Wivelsfield to St Pancras Via Victoria

[Nitjay]

Hi,

I noticed I can get a well priced ticket from Wivelsfield to St Pancras (not via underground).

It doesn't specify the operator. My question is whether I can go to Victoria and then walk/bike from there?

Alternatively, could I go to Waterloo and walk/bike from there. This would give me the flexibility to travel how I like - and it's cheap.

I checked the routeing guide and tried to work it out myself and it seems from WVF to London Group, I can use LB or VB (one being via Herne Hill, the other Clapham).

Any advice on this much appreciated.

 

[yorkie]

A ticket to somewhere like Kentish Town routed "London Not Und" would be valid, in my opinion but we will never get consensus on that.

A ticket specifically to St Pancras routed "Not Underground" is, however, rather more dubious. It is, at best, a very grey area, and at worst completely invalid once you deviate from the route into St Pancras. I therefore advise against using it.

It's also been done to death on this forum. See London "Not underground" ticket validity - RailUK Forum for example.

 

[maniacmartin]

My interpretation is that the ticket would be valid via Victoria, however I strongly advise against buying that ticket for travel to Victoria as it will likely cause a lot of hassle and disputes, and it almost certainly won't operate the gatelines

 

[DeparturesBeck]

I believe you can get routes via Waterloo (changing at Clapham Junction). Try the Southern mixing desk using the slower trains option to select Not Underground, and use a suitable Via point. I believe it gives to instructions to walk between Waterloo and Blackfriars.

 

[Nitjay]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I realise this probably gets asked a lot, but I heard the routeing was recently updated to exclude Waterloo.

So as far as I can tell, technically it would be allowed to go via Waterloo/Victoria (otherwise you're essentially getting a TL only fare except you could take Southern to Lbridge or East Croydon for example).

I think realistically I could argue the point, given the routeing allows for going via CLJ (VB) if ever challenged (probably quite unlikely as I've never had my ticket looked at in detail and most of the time it's worn through so you can't read it anyway!).

But, the question is....would it be worth it for the £20 a month saving!

 

[kieron]

I wouldn't like to rely on a thread from 2012 to tell you anything about valid routes to London today, as the routeing guide has changed a lot since then. That particular thread doesn't contain much on the question of whether this is a valid route, though.

If I was in the position of wishing to travel to Victoria with a St. Pancras ticket, I might use an argument similar to this:

I shall travel from Wivelsfield to London Victoria now, and break my journey there.
At midnight, I shall resume my journey, and go from Victoria to Blackfriars using my own resources.
From Blackfriars, I shall catch the 1:08 train to Bedford, and leave at St. Pancras.
I may not actually complete all of these steps.

Waterloo's similar, except that you don't have to wait until midnight as you are allowed to go from Waterloo to Blackfriars without using public transport at any time of the day or night.

Things would be a lot simpler if NRE* felt a "not Underground" ticket was appropriate here, but it prefers the dearer "any permitted" ones to London Terminals for the journey to St. Pancras.

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[button_boxer]

Things would be a lot simpler if NRE* felt a "not Underground" ticket was appropriate here, but it prefers the dearer "any permitted" ones to London Terminals for the journey to St. Pancras.

... which are not actually valid for the journey in question - you can't use a ticket with the destination London Terminals to travel through Farringdon.