Hatfield - St Albans Bus

[t0ffeeman]

Travelling from Hitchin to St Albans. I planned on travelling to Hatfield and rebooking and catching a bus to St Albans. A quick look at Avantix shows there is a through ticket Route Hatfield/Albans Bus. I'll assume these are valid on the 301 and 724 buses between the two.

Does anyone use these and are these widely accepted by the bus drivers?

Please note that this is not Plus Bus as the Hatfield +Bus area doesn't quite stretch to St Albans.

In any doubt a quick way to travel from ECML to the MML and onto the WCML via the Abbey Line.

 

[asylumxl]

If you just wan't to go from Hitchin to St Albans, take the 100/101/102 from Hermitage Road into Luton, and from Church Street take the 321 to St Albans.

If this isn't what you were asking, I apologise.

 

[t0ffeeman]

I've got a PRIV so really I want to use a train ticket to keep down the cost. Its only 15mins between Hatfield & St Albans too!

 

[glynn80]

There is practically no reference to this routeing to be found within the FRPP. The only vaguely similar situation was the through tickets to Heathrow Airport using bus 724 from Watford Junction, St Albans and Hatfield.

These tickets use "Heathrow Bus" as a destination and route "Railair Watford" or "Railair St Albans" or "Railair Hatfield".

I can only assume that bus drivers on the 724 route are familiar with the Railair product and may therefore be more willing to accept other rail tickets in similar situations.

 

[charley_17/7]

Found the following in Fares Finder:

STEVENAGE. 6092 - St.ALBANS. 1548
St.ALBANS. 1548

rte HATFLD/ALBNS BUS 356

FCC
Ticket type Restrictions (S/R)
FDS S 10.70
FDR R 12.50
SDS S 7.40
SDR R 8.90
CDR B1 R 8.50

rte Any Permitted
FCC
Ticket type Restrictions (S/R)
FDS S 29.20
FDR R 60.60
SDS S 20.20
SDR R 32.50
SVR 4Q R 32.00
CDR Y4 R 23.00

However, there is no reference to it anywhere else within 'The Manual', FCC's website, OJP, or Hertfordshire CC's Intalink information!

 

[hairyhandedfool]

I think you are best asking your local ticket office, I can only presume Welham Green is covered by St Albans PlusBus.

 

[jon0844]

Hatfield plusbus extends south to Welham Green and possibly even Brookman's Park - but not Potters Bar. To the west, it goes as far as Smallford. To the north, it covers the QEII hospital (north east) but NOT WGC town centre or the train station. It doesn't really go anywhere useful to the east.

I doubt you'll find the St Albans plusbus comes anywhere close to the GN side of the FCC route. I don't know the size of the zone but I would imagine it just covers St Albans city and the surroundings for a few miles. It will of course get you to St Albans Abbey too.

 

[t0ffeeman]

Consulting my local FCC ticket office, the clerk was aware of such a service. It was described as a "special bus". However, surely I'd be the only one using it! so I reckon its the 724. Will report back when I've done the journey.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....I doubt you'll find the St Albans plusbus comes anywhere close to the GN side of the FCC route. I don't know the size of the zone but I would imagine it just covers St Albans city and the surroundings for a few miles. It will of course get you to St Albans Abbey too.

St Albans PlusBus covers Colney Heath and a bit further, and with Welham Green not being far from there, I thought it might cover.

St Albans PlusBus map

 

[t0ffeeman]

Well, I travelled to St Albans by bus from Hatfield yesterday and the ticket was valid on the "normal" Arriva buses 300 or 301. One every 15 mins. The bus drivers seemed to know about it but the rail staff didn't!

 

[jon0844]

Did anyone ever find/use this special bus and agreement with FCC for Hatfield to St Albans.

The reason I ask is that when the ECML goes tits up, I'll usually travel to St Albans instead. No problem getting out as staff would usually be aware of any problem - but unless it's a major issue, there won't always be buses put on - as people are told to either wait at King's Cross, or get buses from there (which would take years).

Now, if there's a ticketing arrangement in place - that should mean they can offer an easement on the bus so I don't have to pay to use it in these circumstances.

 

[philjo]

Just found this on the FCC website:

http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/Main.php?iCmsPageId=501
Linking Hatfield and St Albans stations
line2line bus service linking the Thameslink & Great Northern route

line2line links First Capital Connect's Great Northern and Thameslink routes with the regular bus services between Hatfield and St Albans City stations. You can buy a line2line ticket between any station on one route and any station on the other route, as long as both stations are shown on the map opposite.
Quick and simple

line2line can save you both time and money. Using line2line means that you don't need to go all the way into London to travel the six miles between Hatfield and St Albans. Changing onto the bus is easy. One ticket takes you from train to bus and back to train. The buses leave from right outside each station and the bus trip takes just 22 minutes on average.
Frequent services

There are up to five buses an hour linking the stations in each direction between 7am and 6pm on Mondays to Saturdays, with fewer in the evenings and on Sundays. You can use services 300, 301, 602, 724, 725 and 726. Check your travel times online.
Great savings

The line2line bus link is included in the cost of your rail ticket. Normal child discounts apply as well as Railcard and GroupSave discounts. Buy a line2line ticket from any one of the Thameslink route stations shown on this map to any one of the Great Northern route stations on this map - or vice versa - and you can use the line2line bus link to travel between St Albans and Hatfield stations.

Please note: you cannot buy a line2line ticket just between St Albans and Hatfield. Your journey must
begin and/or end with a train journey.



http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/content/doc/cms/Line2Line.pdf

 

[jon0844]

Now it's official, I wonder if this means they'll now have an official arrangement with the bus operators (Arriva and UNO Bus) to allow free travel for when the GN side goes down and people are allowed to travel on the TL branch. At the moment, I can go to St Albans free of charge when there's disruption but have to pay for the bus.

 

[Edvid]

Earlier today I was at Luton Airport Parkway and I asked for an Off Peak Day Return to Hitchin. The seller wasn't immediately aware of the HATFLD/ALBNS BUS routeing as he suggested I'd be better off getting a bus for the whole journey, then realised what I asked for once I mentioned line2line to him.

The ticket cost me £9.55 (including Railcard discount), which seems to be a bit on the pricey side seeing as I can travel to London and back for £7.90. It didn't work the St Albans/Hatfield barriers and the bus driver on the outward leg took a while to recognise its validity (he thought it was invalid until he saw the routeing); that said the bus driver on the return leg and the gateline staff let me through without difficulty.

Incidentally, how much does a return ticket on the 300/301/724 buses cost?

 

[holyflyer]

Well according to the GreenLine 724 website the most expensive day return is £7 (Heathrow - Harlow).

 

[87015]

Earlier today I was at Luton Airport Parkway and I asked for an Off Peak Day Return to Hitchin. The seller wasn't immediately aware of the HATFLD/ALBNS BUS routeing as he suggested I'd be better off getting a bus for the whole journey, then realised what I asked for once I mentioned line2line to him.

To be fair, he did have a point about using the normal bus from Luton to Hitchin!

You can get the freedom of Arriva for a day for £7 or thereabouts so bus fares won't be more than that.

 

[Edvid]

I know Arriva run 3 buses an hour between Luton and Hitchin* so I knew what the ticket seller was talking about, I wasn't doubting his advice and he's a decent guy to boot.

As for the £7 'freedom' ticket you mention, I remember buying that by mistake once (months ago) as I only intended to do bus travel within my local zone for a day and not the whole 'Shires & Essex' region.

(* They don't serve Luton AP though.)

 

[Edvid]

Incidentally (in case anyone else is interested), a return on the 300/301 buses costs £4.50.