Southern Ticket Machines

[ashworth]

Do ticket machines which are installed at smaller Southern stations, for example along the Sussex Coast, allow you to purchase tickets for journeys that begin at a different southern station.
I don't want to give away too much concerning locations and the fare because it could be a loophole which I wouldn't want anyone to see on here and it be removed.
I just want to do a journey where the Day Return fare is significantly cheaper for a longer journey where the train has previous called about 3 stops up the line from where I want to board.

 

[paul1609]

yes the tvm at Rye will happily sell me Glasgow suburban tickets

 

[ModernRailways]

Do ticket machines which are installed at smaller Southern stations, for example along the Sussex Coast, allow you to purchase tickets for journeys that begin at a different southern station.
I don't want to give away too much concerning locations and the fare because it could be a loophole which I wouldn't want anyone to see on here and it be removed.
I just want to do a journey where the Day Return fare is significantly cheaper for a longer journey where the train has previous called about 3 stops up the line from where I want to board.

Yes, all Southern TVMs have this facility (generally speaking, I believe there may only be one or two which don't have this facility).

 

[ashworth]

Thanks for the quick replies. That's great. I would feel better getting the ticket from machine rather than from ticket office even though it's perfectly in order to start and finish short on a Day Return. Just can't believe its nearly double the price to travel a journey which is about 10 miles shorter. I think one may be priced by Southern and the other by SWT.

 

[causton]

All FCC ticket machines of the same type as the Southern ones (i.e. show the opening menu with the "Buy", "Collect", "Oyster", "Parking" buttons as applicable to the station) have the facility as well, however one or two seem to be limited as to which options you can choose. From Kings Cross, the ones next to the p9-11 gateline only let you buy Boundary Zone fares, perhaps to stop people 'doughnutting'? (As an aside, there is an unbranded one at Watford Junction which only lets you buy tickets from Watford Junction itself or stations on the Abbey line!)

Edit:

Thanks for the quick replies. That's great. I would feel better getting the ticket from machine rather than from ticket office even though it's perfectly in order to start and finish short on a Day Return. Just can't believe its nearly double the price to travel a journey which is about 10 miles shorter. I think one may be priced by Southern and the other by SWT.

You can confirm/deny that on www.brfares.com it will say next to the price in the bottom right who sets it if you enter the from/to

 

[paul1609]

If you are in the Chichester area travelling down to somewhere on the Weymouth line I think its very likely that the ticket office staff will nod and smile at you if you ask for a ticket from Worthing.
Apparently the TVM at Warblington does a fair trade in tickets from Chichester to certain XC destinations as well, apparently the SWT staff at Havant get upset if asked for them!

 

[47513 Severn]

The machines at Kings Cross do sell tickets from stations other than the boundary zones, you just have to use the 'Station finder' button to type in the origin. The boundary zones are displayed as buttons on the 'From' screen, presumably as they are the most common tickets sold from other destinations.

Those two machines are extremely useful. They are able to issue seven day season tickets the day before validity (using the tickets for tomorrow option) which the ticket office at King's Cross flatly denied was possible.

Quite why we can't have more machines like these I don't know. Even better would be something like th DB automatum found in Germany that seem to be able to issue every ticket imaginable!

47513

 

[ashworth]

If you are in the Chichester area travelling down to somewhere on the Weymouth line I think its very likely that the ticket office staff will nod and smile at you if you ask for a ticket from.

Good guess, yes I'm staying for a couple of weeks near Barnham and will be going to Weymouth. I also want to have a couple of days out in the other direction into Kent via either Brighton and Ashford or Redhill and Tonbridge.
The fares for Day Returns are really good but wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to ask for a Weymouth ticket at Barnham ticket office, from a station other than Barnham, so thats why I wanted to use machine for that one. Just need to find a nice street in Barnham to park my car as I understand that Barnham station car park does get very full.

 

[David Goddard]

Thanks for the quick replies. That's great. I would feel better getting the ticket from machine rather than from ticket office even though it's perfectly in order to start and finish short on a Day Return.

Would be great if all TVMs were able to do that, it would save time for many.

After a couple of refusals to sell, I have now taken to buying different origin tickets online and then collecting them at the station, in doing so also using the website of a TOC different to the one who refused to sell it!

 

[causton]

The machines at Kings Cross do sell tickets from stations other than the boundary zones, you just have to use the 'Station finder' button to type in the origin. The boundary zones are displayed as buttons on the 'From' screen, presumably as they are the most common tickets sold from other destinations.

Those two machines are extremely useful. They are able to issue seven day season tickets the day before validity (using the tickets for tomorrow option) which the ticket office at King's Cross flatly denied was possible.

Quite why we can't have more machines like these I don't know. Even better would be something like th DB automatum found in Germany that seem to be able to issue every ticket imaginable!

47513

I tried to buy a ticket between two South West Trains stations and it said 'no fares found'. So I tried a few more combinations and it did not let me buy anything apart from the Boundary Zones. Don't know if it's been changed or what since you used it...? Same with the Watford Junction one, I went to see fares from Birmingham, Milton Keynes etc and no fares found!

 

[paul1609]

Good guess, yes I'm staying for a couple of weeks near Barnham and will be going to Weymouth. I also want to have a couple of days out in the other direction into Kent via either Brighton and Ashford or Redhill and Tonbridge.
The fares for Day Returns are really good but wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to ask for a Weymouth ticket at Barnham ticket office, from a station other than Barnham, so thats why I wanted to use machine for that one. Just need to find a nice street in Barnham to park my car as I understand that Barnham station car park does get very full.

Are you a Northerner on holiday? I have to be careful what information I release to Northerners! (this is a joke by the way northerners)
Think very carefully about having your photo taken, I know this will be difficult if you're a northerner as it will cause flash backs to your times at the Police station but its really nothing to worry about.
A photo will get you a photo card. We don't have rover tickets because we don't want to encourage Northerners to come down south on holiday!

However with a photo card you can buy a 7 day season ticket Ashford to Beaulieu Rd (Route Barnham) for £61.80 or go the whole hog and get a Margate to Weymouth or Salisbury (Rte Barnham) 7 day season for £82.
All the Kent seasons are valid either via Polegate or Edenbridge as Edenbridge is within 3 miles of the shortest Polegate Route.
In my experience all the Sussex Southern Stations will be happy to sell you these seasons. If you already have a photo card all the guards will be happy to sell you them as well, but note that it is the local custom on the coastway if you need to buy a ticket to enter by the door the guard is operating and ask him to buy the ticket rather than take a seat and wait for him to come around (technically it is penalty fares zone). The tickets will work barriers at all the Southern Stations outside London, SWT you will normally have to show the staff to be let out as they will be rejected seek assistance.

You will get in the car park at Barnham if you get there early enough but free on street parking within a reasonable distance goes really early. Its a relatively small village. Ford Station has free parking but again its a squeeze you will usually get in but it only has about 12 places and you may well get the last one.

 

[47513 Severn]

I must admit I have only used the King's Cross machines to buy tickets starting from relatively local stations (Stevenage, Hitchin and Letchworth) so I don't know about stations further afield. I'll be passing through later so I'll try out some more distant options and let you know what happens.

47513

 

[cjp]

However with a photo card you can buy a 7 day season ticket Ashford to Beaulieu Rd (Route Barnham) for £61.80 or go the whole hog and get a Margate to Weymouth or Salisbury (Rte Barnham) 7 day season for £82.
All the Kent seasons are valid either via Polegate or Edenbridge as Edenbridge is within 3 miles of the shortest Polegate Route.

Can one get closer to London than Reigate on these tickets?

 

[paul1609]

Can one get closer to London than Reigate on these tickets?

Ive seen claims on this Forum that they are technically valid for some journeys further North. I understand that this was the reason some of the day tickets were changed from Route Barnham to Route Polegate/Edenbridge but Ive never tried using them in this fashion. i feel that they are such good value as intended I wouldnt want to force Southern to withdraw them because London Commuters jumped on them.

 

[ashworth]

Are you a Northerner on holiday? I have to be careful what information I release to Northerners! (this is a joke by the way northerners)
Think very carefully about having your photo taken, I know this will be difficult if you're a northerner as it will cause flash backs to your times at the Police station but its really nothing to worry about.
A photo will get you a photo card. We don't have rover tickets because we don't want to encourage Northerners to come down south on holiday!

However with a photo card you can buy a 7 day season ticket Ashford to Beaulieu Rd (Route Barnham) for £61.80 or go the whole hog and get a Margate to Weymouth or Salisbury (Rte Barnham) 7 day season for £82.
All the Kent seasons are valid either via Polegate or Edenbridge as Edenbridge is within 3 miles of the shortest Polegate Route.
In my experience all the Sussex Southern Stations will be happy to sell you these seasons. If you already have a photo card all the guards will be happy to sell you them as well, but note that it is the local custom on the coastway if you need to buy a ticket to enter by the door the guard is operating and ask him to buy the ticket rather than take a seat and wait for him to come around (technically it is penalty fares zone). The tickets will work barriers at all the Southern Stations outside London, SWT you will normally have to show the staff to be let out as they will be rejected seek assistance.

You will get in the car park at Barnham if you get there early enough but free on street parking within a reasonable distance goes really early. Its a relatively small village. Ford Station has free parking but again its a squeeze you will usually get in but it only has about 12 places and you may well get the last one.

Yes I will be a Northerner on holiday. Not offended, quite appreciated the humour. You should hear what we have to say about Southerners!

I suppose I'm a bit of an inbetweener coming from a few miles north of Nottingham. Some people would consider us Midlanders and yet we receive Yorkshire Television. Some people actually from Yorkshire and other areas of the north consider us as Southerners!

Thanks for your useful information. If I was just down in West Sussex for a week on my own I would certainly consider the 7 day season tickets. I will bear those in mind for the future. I did once use the Southern Weekly Daysave ticket which was very good value when staying near Brighton a few years ago.

This time I'm staying about 2 miles from Barnham and doing a longer 14 night stay. However I'm going to have two elderly relatives with me and will be travelling around the area mainly by car. However, I would like to do 2 or 3 days out by train within the fortnight whilst in the area and thought I could even take them with me! One has Senior Railcard and the other a Privilege Card and so I'm the only one paying full price. I'd thought about taking them to Weymouth, Hastings/Rye and either Tunbridge Wells or Canterbury. I might also try going right over to Ramsgate one day by myself.
I know that Barnham station car park gets full and we will be travelling after 0900 to get the off peak fares. I've been looking on Google Earth and although all onstreet parking will probably be full close to the station there are plenty of residential streets about 10 minutes walk away to park and I don't mind walking.

 

[47513 Severn]

As promised, I tested the King's Cross machines with some more adventurous journeys this morning. I tried Newcastle to Edinburgh, Woking to Portsmouth and Chester to Holyhead. I'm glad to report I was offered the full set of fares for all. I guess something has been updated since you last used them.

I should specify that this was the left hand of the two machines. I know they should be the same but anomalies do seem to happen. The machine at the far left of the row in the King's Cross ticket office (and only that machine) comes up with "No fares found" when you select Letchworth from the main screen, weirdorama! What it does suggest is that each machine keeps its own fares database on board rather than connecting to a central resource. That must make it a nightmare when the fares are updated!

47513