Season Ticket Route Validity

[AndyMe]

My daughter (child) uses the train each school day between Beckenham Junction and Sydenham Hill. I've realised that a season ticket will be cheaper than her using her Oyster ZIP card.

A mix of different season tickets (monthly, weekly etc) would save most money but it's going to be easier and still cheaper to buy an annual season ticket. The price appears to be £396.

I've realised that for the same price the validity can be increased slightly to allow travel between Shortlands and Herne Hill. She will probably never need to do this but you never know.

That got me thinking. Would the route between Beckenham Junction and Gipsy Hill be permitted on this ticket? Occasionally, if the trains to/from Sydenham Hill are dissrupted she has used Gipsy Hill station so it would be useful if it were valid.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Yes, the route to Herne Hill via Gipsy Hill and Tulse Hill is less than 3 miles longer than the direct route via Sydenham Hill, so that looks fine to me. Side note: I hadn't realised how many stations in South London had "Hill" in their names!

 

[30907]

One of the winners of Zonal fares!
I don't know if Gipsy Hill has barriers - I doubt it, but if it does, they may not be programmed to accept the ticket and she will have to ask to be let through.

 

[thedbdiboy]

Gipsy Hill does have barriers although the side entrance to platform 1 is open with a validator

 

[kieron]

My daughter (child) uses the train each school day between Beckenham Junction and Sydenham Hill. I've realised that a season ticket will be cheaper than her using her Oyster ZIP card.

A mix of different season tickets (monthly, weekly etc) would save most money but it's going to be easier and still cheaper to buy an annual season ticket. The price appears to be £396.

You don't need to buy monthly or weekly season tickets, as they sell ticket which are valid for (say) 1 month and 22 days. You should be able to buy one at any ticket office, and some retailers sell them online (C2C and SWR do, for instance, although Southern and Southeastern don't+). If your daughter only makes this journey during term time, buying a season ticket to cover each half term should be the cheapest option.

I've realised that for the same price the validity can be increased slightly to allow travel between Shortlands and Herne Hill. She will probably never need to do this but you never know.

I'd suggest a "not via London" Shortlands-Tulse Hill season ticket instead. It's a bit cheaper, but is still valid via Gipsy Hill or Sydenham Hill. nre.co.uk* shows both routes as being valid with a day ticket.

+ At least, if there is a way to buy a season ticket which is valid for a month and a day on either site, I cannot find it.

* You may need to delete any nationalrail.co.uk cookies you have for this link to open correctly.

 

[APT618S]

although Southern and Southeastern don't+

+ At least, if there is a way to buy a season ticket which is valid for a month and a day on either site, I cannot find it.

On the Southern website (at least in the mobile version) there are 5 boxes that can be ticked:
Flexi Season
Weekly
Monthly
Annual
Custom length
If you tick custom length you can get what you require as you click on start and end dates and I was able to get a quote for 1 month and 1 day for a child Shortlands to Tulse Hill (not via London) of £28.40.

 

[kieron]

Thank you, I missed that. I'd been looking at their Season Ticket Calculator (which only allows you to select a start date and a number of months and weeks) rather than the ticket thing on the homepage.

 

[AndyMe]

I'd suggest a "not via London" Shortlands-Tulse Hill season ticket instead. It's a bit cheaper, but is still valid via Gipsy Hill or Sydenham Hill. nre.co.uk* shows both routes as being valid with a day ticket.

Thanks APT618S. That's excellent. When you say "day ticket" do you mean a single ticket for an A to B journey? I do see that they are the same price for both routes. Is that how season ticket validity can be checked?

 

[kieron]

By "day ticket" I meant single or return; whatever you'd use if you were just going there for one day.

The important thing isn't that the prices are all the same, but that they all match the season ticket you are considering. To do this with nre.co.uk, you'd need to check that the text under the price says "Anytime" or "Off peak" rather than anything to do with a travelcard.

You'd also need to click where it says "Other tickets" for each of the Outward itineraries. It gives a route, which in this case is "Not valid for travel via (changing trains or passing through) London Terminals.". This is the same route the site gives for the cheaper Shortlands-Tulse Hill season ticket.

As you can buy a return ticket with the same route restrictions as the season ticket you want, and which is valid on the routes you are interested in, the season ticket is valid.