London Travel Advice

[gswindale]

Hi All,

I wonder if the good people here can help me?

Towards the end of February; I have to go into London for an afternoon meeting. I normally work in Reading, and live in Bracknell.

Therefore I would like to know if this is sensible & possible?
Buy a travel card from Martins Heron & travel into Reading. Go to work in the morning and then return to Reading Station about lunchtime. Then travel into Paddington and use the underground to get to my meeting. I then leave & use the underground to go to Waterloo from where I get a train direct to Martins Heron.

I believe there is a travelcard available from Martins Heron valid via Reading; however it is the break of journey at Reading that I am unclear on.

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[LexyBoy]

Off Peak Day Travelcard Route:Any Permitted, £24.30 is valid via Reading. No restrictions on break of journey (full ticket restrictions P7). There's no restrictions on trains to Reading on the outbound, so fine for your journey. (Break of journey is always permitted on Anytime tickets, but there's no need for an Anytime in this case).

You don't say how you usually travel, but if you hold a season to Reading you only need a Travelcard from Reading (£21.70, Off Peak) - also valid to return to Martins Heron.

(FYI, the Any Permitted Travelcard from Bracknell itself is also £24.30 and valid via Reading)

 

[34D]

Off Peak Day Travelcard Route:Any Permitted, £24.30 is valid via Reading. No restrictions on break of journey (full ticket restrictions P7). There's no restrictions on trains to Reading on the outbound, so fine for your journey. (Break of journey is always permitted on Anytime tickets, but there's no need for an Anytime in this case).

Aren't you making a big assumption about his work start time?

Or are you suggesting that, as "By any train scheduled to arrive London Terminals or Kensington Olympia at or after 10:00" can't apply to a down waterloo-reading train, that said train would be valid at any time?

 

[LexyBoy]

Aren't you making a big assumption about his work start time?

Or are you suggesting that, as "By any train scheduled to arrive London Terminals or Kensington Olympia at or after 10:00" can't apply to a down waterloo-reading train, that said train would be valid at any time?

Seems clear enough to me - the down train isn't scheduled to arrive at London Terminals or Kensington Olympia, therefore can't be restricted. Obviously, not much use for someone changing at Reading for Paddington, but fine for OP.

 

[34D]

Seems clear enough to me - the down train isn't scheduled to arrive at London Terminals or Kensington Olympia, therefore can't be restricted. Obviously, not much use for someone changing at Reading for Paddington, but fine for OP.

The converse is that the down train Martins Heron-Reading is never permitted "By any train scheduled to arrive London Terminals or Kensington Olympia at or after 10:00." I.e. If your train never arrives at either of them it is never a valid train.

Maybe I'm being too literal... Let's see what others think.

 

[gswindale]

Thanks - I normally drive these days - tried the train for about 6 months; but the free bus out to Thames Valley Park was a nightmare. I can now be home in the time it would take to get to Reading station in the evening!

Bearing in mind that Reading has ticket barriers; am I likely to have issues with an off-peak travel card @ 08:15?

 

[MarkyMarkD]

WebTIS doesn't allow "via Reading" from Martins Heron at all.

But it should be allowed per the Routine Guide, as routing points are Ascot and Wokingham; Ascot is ruled out by the fare rule (higher fare than Martins Heron > London off-peak travelcard) and Wokingham > London allows via Reading (and passes the fare rule).

 

[LexyBoy]

Thanks - I normally drive these days - tried the train for about 6 months; but the free bus out to Thames Valley Park was a nightmare. I can now be home in the time it would take to get to Reading station in the evening!

TVP, like many recent developments, was built with only the car in mind. It's a shame that so often the public transport routes are so poorly thought out (TVP and Green Park in Reading are both by a railway but without a convenient station - the mooted Green Park station is now cancelled).

Bearing in mind that Reading has ticket barriers; am I likely to have issues with an off-peak travel card @ 08:15?

The ticket would probably not operate the barriers, but you should be let through the manual gates. It would be advisable to print out the ticket restrictions I linked above in case you're queried, although there's usually only a cursory glance at your ticket on the manual gates.

WebTIS doesn't allow "via Reading" from Martins Heron at all.

NRE does though, and it's the "definitive source of information for all rail services in England, Wales and Scotland".

But it should be allowed per the Routine Guide, as routing points are Ascot and Wokingham; Ascot is ruled out by the fare rule (higher fare than Martins Heron > London off-peak travelcard) and Wokingham > London allows via Reading (and passes the fare rule).

<nitpick>Remember that SDS or SOS fares should be compared for the purposes of the fares check rule</nitpick>. Even if Ascot were the appropriate RP, Ascot-London also has mapped routes WX+RG allowing travel via Reading.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....NRE does though, and it's the "definitive source of information for all rail services in England, Wales and Scotland"....

Well, we have seen NRES, and other sites, give out erroneous information before, however, you can select the ticket travelling via Reading from the Great Western website also, so I rather suspect that any attempt to say it is not valid would be on very dodgy ground.

That said, the restriction code isn't very well written and taken literally it would not be valid that way Monday to Friday.

 

[clagmonster]

Seems clear enough to me - the down train isn't scheduled to arrive at London Terminals or Kensington Olympia, therefore can't be restricted. Obviously, not much use for someone changing at Reading for Paddington, but fine for OP.

Vauxhall is a London Terminal though. Therfore, it is not valid on down trains which call at Vauxhall before 10:00.

 

[LexyBoy]

Vauxhall is a London Terminal though. Therfore, it is not valid on down trains which call at Vauxhall before 10:00.

The only Waterloo-Reading service to call Vauxhall in the morning is the 0505 off Waterloo.

Bearing in mind that Reading has ticket barriers; am I likely to have issues with an off-peak travel card @ 08:15?

To further allay any doubts, use the National Rail Enquiries journey planner to plan a journey from Martins Heron to Paddington, using the "Advanced" button to select an additional 2 hours changing time. Above the fares, click "Fares with Travelcard from £24.30". This will give an itinerary for the 0717 and later departures, changing at Reading, with the Off Peak Travelcard. (this link should take you straight there, you'll need to select "show Travelcards").

 

[MarkyMarkD]

<nitpick>Remember that SDS or SOS fares should be compared for the purposes of the fares check rule</nitpick>. Even if Ascot were the appropriate RP, Ascot-London also has mapped routes WX+RG allowing travel via Reading.

Nothing wrong with a bit of nit-picking! Happy to be corrected.

 

[34D]

Vauxhall is a London Terminal though. Therfore, it is not valid on down trains which call at Vauxhall before 10:00.

The restrictions for the return journey are different (click that link near the top). But yes, if there was a 10:01 waterloo arrival that called vauxhall 09:56 that wouldn't be valid on this ticket.

 

[LexyBoy]

The restrictions for the return journey are different (click that link near the top). But yes, if there was a 10:01 waterloo arrival that called vauxhall 09:56 that wouldn't be valid on this ticket.

Clagmonster's point was that down trains which arrive at Vauxhall before 1000 wouldn't be valid for the leg to Reading. I find this a little dubious but as only the milk train calls it's not an issue.

 

[gswindale]

Thanks guys - trying to purchase now & can't as both FGW & SWT are coming up that they can't find my ticket option!
It seems to be impossible to buy anything for the advertised price!

 

[LexyBoy]

Thanks guys - trying to purchase now & can't as both FGW & SWT are coming up that they can't find my ticket option!
It seems to be impossible to buy anything for the advertised price!

What are you searching for exactly? A return journey to London Paddington should get the correct ticket; you will need to specify a time arriving into London at a time allowed on an Off Peak ticket.

Alternatively you can buy it in advance or on the day from a ticket office.

 

[bb21]

Use this one instead: http://tickets.londonmidland.com/lm/en/JourneyPlanning/MixingDeck

For destination, enter the code "0035" and the ticket should show. As you don't need any reservation, just highlight the fare at the top, don't choose any train in particular, and buy it.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Use this one instead: http://tickets.londonmidland.com/lm/en/JourneyPlanning/MixingDeck

For destination, enter the code "0035" and the ticket should show. As you don't need any reservation, just highlight the fare at the top, don't choose any train in particular, and buy it.

 

[gswindale]

Many Thanks bb21
It's frustrating when you have to use differing booking mechanisms due to inconsistencies in how they handle travel cards (I tried using "0035" on SWT and it came up invalid!)
Why we can't have 1 central booking system I don't know?