Travelcard to Cheshunt - advice?

[rwebster]

Evening all,

First post here - but I know the advice you guys can give is usually pretty thorough and for once I need it!

I'm starting a new job on August 22nd in Cheshunt - I havent yet decided where I'll be living, but want to weigh up travel prices.

One possibility is close to Snaresbrook Central Line, so I'd travel daily via Stratford. Theres plenty of places online that will direct you towards National Rail's season ticket price calculator and TfL's list of period Travelcard fares - but nowhere seems to explicitly show the prices for the combined journey from outside Greater London to the TfL Zones. Any idea what kind of price I'd be looking at for this journey over 12 months?

The other possibility I'm looking at to live is close to Bush Hill Park station on the Enfield Town branch of the Lea Valley Lines. The annual season from there is an incredible £1,100 for a 5 mile journey - yet from Enfield Lock, a similar distance from Cheshunt, its a more reasonable £612. Any ideas why its almost double the price for that combination of stations? I'd noticed the first journey of the day in the journey planner routes you via Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale, so would it be that a Bush Hill Park to Cheshunt season is always valid via that route?

Otherwise, any idea's on how those kinds of prices could be reduced with trickery and splitting etc?

Thanks a lot if anyone can help out!

 

[yorkie]

Is it an All Zones Annual Travelcard from Cheshunt you want? The price for that is £2504.00 and this also acts as a Gold Card.

A point-to-point Annual Season from Cheshunt to just Stratford London routed Not London, is £1788.00, which also acts as a Gold Card.

There is a Season Ticket calculator you can use to find these prices. If you enter 'London' as a destination it will give you the price both to London Terminals and also to All Zones.

 

[rwebster]

Thanks Yorkie, quite possibly! Going via Stratford would mean only travelling in as far as Zone 3 - is there such a thing as a Cheshunt to Zones 3-6 season?

 

[yorkie]

Yes. Bizarrely the price for a Zones 3-6 Travelcard is £1656.00, which is cheaper than the Stratford fare.

This might be because until relatively recently there was no service from Tottenham Hale to Stratford (apart from about one per day to keep the line 'open'), so the fare perhaps assumed a different route was taken that involved going via Zone 2, and it was never updated.

 

[John @ home]

Prices of Standard weekly (monthly) [annual] seasons from Cheshunt are below.

Cheshunt - Enfield Lock or Turkey Street £15.30 (£58.80) [£612] (Note 1)
Cheshunt - London Zones 5-6 £27.20 (£104.50) [£1088]
Cheshunt - London Zones 4-6 £34.70 (£133.30) [£1388] (Note 2)
Cheshunt - London Zones 3-6 £41.40 (£159.00) [£1656] (Note 3)
Cheshunt - London Zones 2-6 £48.40 (£185.90) [£1936]
Cheshunt - London Zones 1-6 £62.60 (£240.40) [£2504]

Notes
1. This is not a Travelcard. Enfield Lock and Turkey Street are the two Zone 6 stations which can be reached directly from Cheshunt. Travelcards are issued for a minimum of two adjacent zones.
2. A Cheshunt - London Zones 4-6 Travelcard allows Bush Hill Park (Zone 5) - Cheshunt via Edmonton Green (Zone 4). A cheaper option would be by 217 bus Bush Hill Park - Turkey Street then rail Turkey Street - Cheshunt. This would be valid with the £27.20 Cheshunt - London Zones 5-6 Travelcard.
3. A Cheshunt - London Zones 3-6 Travelcard allows Snaresbrook (Zone 4) - Cheshunt via Stratford (Zone 3).

The other possibility I'm looking at to live is close to Bush Hill Park station on the Enfield Town branch of the Lea Valley Lines. The annual season from there is an incredible £1,100 for a 5 mile journey - yet from Enfield Lock, a similar distance from Cheshunt, its a more reasonable £612. Any ideas why its almost double the price for that combination of stations? I'd noticed the first journey of the day in the journey planner routes you via Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale, so would it be that a Bush Hill Park to Cheshunt season is always valid via that route?

Which journey planner are you using? The National Rail Enquiries one is not offering me that, but it is offering an odd journey at 0028 taking 5 hours 16 minutes via Enfield Town, Enfield Chase, Hertford North and Hertford East, involving a lot of walking between stations.

Most journeys in Greater London are cheaper by Travelcard, giving unlimited rail and underground travel within the zones and unlimited bus travel throughout Greater London (and some other benefits). You are charged for each Zone you pass through, hence the much higher cost to Bush Hill Park rather than Enfield Lock. The way to reduce this is to go by bus Bush Hill Park - Turkey Street.

Travel via via Seven Sisters and/or Tottenham Hale would normally need a Cheshunt - London Zones 3-6 ticket.