Split tickets on the Guildford to Waterloo route

[benjo]

Hi

I used to travel from hertford North to London for work, and have an annual season ticket. I split it so that one ticket went to Bowes park, and the other went from Bowes Park to London, and it saved me a few hundred pounds.

We just moved to Farncombe, and I need to transfer my season ticket. I have looked but can't see any split ticket options from farncombe to London.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the cheapest options for peak travel? I could cycle and catch the train from Guildford, but it only saves £100.

Thanks,

Ben

 

[bb21]

How long have you got left on your current two tickets?

 

[swt_passenger]

This is highly dependent on whether speed is important to you.

The peak service patterns to/from SWT major stations tend to have no intermediate stops east of Woking. If you need to call at an intermediate station when using two seasons you could end up having to use much slower services...

 

[yorkie]

I suggest you look at a SWT timetable and considers each possible place that the split could be made, and compare fares. That's all I can say really!

Wherever you split, you will reduce choice. Some trains are non-stop Guildford-London and these will not be valid if you split anywhere between Guildford and London. There are more routes than just via Woking, so if you split at Woking then you cannot take the route via Effingham.

The only feasible place to split without extending journey times for a commute from Farncombe is Woking. A quick look at the timetable confirms this. A less feasible place is Worplesdon, this does restrict choice severely but does allow you to avoid changing trains on some services. Anywhere else will extend journey times, and all you can do is consult a timetable and compare the fares, only you will know how much you are prepared to sacrifice the inconvenience of each potential option.

 

[benjo]

Thanks everyone.

I've got about 5 months left on the current tickets.

With my old tickets, there was never a need for the train to call at the split point. I could just get a quick train straight through. Ticket inspectors never really cared. Is that not the case with SWT?

I checked the main split points on the SWT timetable, and splitting at any station just increases the fare, as far as I can see although I didn't check the Effingham route.

Thanks anyway though. Worth a try.

Ben

 

[bb21]

You are allowed to travel on a non-stopping service using split tickets if one of the tickets held is a season ticket, not both, under the provision of NRCoC Condition 19. In the case of two season tickets, the train does need to call at the switchover point, in theory.

The reason I asked about how many months are left on your season tickets is that you might have to get a refund on one of them and it might not have any value left on it, if surrendered after 10 months and 12 days of use. I have failed to spot any meaningful split so far for your new commute, largely for the reasons yorkie mentioned above. You can get a changeover done on one of your current seasons, making it into the new ticket you require. However I'm not sure if you can changeover two existing seasons into one new ticket. My gut instinct says no (I might be wrong.), and you would have to apply for a refund on one of them. The refund will be processed pro rata to the monthly rate, meaning that you would not be able to enjoy the extra discount offered by an annual season on that ticket for the period you have already used. On this basis, I would suggest a changeover of the Hertford North - Bowes Park ticket into a Farncombe - London Terminals ticket and get a refund on your Bowes Park - London Terminals ticket.

 

[yorkie]

With my old tickets, there was never a need for the train to call at the split point.

There was, and is, such a requirement.

I could just get a quick train straight through. Ticket inspectors never really cared.

That's down to them. Those RPIs tend not to care about certain things, but one of them has (or had) a vendetta against a member of this forum. If you were added to his hit list, you wouldn't think they don't care

Is that not the case with SWT?

SWT are far more likely to enforce this rule. There is someone on this forum who would enforce it, and if you encountered him he would probably interrogate you to determine if you knew there was such a requirement and if you knew you were not valid, to determine whether to issue an MG11 or a fare. Some SWT can be ruthless and can treat customers in a way that no other business in any other industry would, ie as potential criminals. In fact, if you simply write down a list of dodgy band names, you could be removed from the train and detained for questioning.

I wouldn't like to be a commuter on SWT.

I checked the main split points on the SWT timetable, and splitting at any station just increases the fare, as far as I can see although I didn't check the Effingham route.

It's only likely to decrease the fare if you split at an obscure station. The SWT equivalent of Bowes Park may well do it. But that causes more hassle than it's worth.

 

[OwlMan]

Do you have a season ticket to London Terminals or is the one from Bowes Park a travelcard?

 

[benjo]

Thank you everyone. Your knowledge of such an arcane system is amazing.

The ticket from Bowes Park is a season ticket, and actually just goes to Finsbury Park, not London terminals - I used to cycle the last bit to work.

I tried to transfer the two tickets into Farncombe - Waterloo today but the clerk in the booking office at Waterloo told me I had to do it at Kings Cross. I told him he was wrong, but he was adamant. I'll try again at Guildford tomorrow.

I'll let you know if I can transfer both tickets or only one.

Thanks again.

Ben

 

[LexyBoy]

I tried to transfer the two tickets into Farncombe - Waterloo today but the clerk in the booking office at Waterloo told me I had to do it at Kings Cross. I told him he was wrong, but he was adamant. I'll try again at Guildford tomorrow.

I'll let you know if I can transfer both tickets or only one.

I think he was right actually- Season ticket data is held in databases held by the TOC who issued it, so SWT wouldn't be able to do anything with your tickets issued by FCC. You may fine you have to go to the station which issued it.

Good luck getting both transferred, I suspect it can't be easily done but there might be some fudge if you're very lucky. Are they both using the same photocard? If it's not possible to do both, make sure the more expensive one is transferred!

 

[benjo]

Today I went to Guildford. The ticket office guy was great. He explained the need to transfer only the one with the most value and claim back the other. So I've filled in a couple of forms, one for reclaiming and one for transferring.

I assume these will be sent off to the right people somewhere who'll reimburse me, and also ask me to pay whatever needs paying in order to get a season ticket from Guildford to Waterloo. I'm not sure exactly how that all works, but at least I'm in the system somewhere, I hope.

Thanks

Ben

 

[bb21]

It's great to hear instances of good customer service.

 

[island]

SWT retail standards seem to be improving. Now I wish they'd sort out the queues at WAT...

 

[thefab444]

In fact, if you simply write down a list of dodgy band names, you could be removed from the train and detained for questioning

My local anti-SWT online rag regularly brings up that incident and I can't help feeling there's more to it than has been told.

I wouldn't like to be a commuter on SWT.

I've commuted on SWT for the best part of two years and encountered no problems - the vast majority of their staff are fine, sure there are a few lemons around, but it's the same with every company - even Northern!

As for splitting tickets, it's not particularly suprising you can't find a good deal, a yearly season from Farncombe to London Terminals costs £2840, that's already a saving of about £5300 compared to buying individual SDRs.