Great Western Coffee Shop

My wife wants to go from Taplow to Billerica next week off peak arrive 13:00 leave after 18:00 with Senior card.

National rail gives ^15.10 for an off peak return via Padd Circle Liverpool Street.

First question is is that ticket  valid via Ealing Broadway and Central line for Underground leg she doesn't want the hassle of walking miles to get on the Hammersmith at Padd?

Presumably a Travelcard at ^9.90 out to Shenfield then an Off peak return to Billericay would cover that and she could change off the Central at either Livrpool Street or Stratford and return taht way.?

Question why are there two offpeak fares quoted for Shenfiled Billericay one ^3.75 the other ^3.10 on or after the 12.19 From Shenfield. Even with the ^3.75 fare this works out cheaper than through fare. If we got the cheaper fare would she have to wait at Shenfield for the 12:19 if she got there earlier?

Yes, using Ealing Broadway as a 'cross London' transfer point (rather than Paddington) is definitely OK, confirmed by this list on National Rail enquiries:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46587.aspx#travelling_connect

Will leave the fare questions for someone more familiar with the route.

Paul

Stratford is also in that list so staying on the Central Line to that station & changing there is fine too.

As long as whichever train she catches stops at Shenfield, then she can use a Travelcard/(super)off-pk return to complete her journey. But it MUST stop at Shenfield.

So, only the final para Question to answer. I suspect one is an off-peak, and the other a super off-peak, and thus yes, if you want to use the cheaper of the two, you would need to wait until the time you state. But I can't check for certain from where I am, so you'll need to await confirmation.

Thanks a lot for confirming through ticket routing and wait at Shenfield for Super off peak. As it happens she will be after 12:19 at Shenfield so Super off Peak OK.

Seems Super off peak are valid after 12:00 as they are not valid until the 12:13 from Liverpool St but 12:19 from Shenfield which is the 11:55 off Liverpool St.

Checked outward all seem to stop at Shenfield will need to check returns.

She could also get on the District or Circle Line to Edgware Road and do a cross platform change (at worst one flight of stairs up and one down) onto a H&C/Circle line train to Liverpool Street, or Bakerloo to Baker Street and then Met/Circle/H&C to Liverpool Street from there, but that involves a bit more of a walk and some escalators.

To avoid walking long distances at Paddington Station, there is the electric buggy, which takes passengers to the taxi rank and the Hammersmith and City Line etc.  It's pre-bookable through Passenger Assistance so tends to be used by the less able bodied and elderly. 

How does it get to the H&C line?

The buggy goes to one of the higher numbered platforms at Paddington (12 perhaps) and then up a very steep, vehicle-only, gated slope, to high, level ground, where the taxi rank is.  Then on to the (relatively new) entrance to the H & C line, where there is a lift down to platforms 15 and 16.

The buggy tends to appear up to 5 minutes after the HST has arrived, probably to give the alighting passengers time to disperse.  After a few anxious moments of waiting, it will arrive.  Oh, and driver is happy to accept a tip!

ok, I knew of the ramp, but thought it wasn't used any more.

Going up the ramp is the most exciting part of the journey.

Yes, not in regular use, but can be used by those buggies and can also be put into use if other exits/entries are blocked for some reason.