South West to London and back

[cornishjohn]

Hi All,

From time to time I will need to go from Plymouth to London. It will be very convenient to break the UP journey with an overnight stay in Chippenham with friends.

If I buy Anytime/Offpeak returns Plymouth-> Chippenham, and Anytime/Offpeak returns Chippenham -> London, can I use the "direct" Westbury trains to go home and skip the travelling through Chippenham bit?

Also, are there any better splits to bring the cost down?

Do not really want to be tied to Advance bookings.

Thanks,

CJ

 

[mikeg]

If you split your ticket at Chippenham the train you catch on both legs MUST make a call at Chippenham. You thus cannot use the direct westbury trains on this combination. I'll have a look on brfares.com for some better splits though. What times of day are you planning of travelling?

 

[bb21]

In fact, it is permitted to use trains that stop at Westbury, as Plymouth - Chippenham is valid via Castle Cary and Westbury on map SW, and Chippenham - London is valid via Westbury and Pewsey on map LA. I do not believe that any of the Plymouth - Chippenham and Chippenham - London walk-on fares have break of journey restrictions, therefore it is permitted for the OP to switch from one ticket to the other at Westbury by stopping short on one ticket and starting short on the next.

However the majority of trains that do not stop at Westbury use the avoider line rather than run through the station non-stop. In these cases (trains not stopping at Westbury), your tickets would not be valid.

 

[Goatboy]

Luckily the majority of Padd to Ply/Penzance trains will call at Westbury - though do double check first.

 

[bnm]

Luckily the majority of Padd to Ply/Penzance trains will call at Westbury - though do double check first.

It's not a majority. In the down direction there are fourteen weekday services via the Berks & Hants route to Plymouth/Penzance. Only four call at Westbury except Friday when six call. In the up direction there are twelve services of which five call at Westbury.

Additionally there are calls at Westbury for services to/from Frome, Taunton, Exeter and Paignton.

As bb21 explained the combination of tickets the OP wishes to use are fine as both tickets are valid via Westbury. But only as long as he travels on one of the minority of services that call at Westbury.

 

[Goatboy]

Is it as few as that? Blimey, I thought it was more - I always end up calling there but thinking about it it's always the same few trains I use. Figured it was due to the connections available to Portsmouth Harbour.

 

[cornishjohn]

Thanks all,

Is there any suitable excess I could get to cover the gap in the middle on a non-stopper, or would it have to be a full ticket?

mikeg: Probably late afternoon Plymouth->Chippenham, morning Chippenham-> London and evening London->Plymouth.

Thanks again
CJ

 

[jkdd77]

I know the rules on overnight BoJ are now somewhat unclear, but I wondered whether it might be possible for the OP to buy a Plymouth-London SSR and continue from Chippenham on the second day?

I guess that this might only be possible if the OP was unable to complete his journey on the first day?

I'll let others comment on the validity of the above suggestion.

If there is doubt, it might be worth the OP e-mailing FGW Customer Services, outlining his intended itinerary, and asking them whether this usage is valid on a through SSR from Plymouth; if they expressly say yes, then IMO you would be entitled to rely on that. If they say no, then there was no harm in asking and the OP can look to other options.

Another option might be to buy:
Plymouth- Taunton CDS £17.40
Taunton- Bath Spa SDS £11.70
Bath Spa- Chippenham CDS £5.10
Chippenham- London SSS £28.10 (dated for day two)
London- Plymouth SSS £51
Total: £113.30

This is slightly more expensive than a conventional split at Chippenham, but would allow the OP to travel on 'fast' trains back from London, but of course he must then travel outward via Bristol on trains stopping at Taunton and Bath Spa.