Greater Anglia ticket validity during meltdowns

[gingerheid]

Hello

I buy greater Anglia only advance tickets from Cambridge North to Stratford (London) via Tottenham.

During meltdowns they advertise ticket acceptance for:

- London Underground between Liverpool St and King's Cross
- GTR Moorgate to Hertford North, Cambridge to Kings Cross

If I just want to get there, and if I'm willing to buy tickets for parts of journeys there's no ticket acceptance for, what additional tickets do I need to use Thameslink Cambridge to Farringdon & Lizzie Farringdon to Stratford?

Is it Finsbury Park to Stratford?

 

[Watershed]

Yes, in essence. However, worthwhile noting that such a ticket cannot be bought as an eTicket - it can only be bought as a paper ticket because of the cross-London validity.

 

[gingerheid]

Yes, in essence. However, worthwhile noting that such a ticket cannot be bought as an eTicket - it can only be bought as a paper ticket because of the cross-London validity.

Ah, thanks!

Is there anything I can buy without getting off the train?

I buy Finsbury Park to Farringdon as an eTicket and then use contactless?

Edit: May as well stay on to St P and buy an HS1 ticket?

Edit again... Damnit, no. I can't do that either as the ticket acceptance doesn't get me to St P

 

[Royston Vasey]

Hello

I buy greater Anglia only advance tickets from Cambridge North to Stratford (London) via Tottenham.

During meltdowns they advertise ticket acceptance for:

- London Underground between Liverpool St and King's Cross
- GTR Moorgate to Hertford North, Cambridge to Kings Cross

If I just want to get there, and if I'm willing to buy tickets for parts of journeys there's no ticket acceptance for, what additional tickets do I need to use Thameslink Cambridge to Farringdon & Lizzie Farringdon to Stratford?

Is it Finsbury Park to Stratford?

The ticket acceptance provided there is obviously geared to intended journeys to, from and through Liverpool Street itself, as it doesn't explicitly allow for you to get to Stratford, (not even on their own trains between Liverpool Street and Stratford - although it would surely be accepted).

The cheapest way to do this would be to use your ticket acceptance as far as Highbury and Islington (a cross platform change at Finsbury Park), then change for the Mildmay Line direct to Stratford.

Contactless fare for this is £2.10 peak, according to the TfL Single Fare Finder. The time penalty vs via Farringdon is only about 10 minutes but you avoid Z1 and I'd consider it an easier connection than Farringdon. You may need to negotiate with the barrier staff at HHY to be let out, in order to tap in, but I wouldn't expect any pushback. There are pink readers inside the barriers that you might even be able to use to touch in without leaving the paid area, but I don't know the station or the practice well enough; others will confirm if this "works".

 

[Watershed]

Ah, thanks!

Is there anything I can buy without getting off the train?

I buy Finsbury Park to Farringdon as an eTicket and then use contactless?

Yes. That would be an alternative, albeit more expensive. You can also touch in at Finsbury Park, using the standalone readers at the top of the spiral staircases down to the Underground. Probably not feasible to make it back onto the same train though.

Edit: May as well stay on to St P and buy an HS1 ticket?

Edit again... Damnit, no. I can't do that either as the ticket acceptance doesn't get me to St P

Technically no but it would only be an extreme pedant who would try to argue that ticket acceptance to Kings Cross doesn't cover you to St Pancras too.

But as @Royston Vasey says, changing at Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington may be easier. You can touch in at Finsbury Park as mentioned, or at Highbury & Islington. There are standalone yellow readers at the Victoria line platforms at H&I (at the end of each cross-platform passageway from the Great Northern platforms) as well as pink readers on the Overground (Mildmay line) platforms which can be used to touch in.

 

[Royston Vasey]

But as @Royston Vasey says, changing at Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington may be easier. You can touch in at Finsbury Park as mentioned, or at Highbury & Islington. There are standalone yellow readers at the Victoria line platforms at H&I (at the end of each cross-platform passageway from the Great Northern platforms) as well as pink readers on the Overground (Mildmay line) platforms which can be used to touch in.

If touching in at Finsbury Park, care should be taken to additionally touch the pink reader at Highbury & Islington, to avoid the Z1 premium (£3.50 c.f. £2.10). If you can indeed use the pink reader at HHY to touch in, then that's easiest!

 

[Joe Paxton]

If touching in at Finsbury Park, care should be taken to additionally touch the pink reader at Highbury & Islington, to avoid the Z1 premium (£3.50 c.f. £2.10). If you can indeed use the pink reader at HHY to touch in, then that's easiest!

Or indeed the standalone yellow readers on the Victoria line platforms at Highbury & Islington as mentioned by @Watershed above.
(Also eliminates the potential for forgetting when rushing for an Overground train that's in the platform!)

 

[gingerheid]

Huge thank yous for the wonderfully useful replies! I expect I'll be applying the knowledge next time soon enough!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Oct 2025 ==

The ticket acceptance provided there is obviously geared to intended journeys to, from and through Liverpool Street itself, as it doesn't explicitly allow for you to get to Stratford, (not even on their own trains between Liverpool Street and Stratford - although it would surely be accepted).

Excellent point. I've previously only had meltdowns that have stopped the Tottenham - Stratford job, and in that case Greater Anglia via Liverpool St is obvious and has never been a problem.

Today the problem started right at Cambridge North. What, in this case, would be the "official" diversion? Would it be Cambridge - KX - Tube to Liverpool St (as advertised), then GA to Stratford?

Or could I have argued that it was anything reasonable, such as Highbury & Islington?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Oct 2025 ==

Technically no but it would only be an extreme pedant who would try to argue that ticket acceptance to Kings Cross doesn't cover you to St Pancras too.

Would for sure only be a complete madman that argued.

*Glances at disputes forum*

Yeah, so I'm looking to do it as if any member of staff I might come across is the complete madman that we know all TOCs have at least one of...

 

[Royston Vasey]

Huge thank yous for the wonderfully useful replies! I expect I'll be applying the knowledge next time soon enough!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Oct 2025 ==


Excellent point. I've previously only had meltdowns that have stopped the Tottenham - Stratford job, and in that case Greater Anglia via Liverpool St is obvious and has never been a problem.

Today the problem started right at Cambridge North. What, in this case, would be the "official" diversion? Would it be Cambridge - KX - Tube to Liverpool St (as advertised), then GA to Stratford?

Or could I have argued that it was anything reasonable, such as Highbury & Islington?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Oct 2025 ==

Depends what else is shut really. I'd hope they'd publish acceptance between Cambridge North and Cambridge in that case which would be at least GN, probably any operator... if anything else is running between the two.

You may have no alternative but to reach Cambridge by your own steam but the staff there are GA and are pretty good with disruption advice etc.

After Cambridge, our above advice applies if the line through Tottenham is also blocked, or you might be able to join any GA train if they're running at least that far. But there's only so much they can do if Cambridge to Cambridge North is blocked!

In general I would keep refreshing and screenshotting the NRE disruption page as they do change, and adhere to what its says, and keep evidence. Hard to deal in theoreticals but if the delay advice every time is truly just copy paste of what you've quoted, a) that's a bit poor of GA and b) you can only use the acceptance they've specified, automatically at least!

One other possibility, though they won't advertise it as official acceptance (arguably falls under "any reasonable route") but there's always the Cambridge - Ipswich - Stratford routing if nothing is going towards London from Cambridge at all, it's all GA but it's a long diversion and I'd certainly ask the guard on the first train before boarding, and to endorse to your ticket when checked so you have no issue on Ipswich-Stratford.

 

[gingerheid]

Thanks!

 

[gingerheid]

I see that today, for the first time, they've specified ticket acceptance on Thameslink to Farringdon and St P

 

[hkstudent]

I see that today, for the first time, they've specified ticket acceptance on Thameslink to Farringdon and St P

i think it’s making original intended acceptance more explicit.

Cos kentish town - st pancras - london bridge / elephant are considered as inter available fare with London Underground.

The same case for Liverpool Street - Stratford on London Underground (applies to the Elizabeth Line also, as considered as London Underground fare instead of NR fare)

So it’s technically valid for using thameslink or Ham/Circle Lines + Elizabeth Line combo to Stratford for this interpretation.
But always good to get it properly explained.

 

[gingerheid]

Pleasingly, my GA only advance ticket also scanned through the barriers at St P and King's Cross, so I take a good customer (bleurgh - I hate that term!) passenger experience away from serious disruption, and they save Delay Repay because I got home within 15m of time