Derby-Ryde, TrainSplit with excessive cross-London fare

[Skymonster]

I’ve just been looking at a trip from Derby to Ryde Hoverport using Trainspilt, out on a Friday after 08:00 and back on a Monday after 12:00. Here is the suggestion that is produced, routed Derby-St Pancras-Waterloo-Portsmouth and Southsea etc and the reverse for the return.


I understand most of it, except the excessive £6.30 for a “London Underground Zones 1-6 to London Terminals” ticket (fifth entry in the list). Surely the preceeding tickets gets me to Waterloo (Ryde Hoverpot’t to London Terminals) and the following one gets me from St Pancras to Leicester/Derby. So why the £6.30 charge when the Zone 1 underground ticket costs much less than that? Also, given I could use contactless on the day, how do I remove just the £6.30 cross London ticket from itinerary and leave the rest?

 

[Watershed]

I’ve just been looking at a trip from Derby to Ryde Hoverport using Trainspilt, out on a Friday after 08:00 and back on a Monday after 12:00. Here is the suggestion that is produced, routed Derby-St Pancras-Waterloo-Portsmouth and Southsea etc and the reverse for the return.

View attachment 113342
I understand most of it, except the excessive £6.30 for a “London Underground Zones 1-6 to London Terminals” ticket. Surely the preceeding tickets gets me to Waterloo (Ryde Hoverpot’t to London Terminals) and the following one gets me from St Pancras to Leicester/Derby. So why the £6.30 charge when the Zone 1 underground ticket costs much less than that? Also, given I could use contactless on the day, how do I remove just the £6.30 cross London ticket from itinerary and leave the rest?

You can't remove the cross-London tickets - retailers cannot leave gaps in the tickets they sell. They must cover the entirety of the offered itinerary. If you want to use contactless, you'll have to book it as two separate legs, Derby to St Pancras and Waterloo to Ryde. Note, however, that if you did this, you would have no protection in the event of Tube delays on the day and you could miss your onward train without recourse.

The reason why TrainSplit is suggesting a Zones 1-6 single is that £6.30 is the cost of a paper ticket to cover any Tube journey within Zones 1-6. So in essence, for the same price as a Zone 1 single you can instead get a Zones 1-6 single, so TrainSplit offers the ticket with the greatest validity.

I'm not sure why it's suggesting that rather than an Advance to Zone U1*. Rail Sale fares are only available on one TOC, and cannot include cross London or Underground validity, however I don't see why the SWR (non-Rail Sale) Advance is available from Zone 1 to Ryde but not the reverse. Usually it's just a fixed add-on.

 

[JonathanH]

Can the OP try routeing via London Bridge to see whether that gets a better fare than £6.30 to cross London?

 

[Skymonster]

Can the OP try routeing via London Bridge to see whether that gets a better fare than £6.30 to cross London?

Everything via London Bridge is substantially more expensive, albeit tickets Thameslink through the core rather than Underground. But thanks for the suggestion.

You can't remove the cross-London tickets - retailers cannot leave gaps in the tickets they sell. They must cover the entirety of the offered itinerary. If you want to use contactless, you'll have to book it as two separate legs, Derby to St Pancras and Waterloo to Ryde. Note, however, that if you did this, you would have no protection in the event of Tube delays on the day and you could miss your onward train without recourse.

The reason why TrainSplit is suggesting a Zones 1-6 single is that £6.30 is the cost of a paper ticket to cover any Tube journey within Zones 1-6. So in essence, for the same price as a Zone 1 single you can instead get a Zones 1-6 single, so TrainSplit offers the ticket with the greatest validity.

I'm not sure why it's suggesting that rather than an Advance to Zone U1*. Rail Sale fares are only available on one TOC, and cannot include cross London or Underground validity, however I don't see why the SWR (non-Rail Sale) Advance is available from Zone 1 to Ryde but not the reverse. Usually it's just a fixed add-on.

Thanks @Watershed - make sense, albeit that the excessive charge for the tube ticket is an encouragement to DIY with separate tickets rather than pay that excess on top of the TrainSplit commission.

 

[miklcct]

Everything via London Bridge is substantially more expensive, albeit tickets Thameslink through the core rather than Underground. But thanks for the suggestion.


Thanks @Watershed - make sense, albeit that the excessive charge for the tube ticket is an encouragement to DIY with separate tickets rather than pay that excess on top of the TrainSplit commission.

As a result I nearly always book as separate journeys and use Oyster for crossing London if the splits include a paper ticket within the zones.