Goostrey to Reading via London

[Puffing Devil]

Hi,

Trying to get to Reading on 9/9, leaving GTR on the 18:43 or 19:43 to Crewe, then to Euston, Paddington and Reading.

I prefer via London as I have am employer who will cover reasonably priced 1st tickets and the journey is nicer than London Midland to BHM then CC to Reading. Virgin are a tad more punctual and there's plenty of trains to Reading from Paddington. Overall the journey time is the about the same, without the depressing connection at BHM.

Now the issue(s). There should be a VS Priced Advanced 1st through tickets for the route at £48 or £70. I can never find any of these. Let me know how I can hunt these down.

So I normally do my own split at Euston, use an Oyster for the Tube and get a 2nd Class off peak to Reading from Paddington. On the 9/9 there is a CRE-EUS 19:23 @ £51 and a 19:29 @ £38. Booking a connection from GTR always forces me on the earlier train upping the connected fare. How can I force a connection on the later train? Single CRE-GTR is £5.30, but only adds a pound or two to a connecting fare.

 

[Ebore]

Hi,

Trying to get to Reading on 9/9, leaving GTR on the 18:43 or 19:43 to Crewe, then to Euston, Paddington and Reading.

I prefer via London as I have am employer who will cover reasonably priced 1st tickets and the journey is nicer than London Midland to BHM then CC to Reading. Virgin are a tad more punctual and there's plenty of trains to Reading from Paddington. Overall the journey time is the about the same, without the depressing connection at BHM.

Now the issue(s). There should be a VS Priced Advanced 1st through tickets for the route at £48 or £70. I can never find any of these. Let me know how I can hunt these down.

So I normally do my own split at Euston, use an Oyster for the Tube and get a 2nd Class off peak to Reading from Paddington. On the 9/9 there is a CRE-EUS 19:23 @ £51 and a 19:29 @ £38. Booking a connection from GTR always forces me on the earlier train upping the connected fare. How can I force a connection on the later train? Single CRE-GTR is £5.30, but only adds a pound or two to a connecting fare.

If you book with a WebTIS booking engine (East Coast, London Midland etc.) search 'Timetables Only' specifying trains which call at Milton Keynes Central, then click 'Buy a ticket' and the cheaper fare appears.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Update - this no longer works with London Midland.

Have to search by timetable, via MKC.

On timetable screen further option to "Show Trains Calling at". Enter MKC.

Correct train shows - but no option to buy tix on LM. Even when signed in.

 

[yorkie]

East Coast website is happy to issue an itinerary on 1843 Goostrey - Crewe and 1929 Crewe - Euston, and you can get the ticket issued to Slough for only a little more, at £46.

Providing the train calls at Slough, you only then need to add a Slough - Reading ticket.

I don't know why it won't issue the ticket to Reading.

(By the way I assumed 9/9 was meant to be 9th December, but the same principle should work any day, subject to availability)

 

[Puffing Devil]

Sorry - a little clarification.

This is for the 1st Advance from Goostrey-Crewe-Euston

From Crewe-Euston the 19:23 always seems to price out at more than the 19:29 and they both timed into Euston at 21:05 and 21:06 respectively - so no point in taking the earlier train for more money.

The complication is forcing the cheap connection from Goostrey onto the later train from Crewe. Ebore's excellent suggestion used to work, but now fails on London Midland. As you say, still possibly on East Coast. Will need to price up First class to Slough, but am sure it will be more than the £39 normally charged just to Euston.

 

[yorkie]

Yes, £46 to Slough, using the 'calling at' feature, gives the itinerary you require, as shown in the attached screenshot. You can get it as far as Twyford for a tiny bit more, but then you'd be on a stopper.

 

[Puffing Devil]

On the 21 November £46 to Slough for 1st Adv, only anytime single at £210 for the full trip to Reading.

I'm guessing that the XS on the Slough to Reading on the £46 ticket in 1st would be huge and would prevent me taking a fast train from Paddington?

(Looks like we X-posted!)

 

[yorkie]

You can't over-distance excess an Advance.

Slough - Reading is about £8 in standard, £14ish first, fares on www.brfares.com

You'd need to get a semi-fast train, rather than a non-stop fast, if you split at Slough.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Hmm - this is on the company dime - hence 1st, but I do like to keep costs down.

So it's £46+£14(to avoid the walk of shame out of first class at Slough) = £60.

or £39+£2.10Tube+£12.65 half an off peak return and take a fast train in Std. = £53.75.

I think I may go for option 2, as standard in the HST is just fine for 25 minutes. Even if I did swap class at Slough, the cost would be about the same as getting the HST all the way. I do save as I can use half the return to go back on the Friday evening, picking up another advance from Euston.

Knowing about the Slough through ticket is good news as I do sometimes stop off there, also maybe for swapping to Heathrow Connect services.

Thanks for the great advice!

 

[yorkie]

No probs. The advice was purely based on a single journey. Making a return can make a big difference, as your calculations show.