Return to Penzance?

[LanW]

I have a couple of queries…

I’m looking to travel from Swindon to Penzance on the 12th Jun and return on the 16th, with as few changes as possible. On Trainline there’s a train at 10:56 via Temple Meads which would be ideal, but when I look on GWR this train doesn’t seem to exist… it shows no trains at all between 9:43 and 11:01. But if I search for single tickets to Temple Meads the 10:56 shows up, and so does the connecting train from Temple Meads to Penzance… but it won’t let me buy the full journey. Can anyone shed some light on why this is?

The off-peak return ticket for this journey says “Travel is allowed via any permitted route”… does this mean I could theoretically take any route, i.e. via Westbury with 3 changes, or would it have to be via Temple Meads?

 

[ainsworth74]

On Trainline there’s a train at 10:56 via Temple Meads which would be ideal, but when I look on GWR this train doesn’t seem to exist… it shows no trains at all between 9:43 and 11:01. But if I search for single tickets to Temple Meads the 10:56 shows up, and so does the connecting train from Temple Meads to Penzance… but it won’t let me buy the full journey. Can anyone shed some light on why this is?

I suspect the vagaries of different booking engines and how they interpret the same data! In this case I have a feeling it's because the 1056 changing at Bristol arrives at 1642 into Penzance whilst the 1101 changing three times (Westbury, Taunton and Plymouth) arrives at 1612. It's the faster journey and is therefore shown in preference to the slower (but arguably simpler!) journey by GWR's booking engine.

The Forum has a ticketing site (powered by TrainSplit) which can sell the journey you require and, if you're willing to tie yourself to specific trains, can even save you some money compared to the Off-Peak Return (it can also find a smaller saving on flexible tickets as well). See here. We get a small amount of commission towards running the Forum if you buy through our ticketing site.

 

[Nottingham59]

when I look on GWR this train doesn’t seem to exist

Welcome to the forum. You have to specify "via Bristol TM" for the GWR booking engine to find that routing for you. There a tickbox labelled "via/avoid" that appears only after you click on the "amend journey" button

 

[sonic2009]

If you wanted easier changes to reduce the need to cross platforms such as Bristol Temple Meads & Plymouth you could specify via Bristol Parkway should arrive P2 and leave from P2 and change at either Exeter or Newton Abbott.

 

[jfollows]

The off-peak return ticket for this journey says “Travel is allowed via any permitted route”… does this mean I could theoretically take any route, i.e. via Westbury with 3 changes, or would it have to be via Temple Meads?

"Any permitted" means "as defined by the Routeing Guide", which in turn means as shown on maps GW and WR in https://data.atoc.org/routeing-maps. GW gives routes via Westbury, as shown in the attached extract:

So essentially you can go via Bristol or via Westbury. And Bath or Bristol Parkway are both valid if you go via Bristol.

 

[mangyiscute]

If you wanted easier changes to reduce the need to cross platforms such as Bristol Temple Meads & Plymouth you could specify via Bristol Parkway should arrive P2 and leave from P2 and change at either Exeter or Newton Abbott.

Worth noting that due to engineering works theres only a very limited service from Swindon to Bristol Parkway on both of those days so via Bath and changing at Temple Meads is pretty much the only option besides via Westbury

 

[LanW]

Many thanks for all your advice. After changing the options to go via Temple Meads it shows a 10:56 train but only a 2 change option, not the 1 change that goes straight through from Temple Meads. I’m not sure why unless it’s just the way the GWR site works, as the option shows up elsewhere!

 

[sonic2009]

Many thanks for all your advice. After changing the options to go via Temple Meads it shows a 10:56 train but only a 2 change option, not the 1 change that goes straight through from Temple Meads. I’m not sure why unless it’s just the way the GWR site works, as the option shows up elsewhere!

I've just managed to get the 1 change option on the GWR site. Specify via Weston Super Mare and it will offer the 1 change at Bristol Temple Meads onto this service :

1155 Bristol Temple Meads to Penzance
Departing on 12th June 2023​

Great Western Railway

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:P75959/2023-06-12/detailed

 

[mangyiscute]

Many thanks for all your advice. After changing the options to go via Temple Meads it shows a 10:56 train but only a 2 change option, not the 1 change that goes straight through from Temple Meads. I’m not sure why unless it’s just the way the GWR site works, as the option shows up elsewhere!

I think this again is because if you catch the trains from Bristol to Plymouth and then change at Plymouth you can get to Penzance half an hour faster than catching the direct train, because the direct train goes via Weston-super-Mare. However, this means that if you input via weston-super-mare then you can get the one change option you are after. However, I would suggest going the faster route if you can, since it is a 29 minute change in Plymouth so there isn't much risk in missing that connection, and plymouth is quite a simple station to navigate. This train also starts in Plymouth so a seat will be almost guaranteed.
If you are buying that flexible ticket, you can take any route of via Westbury, via Bristol temple meads on the fast train to Plymouth and change, or via Bristol temple meads and the slow train via weston-super-mare.
I would recommend looking on tickets.railforums.co.uk as you can save over £50 with split advance tickets

 

[LanW]

Ah brilliant, thanks. It’s the middle portion of the journey I’d like to avoid, on Cross Country, as whenever I’ve been on it I’ve had to stand for hours (Presumably because it’s been picking up passengers since Newcastle!). I think it’d be quieter on the 1 change route so I don‘t mind it taking a bit longer.

I think I will probably go for split tickets. But if for example the train to Bristol was delayed and I miss the connection because of it, would I then be able to take one of the other routes?

 

[jfollows]

I think I will probably go for split tickets. But if for example the train to Bristol was delayed and I miss the connection because of it, would I then be able to take one of the other routes?

No.

If you split your tickets then the routes you can take are determined separately by the separate tickets. So if, for example, you have Swindon-Bristol and Bristol-Penzance you have to go via Bristol. The information I gave in post 5 above is for a Swindon-Penzance "any permitted" ticket, such as the off-peak return you specified in your original post.

 

[mangyiscute]

Ah brilliant, thanks. It’s the middle portion of the journey I’d like to avoid, on Cross Country, as whenever I’ve been on it I’ve had to stand for hours (Presumably because it’s been picking up passengers since Newcastle!). I think it’d be quieter on the 1 change route so I don‘t mind it taking a bit longer.

I think I will probably go for split tickets. But if for example the train to Bristol was delayed and I miss the connection because of it, would I then be able to take one of the other routes?

If the train was delayed coming into Bristol and you missed the connecting train, you'd be allowed to take the next train from Bristol to Penzance provided it called at all of the places that your ticket is split at (which it most likely will since they mostly follow the same pattern) - except that you generally can't take a train from a different TOC to your advance ticket without explicit permission (if you had an advance for the gwr service, you couldn't then take a cross country train unless you ask the train manager on that cross country train for permission)

 

[Watershed]

If the train was delayed coming into Bristol and you missed the connecting train, you'd be allowed to take the next train from Bristol to Penzance provided it called at all of the places that your ticket is split at (which it most likely will since they mostly follow the same pattern) - except that you generally can't take a train from a different TOC to your advance ticket without explicit permission (if you had an advance for the gwr service, you couldn't then take a cross country train unless you ask the train manager on that cross country train for permission)

The exception being if you would otherwise be stranded, or delayed by more than an hour. In that case you're entitled to have GWR re-route you to your destination at the earliest opportunity (i.e. arrange ticket acceptance or similar to get you on the next train towards your destination, regardless of its route, stops or operator), albeit this is sometimes more of a theoretical right given that staff have been given little or no training on its existence.