Routing - Aldershot to Kings Cross

[rob.rjt]

I am traveling from Aldershot to Kings Cross next Friday (28 Jan) for a meeting, and work have kindly provided me with a ticket. As the destination is in London, this is a day travelcard valid between Aldershot & London Zones 1-6, route Any Permitted

National Rail Enquiries provides the following routes to get me to London:

A) Aldershot to Waterloo via Brookwood & Woking (direct train)
B) Aldershot to Waterloo via Guildford & Woking (change @ Guildford and either stopping at either Worplesdon or Woking)

I know of two other routes which may be valid.

C) Aldershot to Waterloo via Ascot (direct train)
D) Aldershot to Waterloo via Guildford & Clandon (change @ Guildford and non-stop to Waterloo).

I would be very grateful for some help/advice on the following questions:

1) Is via Guildford & Woking *really* a permitted route as I would think it would be longer?

2) If I *can* travel via Guildford & Woking, does this apply to any train on that route?

3) If a train is shown at Guildford to be going non-stop to Waterloo, can I catch the train without worrying that it will go via Clandon?

4) Do I have to reach a London Terminal, or do I just have to reach zone 6 (i.e could I decide to go via Ewell [East or West])?

Many thanks for your help, from someone who normally just lurks.

 

[bb21]

A) Aldershot to Waterloo via Brookwood & Woking (direct train)
B) Aldershot to Waterloo via Guildford & Woking (change @ Guildford and either stopping at either Worplesdon or Woking)
C) Aldershot to Waterloo via Ascot (direct train)
D) Aldershot to Waterloo via Guildford & Clandon (change @ Guildford and non-stop to Waterloo).

Yes to all. (C) is valid as it is a direct train. (D) is valid using map DK and Guildford as a Routeing Point.

1) Is via Guildford & Woking *really* a permitted route as I would think it would be longer?

Yes as Guildford is a valid Routeing Point for this journey and Woking is a permitted route between Guildford and London Terminals.

2) If I *can* travel via Guildford & Woking, does this apply to any train on that route?
3) If a train is shown at Guildford to be going non-stop to Waterloo, can I catch the train without worrying that it will go via Clandon?

Yes, as long as it follows the permitted route between Guildford and Woking / London, although I doubt that there would be any train between these points that are not on a permitted route.

4) Do I have to reach a London Terminal, or do I just have to reach zone 6 (i.e could I decide to go via Ewell [East or West])?

I think you need to be on a permitted route to reach any station within the travelcard area (as opposed to an appropriate London Terminal) although I'm not 100% sure on this. To answer your question, using Guildford as the Routeing Point, Ewell West is valid on map DK and Ewell East is valid on map PD+SC so you will be fine for both.

 

[MikeWh]

1) Is via Guildford & Woking *really* a permitted route as I would think it would be longer?

The routing points for Aldershot are Ash Vale, Farnborough Group and Guildford. Guildford to London is cheaper than Aldershot to London so it is a valid routing point (Anytime fares used from NRES). So yes, Guildford is a valid routing point and the variety of routes between there and London is enormous.

2) If I *can* travel via Guildford & Woking, does this apply to any train on that route?

Yes.

3) If a train is shown at Guildford to be going non-stop to Waterloo, can I catch the train without worrying that it will go via Clandon?

It's unlikely that a via Clandon service would be non-stop, but yes, it's a valid route from Guildford to London so you don't have to worry.

4) Do I have to reach a London Terminal, or do I just have to reach zone 6 (i.e could I decide to go via Ewell [East or West])?

Your ticket allows one return journey from Aldershot to the zone 6 boundary and back and then unlimited travel within the zones 1-6, so yes you can go via Ewell. In any case, these are valid routes from Guildford to London so would be valid without the travelcard. You seem to be able to do pretty much any combination of route round as far as Croydon to London Bridge via Forest Hill one way and Ascot to Waterloo via Hounslow the other as long as you don't double back anywhere.

Many thanks for your help, from someone who normally just lurks.

You're welcome, and feel free to participate further now you've taken the plunge.