for £18.55. Thanks

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Nov 2025 ==

the ability to travel via Ashford/Rye is only for tickets to Pevensey Bay and west thereof.

Please could you help me understand why this is the case ? Thanks

 

[Watershed]

Please could you help me understand why this is the case ? Thanks

As above it's due to the fares check - tickets to Pevensey Bay and Pevensey & Westham pass the 'fares check' for Eastbourne as the fare is the same. Tickets to Bexhill/Collington etc. fail the 'fares check' for Eastbourne as the fare is cheaper.

If Eastbourne passes the fares check, you can use the maps for Tonbridge to Eastbourne. These include via Ashford.

If Eastbourne fails the fares check, you can only use the maps for Tonbridge to Hastings. These don't include Ashford.

 

[ngood77]

If Eastbourne passes the fares check, you can use the maps for Tonbridge to Eastbourne. These include via Ashford.

This is the piece of the jigsaw I was missing, many thanks. I was stuck solely on the TN map. Cheers.