Great Western Coffee Shop

Got a Freedom of South West Rover which will get me to Portsmouth Harbour.  Cannot find a fare to get me over to the Isle of Wight.  Is there one?  Can you use an Network Railcard? 

You will need to buy the ticket over to the Isle of Wight from a station outside of Portsmouth, as you can't buy one from the railway interchange, as it is designed for people travelling through from elsewhere on the network, not people starting a ticket at Portsmouth.

The nearest point you can do this from is Fratton. The Off Peak day return to Ryde Hoverport which allows travel on the hovercraft is ^10.45 with railcard discount, however this will be ^13 if for travelling before 10am mon-fri due to the minimum fare that applies.

Thanks - is there a fare for the Catamaran - one of us (and it isnt me) doesn't like hovercrafts.  Don't ask....

^11.60 off peak day return from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Esplanade - that is also with railcard.

Same ^13 minimum fare applies before 10am mon-fri

So you can buy a Catamaran ticket from Portsmouth but not a Hovercraft.  Is that a hangover from the old Sealink days?  Cannot find that on line so I guess it is a case of buying it on the day.  Think we have about 20 mins so shouldn't be a problem.

Yes I think it is, as its possible to buy a ticket to other stations on the Isle of Wright, however these are only valid on the Catamaran which is seen as a 'rail boat' service, where as the Hovercraft is an add on to a rail ticket (To the hover port only), as such is only available to people travelling with a through rail ticket - a bit like plus bus (ignoring the fact that's a separate ticket.)