Hungerford to Westbury - Great West Way and a great opportunity next Saturday

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Update for readers of the archive - this ticket IS NOT VALID to Bedwyn or Hungerford. There was an error in early data showing it to be available there.

List of services covered in this tickets - nor checked by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - at
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=21046.msg259419#msg259419

In trying to work out the options to use the Great West Way West Discover ticket to visit Hungerford ( a lovely Berkshire town ) and Bedwyn ( pretty village and lovely canal walks to Crofton Pumps) I looked for journeys between Westbury and Hungerford for weekdays, and for next Saturday.



1. All the train options from Westbury to Hungerford (except early morning Monday to Friday when the ticket is not valid) seem to give a change at Newbury which is outside the zone of the ticket.  Do Easements apply on rover ticket journeys?

2. Next Saturday, the 11:46 from Hungerford is offering a £12.30 fare to Westbury (so that would be £8.20 with a railcard) which looks like a bargain day out to me!   See attachments to this post.

[Oxonhutch]

There appears to be an easement that might apply allowing doubling-back up to Reading West - but not Reading: 700145. So I read it that doubling back via Newbury is allowed - why does this always have to be so difficult?

The rover is definitely not London and all journeys are via Westbury.

700145 Routeing Point : Customers travelling from Bedwyn, Hungerford and Kintbury via Westbury in
possession of tickets routed 'not London' may travel via Reading West. This easement
applies in both directions.

[JayMac]

Regarding a double-back easement between Newbury and Hungerford, for journeys from Westbury and environs. There isn't a specific one in the Routeing Guide list of easements (700145, as quoted by Oxonhutch, comes close, but isn't unequivocal in my opinion). However, booking engines do permit such a double-back on point to point tickets such as the Off Peak Day Return from Westbury to Hungerford.

With point to point tickets allowing such a double-back I'd argue the Great West Way Discover East should do so too. But my argument holds no weight - one to ask GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

The alternative is to buy an Off Peak Day Return between Hungerford and Newbury for £5.20 (£3.45 Railcard) to do the double back on the outward journey. No need for one on the return as there are four direct evening trains from Hungerford to Westbury. That add on ticket for the outward journey can be used in combination with the Great Way West Discoverer West ticket thanks to National Rail Conditions of Travel condition 14.2.

14.2 If you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger or rover in conjunction with another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not need to call at that station for your combination to be valid.

So, ask GWR for clarification, or pay £5.20 (£3.45) for peace of mind.

[grahame]

There were some errors of omission in the third party maps previously published ... and one error of over-inclusion. The Great West Way (West) ticket only goes up the Berks and Hants as far as Pewsey - it does not include Bedwyn or Hungerford.

For the ("in for proofing", unofficial") list of what's in the tickets, see
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=21046.msg259419#msg259419

With the removal of Hungerford and Bedwyn from the West ticket (I use the word "removal" though they were never really there!) the question of doubling back via Newbury is no longer relevant. But to clarify, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) tell me that ticketing easements which would take a passenger outside the mapped area would not apply to rovers (academic - not sure if I know of any examples).

As an aside, the FOSS^▸ (Freedom of Severn & Solent rover ticket) ticket map does not include Eastleigh to Fareham - so the one GWR service late at night each way that runs to / from Portsmouth Harbour along that line is technically not included.  We have asked if that can be regularised. Easy way would be to expand the ticket to include the line ... but that could (I suppose) effect revenue split as the new line would be a useful facility during the day.  Semi-official suggestion is that if you're on a FOSS and using that particular train, it would be amazing if you were challenged - how would yer typical traveller know that train happened to take different tracks between the same places?

[CyclingSid]

Another thought, visit Stonehenge. I think you will find that the X5 (if not, the 5 does) stops at Larkhill Garrison Medical Centre. It is then an easy walk down to Stonehenge https://binged.it/2Hcaz03. If you get a copy of the large-scale Stonehenge (and Avebury) map https://retail.historicenglandservices.org.uk/stonehenge-and-avebury-1-10000-map.html, also available from Salisbury Museum or Stonehenge visitor centre shop, you will find there is far more to see than might be obvious if you take the expensive sightseeing bus from outside Salisbury station. I normally do the trip from Salisbury, but you can do it from Pewsey, or as stop en-route from one to t'other.

[grahame]

Another thought, visit Stonehenge. I think you will find that the X5 (if not, the 5 does) stops at Larkhill Garrison Medical Centre. It is then an easy walk down to Stonehenge https://binged.it/2Hcaz03. If you get a copy of the large-scale Stonehenge (and Avebury) map https://retail.historicenglandservices.org.uk/stonehenge-and-avebury-1-10000-map.html, also available from Salisbury Museum or Stonehenge visitor centre shop, you will find there is far more to see than might be obvious if you take the expensive sightseeing bus from outside Salisbury station. I normally do the trip from Salisbury, but you can do it from Pewsey, or as stop en-route from one to t'other.

Only the X5 from Go-Ahead in the Salisbury area is covered on the ticket - and it's covered on all 3 (East, West and Global) and will be in the international one too.  The nearest the X5 gets to Stonehenge is the Amesbury - Pewsey Road (goes past Woodhenge if you'll settle for that).  Approx 3 km walk to the stones, but I suspect you would not be able to gain access from that side (can anyone confirm?) ... and you would have several more kms to walk to get around.

Other Go-Ahead services in the area that would facilitate visits to Stonehenge (get you closer to the centre)
* The Stonehenge Tour, which goes to the visitor centre
* The X4 that goes to Larkhill Garrison for a walk (circa 1.5 km)
* The 2 (Salisbury to Devizes) for a walk (circa 2.5 km, not easy road)
in addition
* The Activ8 (Salisbury to Andover) offers additional journeys between Amesbury and Salisbury
* The 201 (Tourist Coaches and StageCoach) operates a very limited service via West Amesbury.

The X5 timetable includes some journeys (early morning and end of the day) which do call at Larkhill Garrison, but the timetable says "operates as X4".  By the letter of the ticket description, you would not be allowed to use these services on the Great West Way ticket as it's specific to X5 services.  In any case, the early morning ones are before 09:30 so would have only been valid on the International ticket.

The stated marketing aim of the Great West Way is to encourage independent travellers from overseas to visit the many wonderful tourist attractions and countryside we have along the corridors from London to the River Severn - taking in a wide swathe of Berkshire and Wiltshire as well as just what's visible from the A4.  And as such a marketing / business decision has been taken not to include services that make access to the "Honey Pots" easy and relatively cheap.   Hence the exclusion of services close to Stonehenge.

There are some other excellent things to see from Salisbury (easily reached by train on the ticket) and Amesbury.
Old Sarum - https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/old-sarum/
Boscombe Down Aviation Collection - http://www.boscombedownaviationcollection.co.uk
Amesbury History Centre - https://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/things-to-do/amesbury-history-centre-p1536253
And Amesbury is an interesting small town to look around in its own right.
Using your Explorer ticket?  Be sure to board the X5 and not the 7, X4, 201 or Activ8 services from Salisbury to take in these places.

Go-Ahead South Coast timetables for services near to Stonehenge mentioned at:
https://assets.goaheadbus.com/media/timetable_pdf/X4_X5_Sept_18.pdf .
https://assets.goaheadbus.com/media/timetable_pdf/reds_preview_web_tt_Activ8_1118_PRESS.pdf
https://www.salisburyreds.co.uk/timetables/park-ride-7-31-may#timetable
https://assets.goaheadbus.com/media/timetable_pdf/2__Sept_18.pdf
http://www.thestonehengetour.info/timetable

[CyclingSid]

Apologies for relying on my inadequate memory, and not fact checking before posting.

Still useful if you get off at Durrington and see Durrington Walls, Woodhenge, etc. See the Stonehenge Riverside Project which puts all these in the larger context of Stonehenge, and the map referenced above. Beautiful walking area, you could also investigate the Larkhill Military Railway, which Graham has posted about elsewhere. Part of it is known as the Apple Track and the apples were excellent last year.

Access to Stonehenge, you can get about 10m further from the stones than the paying public. Having lived round there I never felt the need to get that close and personal to the geology, perfectly adequate for my needs.