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Great Western Coffee Shop > Journey by Journey > London to the West > A Cheaper Route To Paddington?
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Author Topic: A Cheaper Route To Paddington?  (Read 8788 times)
DevonTrains2008
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« on: December 19, 2008, 11:55:25 »
Am I correct in saying that travelling Exeter to Reading/Paddington via Bristol would be a cheaper route than via Westbury.
Please reply shortly.
thanks
DevonTrains2008

P.S there are some direct FGW▸ (First Great Western)'s via Bristol
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grahame
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« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2008, 14:31:15 »
The system is so complex that it depends on when you want to travel ... out and back ... and if you can be sure enough of the services that you'll catch to book ahead.

Buy-on-the-day, off peak return fares for returning the same day ...

Exeter - Reading, 54 pounds
Exeter - Bristol + Bristol - Didcot + Didcot - Reading, total 45 pounds 30p
Exeter - Basingstoke + Basingstoke - Reading, total 45 pounds 80p

But remember that to use the latter fares, you must travel on trains that go through (and call at) the intermediate stations.
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grahame
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« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2008, 15:01:13 »
P.S. ... and it totals 47.90 if you go direct and book Exeter - Westbury, Westbury - Hungerford and Hungerford - Reading ....

P.P.S. Splitting the journey also means that if you're travelling part of the way at peak times, and part off-peak, you may be able to get good savings on a part of the journey.

Ooh ... and I just got 44.80 ... with five steps.  The whole system, frankly, brings disrepute upon itself!
« Last Edit: December 19, 2008, 15:27:51 by grahame » Logged
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DevonTrains2008
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« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2008, 17:04:52 »
It's probably that the train companies want to get as much money as possible and do not highlight these cheaper fares (e.g Exeter - Bristol - Didcot) If you buy 2 seperate tickets you do not have to get of the train to buy the second leg of the journey - you can buy these tickets at any station UK▸ (United Kingdom) - wide. I wonder if it would be possible to change in both Temple - Meads or Parkway to reach Didcot. It suprises me that changing in Bristol is cheaper than changing in Basingstoke as the Bristol route uses HST▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s!
 Smiley
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super tm
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« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2008, 17:06:32 »
Quote from: DevonTrains2008 on December 19, 2008, 11:55:25
Am I correct in saying that travelling Exeter to Reading/Paddington via Bristol would be a cheaper route than via Westbury.
Please reply shortly.
thanks
DevonTrains2008

P.S there are some direct FGW▸ (First Great Western)'s via Bristol
No for a ticket valid on FGW route the price is the same.  The Exeter - Reading ticket is valid both ways.
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eightf48544
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« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2008, 17:09:07 »
Quote from: grahame on December 19, 2008, 15:01:13
Ooh ... and I just got 44.80 ... with five steps.  The whole system, frankly, brings disrepute upon itself!

Quote from: DevonTrains2008 on December 19, 2008, 17:04:52
It's probably that the train companies want to get as much money as possible and do not highlight these cheaper fares (e.g Exeter - Bristol - Didcot) If you buy 2 seperate tickets you do not have to get of the train to buy the second leg of the journey - you can buy these tickets at any station UK▸ (United Kingdom) - wide. I wonder if it would be possible to change in both Temple - Meads or Parkway to reach Didcot. It suprises me that changing in Bristol is cheaper than changing in Basingstoke as the Bristol route uses HST▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s!
 Smiley

You are both right it's a complete nonsense and in my opnion brings the whole industry into disrepute.

I got an advanced fare for 19th Jan of ^10 for single Exter Reading direct but the anytime seems to ^98.

It's "Rip of Britain"
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Zoe
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« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2008, 19:45:54 »
Quote from: DevonTrains2008 on December 19, 2008, 17:04:52
you can buy these tickets at any station UK▸ (United Kingdom) - wide.
Not in Northern Ireland.
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G.Uard
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« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2008, 06:07:02 »
Clearly, (and good luck to them), passengers like to buy tickets in multiple cheap stages rather than one, (often) higher priced item.  Trouble is that many fail to understand that the services concerned must call at the changeover point for each stage.  I recently had a real battle trying to explain to a Paddington bound passenger that she had to change at Reading as she held a ticket to West Drayton, (from where her Freedom Pass? was valid). Whilst West crews can be reasonably flexible, (many of our services call everywhere except Melksham anyway), this is not always the case with travelling RP▸ (Revenue Protection, or Responsible Person, depending on context) staff.  If you are challenged by RP staff in such circumstances, you could be treated as travelling without the requisite ticket for at least that stage of the journey.
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TerminalJunkie
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« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2008, 09:14:22 »
Quote from: G.Uard on December 20, 2008, 06:07:02
I recently had a real battle trying to explain to a Paddington bound passenger that she had to change at Reading as she held a ticket to West Drayton, (from where her Freedom Pass? was valid).

Is a Freedom Pass not a type of Season Ticket, then?
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Ollie
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« Reply #9 on: December 20, 2008, 10:07:40 »
It's done as west drayton because you can't do a ticket from Boundary Zone 6 for longer distance journeys.
It should be treated as boundary ticket, so no need to change at Reading.
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DevonTrains2008
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« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2008, 15:37:25 »
Quote from: super tm on December 19, 2008, 17:06:32
Quote from: DevonTrains2008 on December 19, 2008, 11:55:25
Am I correct in saying that travelling Exeter to Reading/Paddington via Bristol would be a cheaper route than via Westbury.
Please reply shortly.
thanks
DevonTrains2008

P.S there are some direct FGW▸ (First Great Western)'s via Bristol
No for a ticket valid on FGW route the price is the same.  The Exeter - Reading ticket is valid both ways.

Not if you buy your tickets Exeter - Bristol - Didcot Parkway - Reading!
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2008, 20:29:13 »
Quote from: G.Uard on December 20, 2008, 06:07:02
(many of our services call everywhere except Melksham anyway)

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G.Uard
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« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2008, 06:58:12 »
Quote from: Ollie on December 20, 2008, 10:07:40
It's done as west drayton because you can't do a ticket from Boundary Zone 6 for longer distance journeys.
It should be treated as boundary ticket, so no need to change at Reading.


Interesting point Ollie.  You may well have pinpointed a training need here.  (I have searched through my Avantix▸ (Ticket Issuing System used on board trains) manuals and can't find any clarification).  Pas was using a West unit travelling to BRI» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) to connect with a HS▸ (High Speed (short for HSS▸ (High Speed Services) High Speed Services)) service to Pad.  Her ticket was perfectly valid for my section of the trip, but she pointed out that the TM▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) on the down service had told her that ticket was not valid as the HST▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) didn't stop at West Drayton.  He had used his discretion and she continued journey.

I have to admit that I and many colleagues thought the 'stop' rule applied to these tickets. 

(Hence the change at Reading to an LTV▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) stopper).  I will mention this to the local RP▸ (Revenue Protection, or Responsible Person, depending on context) manager when next I see him and ask for a training update.

For the record, I advised passenger that although I  thought that use of her pass/ticket in this way could cause comment, to continue anyway.
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Ollie
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« Reply #13 on: December 21, 2008, 15:04:22 »
Best way to think of a freedom pass is as an Off Peak Travel Card Smiley

But it does need to be addressed as information needs to be consistent.
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