I'm looking to sample FGW's diversions this Easter during the Reading blockade. To that end, I'd like to do a day trip, probably on Saturday (but certainly one of Saturday, Sunday or Easter Monday), on an itinerary looking something like this:
10:25 Coventry-Oxford, a11:14
11:42 Oxford-Taunton (via Swindon/Bristol), a13:29
14:23 Taunton-Waterloo (via Westbury/Basingstoke), a17:32
18:27 Paddington-Oxford (via High Wycombe/Banbury), a20:09
20:36 Oxford-Coventry, a21:23
Can anyone give any advice on the cheapest ticket(s) to buy? I don't want to commit to particular trains, so no advance fares. I had a couple of ideas:
Is a Leamington-London ticket (route via Banbury) valid via Oxford even with the diversion? It's normally valid via Oxford (since it's route Banbury, not route High Wycombe). If so, one option I considered was buying a Coventry-Leamington return, a Leamington-London return, and a London-Taunton return (changing tickets at Oxford on the outward) - would that be permitted with starting short / stopping short even though there are weird routes?
Alternatively, would an Oxford-Taunton return be valid via London due to the engineering works? I don't believe it would be normally, but if it were I'd be happy to buy that and a Coventry-Oxford return.
This is all a bit complicated and probably has many grey areas, but any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm feeling somewhat out of my depth.
10:25 Coventry-Oxford, a11:14
11:42 Oxford-Taunton (via Swindon/Bristol), a13:29
14:23 Taunton-Waterloo (via Westbury/Basingstoke), a17:32
18:27 Paddington-Oxford (via High Wycombe/Banbury), a20:09
20:36 Oxford-Coventry, a21:23
Can anyone give any advice on the cheapest ticket(s) to buy? I don't want to commit to particular trains, so no advance fares. I had a couple of ideas:
Is a Leamington-London ticket (route via Banbury) valid via Oxford even with the diversion? It's normally valid via Oxford (since it's route Banbury, not route High Wycombe). If so, one option I considered was buying a Coventry-Leamington return, a Leamington-London return, and a London-Taunton return (changing tickets at Oxford on the outward) - would that be permitted with starting short / stopping short even though there are weird routes?
Alternatively, would an Oxford-Taunton return be valid via London due to the engineering works? I don't believe it would be normally, but if it were I'd be happy to buy that and a Coventry-Oxford return.
This is all a bit complicated and probably has many grey areas, but any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm feeling somewhat out of my depth.