Tiverton to London - FGW or SWT?

[whole diary]

[RichieG]

While it takes far longer to go to Waterloo than to Paddington, on a ticket from Tiverton Parkway to 'London Terminals', under 'Any Permitted' route, is it allowed to go south to Exeter then onto Waterloo, or would I have to get an EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) ticket then a Waterloo ticket? (or, alternatively given that I have to drive quite a distance to Tiverton in the first place, drive to Exeter instead?)

[devon_metro]

I'd go FGW^▸ (First Great Western). Unless of course you like sitting on a noisy DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) for hours stopping at small stations and enjoy getting a migraine from Celia on the automated announcement systems.

And yes, the Any Permitted ticket is valid direct on FGW or via SWT^▸ (South West Trains).

[JayMac]

Travelling that route is allowed with an 'any permitted' London Terminals ticket. However depending on the type of journey (anytime, off peak, single, return, day, travelcard) you'd probably save money by splitting your fare at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains).

Of course spending the extra on an 'any permitted' does allow out to WAT and return from PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), or vice versa.

[RichieG]

The majority of the time - in fact all the time! - I do go up on FGW^▸ (First Great Western). I wasn't asking which route was best, just whether either was an option on an 'Any Permitted' TVP to London Termimals ticket. I do want to go up on SWT^▸ (South West Trains) at one point, for no other reason other than I've never done the SWT route to London before. I almost did a while ago as I bought a 'megatrain' ticket and a TVP to EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) walk on ticket, but the line between Tivvy and Exeter was flooded so ended up having to get a refund and then a walk on single to Paddington (already had a return FGW - long story, basically meant that I ended up paying for three Devon - London tickets but only able to use one). If I did go SWT, I would much prefer to have an open ticket as then I can decide whether to give up on SWT and use FGW on the return trip! (Also, now I know this route is allowed, I can opt to go up Great Western and return South Western!)

It does seem though that even the National Rail website suggests going Great Western as well as whenever I do EXD to Waterloo, it ALWAYS seems to suggest FGW to Paddington then the Bakerloo Line once in London...

[JayMac]

If you want journey planners to give up the alternative times to London Terminals from TVP using the SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line) then you need to put in a via station - say Honiton, or select the option for 'slower routes' or 'overtaken trains'. Different JPs have different options. I always use EastCoast's JP.

[vacman]

Is there an "any permitted" ticket from TVP? thought there was 2 ticket types, route "Taunton" or route "Honiton"? certainly is from EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains).

[JayMac]

There is only an 'any permitted' fare from TVP to London Terminals, so it makes sense to split the fare at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) if you only want to use the SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line).

[Zoe]

There is only an 'any permitted' fare from TVP to London Terminals, so it makes sense to split the fare at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) if you only want to use the SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line).

You can also take advantage of a Network Railcard discount by splitting this way.