London - Redhill twice a week - advice requested

[NewfJat]

Hello - I need a Zones 1-5 annual travelcard but also need to commute to Redhill twice a week, beyond Zone 6. Is there a more cost-effective way to do this than simply buy a 6-zone to Redhill annual card? That is an expensive ticket.

It is not very convenient to purchase the Redhill portion separately every time. Is there a way to buy these extensions in advance, in packets of 10, 20 etc?

Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[MikeWh]

For just two days a week you do not want to be buying any season ticket for almost all journeys (and certainly this one). Fortunately you satisfy two of the conditions for split ticketing in that one ticket is a season and the train will stop at East Croydon on the way to Redhill. Therefore you can buy East Croydon to Redhill returns. You will need to know the dates you need them as Southern don't do carnets, but you can buy more than one ticket at once, either from a ticket office or online. Also, Southern ticket machines allow you to buy tickets for travel from a different station, so you could pick the ticket up at Victoria for instance.

 

[NewfJat]

Cheers - I am grateful for that useful reply; I did not know about split ticketing. But I should have noted that I do not always go to Redhill on the same days each week and so I don't have the dates of travel in advance. It is pretty ad hoc and I think I am still stuck.

Many thanks

 

[MikeWh]

OK, assuming that you'll be at work in London and find out that you need to go to Redhill. Jump on the southern website and buy a return from East Croydon to Redhill. You can save the journey as a regular to save time on future trips. Select pick-up from station (should be offered by default) and don't worry about where it says to pick up from. Pay using a credit card, the whole transaction should take no more than 5 minutes first time and less after that because you'll save some of your details. Although you are supposed to allow 2 hours between booking and collection, in practice you will be able to pick up immediately. You then go to Victoria (or London Bridge or wherever), insert your credit card into a ticket machine and enter the booking reference supplied at the end of the purchase. Out will come the tickets, you're ready to go. Assuming your annual travelcard is on Oyster, don't worry about not touching out at the end of zone 5 because it isn't required. Your East Croydon to Redhill ticket will take over before the end of zone 5 so you're fine. Use the ticket in the gates at Redhill. If you have to go straight from home to Redhill then you can still order online and pick up from any NR station ticket machine (at least definitely any within the London area). On the way back use the ticket to open the gates at Redhill and your travelcard when back in London. There is no issue with using two tickets because they cover the entire journey and two of the three join conditions are met (where you only need to meet one to be valid).

 

[soil]

Boxhill - Betchworth (£18.90/wk) is valid to Redhill with your ticket, if you must have a season. Not sure if it would work the barriers at Redhill though.....

 

[tsr]

Boxhill - Betchworth (£18.90/wk) is valid to Redhill with your ticket, if you must have a season. Not sure if it would work the barriers at Redhill though.....

I would hope so, though if not, the gateline staff are very pleasant and will let you through without trouble if you provide a valid explanation. Alternatively, the Platform 3 entrance is unbarriered and the only checks are done at random by a real live human being.

 

[MikeWh]

Boxhill - Betchworth (£18.90/wk) is valid to Redhill with your ticket, if you must have a season. Not sure if it would work the barriers at Redhill though.....

Though note that if you used that season with a travelcard season then the train MUST stop at East Croydon. Won't usually be a problem, but just be aware.

 

[nicobobinus]

There is an option that will cost you nil, but carries the highest time penalty, and that is the 405 bus from Croydon to Redhill - as it is a TfL bus route, any travelcard for any zone will be valid throughout. Doing so would put an extra 40-50 minutes on the journey, however.

 

[bb21]

While the Boxhill - Betchworth ticket is technically valid via East Croydon. I must point out that you are almost certain to be challenged if checked onboard. It is quite clearly not intended to be valid that way so expect hassle. There is a very good chance that you might have to fight Penalty Fares/TIRs/UPFNs on a regular basis and have "discussions" with staff onboard.

You need to decide whether all the extra potential hassle is worth the saving over two East Croydon - Redhill tickets per week.

 

[NewfJat]

Grateful for all suggestions. I am of course not only seeking to be cost-effective but also to avoid having to purchase tickets all the time at rush hour.

I have just discovered the Southern Smartcard. Maybe it would be good if I could use a 6-zone Travelcard for part of the commute and then the Smartcard beyond Zone 6. But I think the problem is that I would not be able to touch in at the edge of Zone 6, and vice versa. I have asked Southern but no reply just yet.

many thanks.

 

[zoneking]

There are non stop trains from East Croydon, usually on the Portsmouth/Bognor Regis /Southampton routes. The stopping trains go to Horsham or Tonbridge or Reigate. At peak times a few differences (some Portsmouth/Bognor Regis /Southampton don't stop at Redhill).
Enjoy the smell - I pass through Redhill occasionally. You notice the smell immediately, not living there.

 

[sarahj]

The Southern Smarcard, The Key, is stuck as far north as Redhill at the moment, in time it might make to Mertsham, but after that, Coulsdon South is in TFL land and this is oyster only. Oyster is old tech, while the key is newer tech. We are even having issues on the Redhill - Tonbridge line for introduction due to that line also being SE trains. Plus, at the moment, the Key is only used to season ticket loading, not PAYG or single tickets, so would be no good to you as well.

I have to admit as a guard, I might have questioned a Boxhill-Betchworth ticket. unlike what some people think, we dont spend all our spare time reading the routing guide. And I'm one of the few who come on here to find out more on bizzare RJ ticket combos.

IIRC the smell is the sign factory

 

[tsr]

The Southern Smarcard, The Key, is stuck as far north as Redhill at the moment, in time it might make to Mertsham, but after that, Coulsdon South is in TFL land and this is oyster only. Oyster is old tech, while the key is newer tech. We are even having issues on the Redhill - Tonbridge line for introduction due to that line also being SE trains. Plus, at the moment, the Key is only used to season ticket loading, not PAYG or single tickets, so would be no good to you as well.

I have to admit as a guard, I might have questioned a Boxhill-Betchworth ticket. unlike what some people think, we dont spend all our spare time reading the routing guide. And I'm one of the few who come on here to find out more on bizzare RJ ticket combos.

IIRC the smell is the sign factory

Actually, the Key works as far North as Merstham, not that it's any more helpful to stop there.

I can't see why the Redhill-Tonbridge route is a problem as the line itself is exclusively served by Southern, so all that would be needed is an explanation at Tonbridge that smartcard readers are for Southern passengers only. My understanding would be that things like the Edenbridge-Edenbridge Town interchange would be more problematic, but bearing in mind the Uckfield Line is starting to have readers installed quite widely, I imagine a similar level of behind-the-scenes programming for out-of-station interchanges is also taking place.

The season ticket limitation for Key use is a big problem, though.

Last but not least, I'm not sure if you're referring to the really nasty landfill smell, which is from the Biffa disposal plant on Nutfield Marsh (between Redhill and Merstham adjacent to the nature reserve land East of the Quarry Line). (This plant is used to extract methane from waste and is not pleasant at all. It is very near the Fuller's Earth quarry, which I believe supplied the Olympics 2012 Beach Volleyball with Redhill 25 sand (or at least some of it).) If not, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure the Stocksigns factory doesn't give off a noticeable odour. I've gone right up to the front driveway of that place and never smelt anything whatsoever.

 

[Be3G]

I have to admit as a guard, I might have questioned a Boxhill-Betchworth ticket. unlike what some people think, we dont spend all our spare time reading the routing guide. And I'm one of the few who come on here to find out more on bizzare RJ ticket combos.

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick a tad – it's the complete opposite: members here are concerned that guards often don't even know what the routeing guide is, let alone know how to read it. Questioning an odd ticket is fine, but I'd like to think that guards will investigate rather than decreeing a valid ticket as invalid. And to be fair, it sounds like you tend towards the former rather than latter.

 

[sarahj]

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick a tad – it's the complete opposite: members here are concerned that guards often don't even know what the routeing guide is, let alone know how to read it. Questioning an odd ticket is fine, but I'd like to think that guards will investigate rather than decreeing a valid ticket as invalid. And to be fair, it sounds like you tend towards the former rather than latter.

It was a tad tounge in cheek. Whenever RJ has some bizzare ticket, someone pops up and says, more training for guards. However, since RJ and others seem to spend all their spare time reading it and looking for bizzare fare options, it does seem that these people think we should spend all our spare time reading it, when TBH we come across these once in a blue moon, perhaps less. So when someone on here suggests a bizzare fare, TBH the only way we can check is go online and spend time seeing whats what. In Brighton we have just been given a draft of a printed fares info thats 40 pages of very dry info, and even that does not cover half of what RJ and co get up to. We are playing catch up to those that spend time to save money, and frankly we can never catch up. And to be fair, if we come across a bizzare routing, its a question of who to ask in a short time frame, and since RJ's last ticket issue took pages of thoughts on if it was valid, what chance to we have.

 

[island]

Grateful for all suggestions. I am of course not only seeking to be cost-effective but also to avoid having to purchase tickets all the time at rush hour.

I have just discovered the Southern Smartcard. Maybe it would be good if I could use a 6-zone Travelcard for part of the commute and then the Smartcard beyond Zone 6. But I think the problem is that I would not be able to touch in at the edge of Zone 6, and vice versa. I have asked Southern but no reply just yet.

many thanks.

Do you need zone 6 validity? Why not just 1-5?

 

[Urban Gateline]

Do you need zone 6 validity? Why not just 1-5?

Probably because the "Smartcard" in question is not compatible with Oyster so it wouldn't work inside the London Zones to touch in from the Boundary of Zone 5

 

[mattdickinson]

Probably because the "Smartcard" in question is not compatible with Oyster so it wouldn't work inside the London Zones to touch in from the Boundary of Zone 5

The Key is now valid as far as Purley.