London Terminals Query

[Mark_re]

Hi all,

I regularly do Southampton Central - Waterloo on a Super Offpeak Day Return, but something I'm never sure about is what happens at the London end. I am often travelling to near Trafalgar Square, so it's quite handy to go to Charing Cross from Waterloo East. Is this strictly allowed with this ticket? The gates won't open at Charing X, though I just got waved through (I usually have a travelcard).

So the journey is Soton Central - Charing X, changing at Waterloo. Is this permitted with a Super Offpeak Day Return from Southampton Central to London Terminals?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[NSE]

If it has London Terminals as your destination then I see no reason for it to be wrong. Your chosen terminal is Charing Cross, it just so happens you going through another to get there.
I don't know for sure, but I guess it all good!

 

[Mojo]

I believe this is the reason why the gates at Waterloo chuck back any single/return "London Terminals" tickets as opposed to retaining them, for people to continue their journey via Waterloo East.

 

[IainH]

Yup, thats correct, from Waterloo you can go on to Charing Cross, London Bridge, and even from LB to Cannon St or Blackfriars if you wanted. What you can't do is go to City Thameslink and beyond (although its a bit of a convoluted route to do this anyway). You could also get off at Clapham Jct and go to Victoria. All come under London Terminals (as does Vauxhall). The gates at Waterloo seem to always give you the ticket back, but London Bridge always swallows them, so if you were breaking your journey there beware - show the ticket and say you are breaking your journey.

 

[Bill Badger]

Yup, thats correct, from Waterloo you can go on to Charing Cross, London Bridge, and even from LB to Cannon St or Blackfriars if you wanted. What you can't do is go to City Thameslink and beyond (although its a bit of a convoluted route to do this anyway). You could also get off at Clapham Jct and go to Victoria. All come under London Terminals (as does Vauxhall). The gates at Waterloo seem to always give you the ticket back, but London Bridge always swallows them, so if you were breaking your journey there beware - show the ticket and say you are breaking your journey.

I don't beleive that is totally right, I agree with all of it other than on a London Terminals ticket via Waterloo you can go TO City Thameslink, but you can't go BEYOND

 

[swt_passenger]

I believe this is the reason why the gates at Waterloo chuck back any single/return "London Terminals" tickets as opposed to retaining them, for people to continue their journey via Waterloo East.

SWT explicitly stated in a FAQ or webchat some while back that the gates had been programmed to return LT tickets specifically to allow for Charing Cross (at least).

 

[tivoli]

What is the definition of 'London Terminals' then? If I have at ticket from Cambridge to London Terminals, I can travel either to Kings Cross or Liverpool Street, but I can't carry on to say Paddington or Waterloo.

 

[Bill Badger]

What is the definition of 'London Terminals' then?

SWT provide the following which is a pretty good a summary

Tickets to or from London Terminals are valid for travel at the following London Stations, depending on the the route of the journey being made.

City Thameslink
Kings Cross Thameslink
London Blackfriars
London Bridge
London Cannon Street
London Charing Cross
London Euston
London Fenchurch Street
London Kings Cross
London Liverpool Street
London Marylebone
London Paddington
London St Pancras
London Victoria
London Waterloo
London Waterloo East
Moorgate Underground
Old Street Underground
Vauxhall

The ticket will NOT include travel between these stations on London Underground, Docklands Light Railway or London Buses. They are also NOT valid if travelling beyond King's Cross Thameslink from the north or beyond City Thameslink from the south.

 

[shinkansen1966]

. What you can't do is go to City Thameslink and beyond

Interesting. Occassionally, I travel from London to Tonbridge. On the way back, my London Terminals ticket allows me to travel from Tonbridge to London Bridge, then onto St Pancras International on the Thameslink service via Blackfriars. This is particularly useful for me, as at St Pancras, I can switch to a local bus for the last short leg to the Crouch End area

 

[MikeWh]

Interesting. Occassionally, I travel from London to Tonbridge. On the way back, my London Terminals ticket allows me to travel from Tonbridge to London Bridge, then onto St Pancras International on the Thameslink service via Blackfriars. This is particularly useful for me, as at St Pancras, I can switch to a local bus for the last short leg to the Crouch End area

I don't think it should. Does it operate the gates at St Pancras? London Terminals tickets from Kent are only valid at St Pancras if travel is via HS1.

 

[swt_passenger]

There is apparently only one mag stripe code for London Terminals (LT) Mike, so AFAICS any ticket showing LT will work any station barrier that is an LT, whether the route is valid or not. It's quite a difficult thing to fix, eg from down here in Hants London Terminals can include Paddington all the way round anticlockwise to London Bridge, but not the others - how would they code that on a ticket?

 

[MikeWh]

Fair enough. However, were a passenger to encounter a ticket check between City Thameslink and St Pancras International they would be liable for a penalty fare.

 

[button_boxer]

In simple terms I believe the rule is that London Terminals tickets are not valid at or through Farringdon. So you can get to City TL from the south or St Pancras from the north on a London Terminals ticket but you need a zone 1 ticket to get to St P from the south or City from the north.

 

[amcluesent]

Before it closed, for ages I'd been using an LT ticket to get to Kings Cross, walk over to St Pancras and use the Thameslink to Blackfriars. Gates worked fine. And in reverse, of course.

Seem to recall using an LT to get off FCC at Finsbury Park, change to Victoria Line (no gates) and get through the barriers at Victoria. Didn't work in reverse.

 

[yorkie]

Seem to recall using an LT to get off FCC at Finsbury Park, change to Victoria Line (no gates)

That's valid, but only as far as Moorgate.

Also valid is St Pancras (or, back then, King's Cross Thameslink) or King's Cross St Pancras to Moorgate on Thameslink or London Underground.

This is known as "dual route availability".