Super off-peak day travelcard

[Mark_re]

Hi all; first post,

With a Southampton CTL & London Zones 1-6 Day Travelcard, could someone advise as to whether it would be possible to return during the evening peak restricted period (eg 1700 from Waterloo), if I bought a Surbiton to Woking single (£3.45 with YP). My intention would be to take a stopping service to Woking (via and calling at Surbiton) then change on to a Soton service from Woking (or again at Basingstoke, if need be), as presumably the super off-peak restriction can't apply to the travelcard?

In essence: does the super off-peak restriction apply to the train or to boarding at Waterloo, Vauxhall, Clapham Jct.?

Thanks for any help,

Mark

 

[wintonian]

RETURN TRAVEL:

By any train except those
timed to depart London
Terminals, Queenstown Rd or
Clapham Junction Mondays to
Fridays between 1600 & 1900
inclusive.

If I have got it right then it is the departure time from London, Clapham etc. that counts making the whole train service a peak time train service.

Edit: cause I'm sure the train will be in service during off peak hours as well

 

[Bedpan]

If the rules are the sane as on FCC, then you can't do that. I have the problem that I can get as far as Elstree and Borehamwood during the evening peak on an OP travelcard, but then I have to wait there until 1932 to continue home because the ticket does not allow me to get on a train that leaves St Pancras between 16.30 and 19.01, despite the fact that they are comparatively empty by the time they get to Elstree. So if I was to end up in Elstree at 6pm my quickest journey back to Harpenden would be to return to St Pancras and then catch the (crowded) 19.06 (fast to St Albans) back to Harpenden.
I'm no ticket expert though, and there are plenty of people on here that are who may be able to give you better advice.

 

[swt_passenger]

I had a sequence of emails with SWT on this exact question when it first changed. Apologies for the length of this...

I never really got to a satisfactory conclusion, so I gave up. :cry:

For example it seemed to take a while to get across to them that an outboundary travelcard doesn't require me to go anywhere near Waterloo. My proposal was based on travelling back (to Eastleigh or Fareham) via Surbiton and Woking, from Wimbledon, having theoretically used the underground, bus or tram to get there.

Their answer was that as the restriction was only intended to prevent joining trains between Waterloo and Clapham Junction, this should be OK. So I thought, why aren't they sure?

So I then asked why the restriction for the Super Offpeak Day Travelcard in Avantix traveller states differently, ie it bars you from trains 'timed to depart' from those stations in the peak, and did on train staff follow the published restriction, or their earlier email explanation. Never got a reply to that, but stopped worrying anyway as by then I'd taken to using SN from Cosham as it's much cheaper...

Now if you were to look at buying a Super Offpeak Day Return to Wimbledon, and a separate Offpeak travelcard, it gets interesting. On this ticket it allows you to double back via Clapham Jn offpeak, and the planner shows that option isn't permitted during the 1600 -1900 period. If you then go through the slower trains option on SWT's site, it pulls up all the slow connections via Surbiton and/or Woking that it doesn't initially show.

So if you are happy with the price of a separate Y/P discounted day travelcard, (I can't get one with a Network Card on weekdays) then as far as I can work out you should be ok as long as you head west from Wimbledon.

If this shows a basic Super Offpeak Day Rtn to/from Wimbledon is OK, why isn't the Super Offpeak Day travelcard ok from Wimbledon as well? Logically it can only be because that ticket still allows you to get on at Waterloo, even if you choose not to.

 

[yorkie]

Their answer was that as the restriction was only intended to prevent joining trains between Waterloo and Clapham Junction, this should be OK. So I thought, why aren't they sure?.

It's not worded that way. I suggest asking them them confirm their intentions in writing, and ask if they can re-word the restriction to make it clear.

 

[RJ]

An Off Peak Travelcard is valid on trains in London from whatever time the restriction states to 04:29 the following morning. However, it's only valid up to the last station in London that the train serves, after which the TOC in question's peak times apply.

For Off Peak ticket holders wishing to travel at peak times, I either do an excess from an ODT to ADT or an SDS from BZ6, whichever is cheaper. For those holding a simple CDR I either excess it up to a SDR or sell a SDS, again whichever is cheaper.

 

[wibble]

The restriction only applies to trains leaving Waterloo between 1600 and 1900 inclusive and does not permit you to board at Waterloo, Vauxhall, Queenstown Road or Clapham Junction and travelling to stations beyond Zone 6.

With a Travelcard, you can board a local service that calls at Surbiton, then change on to any train to Woking and board any service from Woking towards Southampton.

 

[Bedpan]

Doesn't that mean in practice that you can board any train from Waterloo provided that it stops at Surbiton, bearing in mind that the travelcard is valid between Waterloo and Surbiton? If you are sitting on a train from Surbiton to Woking, how would anyone know where you boarded it?

I wish they had similar rules on FCC, where you are not allowed to board a train in the outer London area and travel beyond the travelcard boundary with a ticket that would have been valid from the central area (ie a travelcard).

 

[dan_atki]

I wish they had similar rules on FCC, where you are not allowed to board a train in the outer London area and travel beyond the travelcard boundary with a ticket that would have been valid from the central area (ie a travelcard).

When the restrictions on FCC were first introduced, it was worded in such a way that you could use an all stations service legitimately in the evening peak. This loophole was exploited quite a bit until FCC changed the wording to prevent this from occurring.