SWT fare increases

[Tom]

I've done a PDF based on the info I have from the SWT website and the current fares, average increase for the "CDR" fare is 18.5% roughly, the super off peak (valid all weekend, and on trains arriving into London after 12pm generally) is 2.5%

www.no444.co.uk/files/swtfares.pdf (fare details, shows percentage increases)
www.no444.co.uk/files/swtfares1.pdf (shows rough child/railcard fares)

The fares shown are fares to LONDON TERMINALS.

Standard Open fares have stayed roughly the same which means season tickets shouldn't rise too much. A certain few stations to keep an eye out for are ones with two fares, where SWT are in competition with Southern or FGW, so Portsmouth or Havant for instance where fares haven't increased too far.

 

[Coxster]

Too much time on your hands Ta for that though.

 

[Tom]

Only took about an hour

 

[Oracle]

I love anomalies! I noticed that Fareham is cheaper than Swanwick, and Swanwick is the same price as Southampton Central or Parkway (same price for C or P, even though there's a reasonable distance 'tween them). Is Fareham available any route, i.e. via Southampton Central as well as via Botley or Cosham, and via Hove on Southern? Not that you would go by Southern on a SWT ticket as it's much cheaper to go online and get a Daysave or All Network Downlander (£10 or £12.50) or the PriceBuster. My point is that as under BR you could an get a half-hour's extra train journey from Swanwick to Central for the same price as from Parkway...although from Central I would if we still lived in Locks Heath go the longer distance SuX via Hove [or via Arun Valley?] and go by Southern now! Or we had to go SWT, then buy a Standard Day Return to Farnborough then a CDR to London plus the one-day Travelcard add-on.

However since we moved we now go from Ashurst New Forest so assuming we go by train to Central* then up to London by SWT:

Quoting TOM:

Swap the Ashurst New Forest - Farnborough Main CDR to an SDR (50p extra), and you can get the 0752 from Portsmouth Harbour (0852 from Eastleigh) and just split there onto the same train.

Arrives Waterloo 1008 on that option, or 0845 from Southampton Central to arrive at 1034.

Ashurst New Forest - Farnborough £13.50
Farnborough - London (route NOT RDG) £12.60
Total £26.10

however, ANF - Central is £3.10* quoting TOM again, then it's cheaper to go Southern!

Phew!

 

[Harold]

Cheers for that info Tom, i'm sure it will come useful to me one day.

 

[Tom]

Automotivehistorian, you'd be best off to split tickets off at Basingstoke, I suspect there will only be a 5% rise on those tickets.

£16.40 CDR from Basingstoke,
£10.40~ to Basingstoke from Ashurst, works out to £26.80 roughly. £7 cheaper than the full CDR fare.

 

[yorkie]

Any idea what the new restriction codes are and what the restriction text is? Any way of splitting (e.g. at Surbiton) to reduce the cost?

They can't increase the travelcard cost from within the Zones, because they're not allowed to!

 

[Tom]

The restrictions are for any fare towards London.

Splitting at stations with minimal reductions would be the best bet for most people. I'll see if I can figure out the restrictions later in full later. Fares out of London are unaffected.

Travelcard fares are not changed at all....

 

[yorkie]

The restrictions are for any fare towards London.

Splitting at stations with minimal reductions would be the best bet for most people. I'll see if I can figure out the restrictions later in full later. Fares out of London are unaffected.

Travelcard fares are not changed at all....

So the fare to Surbiton is unaffected, and then a travelcard is the same, so splitting at Surbiton should do the trick?

 

[Tom]

It's towards London, so all fares have increased. I would still recommend splitting at a "neutral" station, I think fares to any station within the London travelcard zones have increased by the percentages in the PDF.

 

[Oracle]

Tom, I was trying to make sense out of the TTs. It seems that the best bet, to arrive at Waterloo at 10.05, the earliest you can arrive with the SDR/CDR combo (with the stop at Basingstoke using the Portsmouth Harbour-Waterloo via Eastleigh) means either a drive to Eastleigh, or drive to Totton, Totton-Eastleigh then change to the Waterloo train. Or catch the train from ANF arriving Waterloo at 10.24 which stops at magical Basingstoke! For the sake of 20 minutes' delay, that's the one to go for, and the SDR/CDR combo beating the system.

However if the Fareham route is available any way, then that's a serious anomaly to go via Southampton Central as it's £2.40 cheaper to book from Fareham even if you get on at Swanwick*! Also you get a 1/2 hour's wonderful 450 experience to Central for no extra charge! I have also noticed that the old BR anomaly of Portchester (and also Cosham) still exists, being the same price as Fareham-London and surely they must be available via Southampton Central?


*I am sure that's not permitted but what the heck...!

 

[Tom]

Portchester and Cosham are certainly valid via Eastleigh, not sure if they are valid via Southampton Ctl, but if they were previously then I guess so!

 

[Oracle]

Am I being dense again but is that Bristol TM fare correct? £31.70 to London...that seems a heck of a lot for the money when it's £33.00 from Salisbury, and the train goes through Salisbury to get to London! Or is that the GWR route?

Barry Doe suggested that Portchester (and Cosham?) had been sorted but the idiotic situation seems to have been perpetuated.

 

[Tom]

It's correct.

The route via the Great Western minimum fare is a Saver at £49.00 for walk on fares.

 

[Oracle]

I don't believe it; I simply don't believe it!

V. Meldrew.

 

[yorkie]

There are loads of examples. Here's a funny one: Newcastle to Lancaster is cheaper than York to Lancaster. And yes, you can go via York! There are many anomalies up north - perhaps less so down south (where nearly all lines radiate from London) but there should be quite a few, you just have to find them!

 

[Tom]

Suppose it's worth noting this little quote from the SWT website...

The price rise and introduction of Super Off-Peak fares will apply to journeys from all stations towards London. Without this system, it would be possible to buy combinations of tickets, which would undermine what we are trying to achieve and create confusion.

Oh dear, we've found a possible combination already, and SWT can't do much to remove it unless they significantly increase fares into Basingstoke....

 

[yorkie]

If you want to get from Bournemouth to London for around 10am, it's cheaper to buy a ticket to POTTERS BAR than to London at that time!

 

[Oracle]

Or what about that old favourite Finsbury Park?

And Tom, if not Basingstoke, and being too lazy now to check, what about Farnborough Main (except that fewish trains stop there) or Woking?

And as regards creating confusion...sounds like the Fat Controller speaking "And you have caused confusion Thomas"!

Cheers,

David

 

[yorkie]

Or what about that old favourite Finsbury Park?

No, because SWT set that fare.

In general, the TOC that operates over the majority of the route set the fare, however the ECML is considered more important than the SWML therefore journeys from Bournemouth to Potters Bar are set by FCC (SWT are the connecting TOC providing local services ) however anywhere south of Potters Bar is recognised as being majorly on SWT, so SWT set the fare.

Also, non-London TOCs have to give way to London-TOCs when it comes to fares, for example Leeds/Donny/Sheffield to Derby is an MML flow, and York is considered an add-on to this flow, as is Burton, so the result is York-Burton is a MML flow with MML rules, yet most people doing such a journey never step foot on an MML train. It's all logical though, apparently, according to ATOC.

So, where one TOC is a total PITA and sets unfair fares, you need to find journeys that cover parts of other TOCs and look for a fare that is set by a fairer TOC.

 

[Oracle]

So, for the sake of interest how does Bournemouth-Potters Bar rate compared to Bournemouth-London? I assume you get the Tube allowed across town from Waterloo?

 

[Tom]

The current fare for Bournemouth - Potters Bar is £41.00, and I don't think there will be a raise on that.

 

[yorkie]

Current return fares:

Weymouth to Potters Bar (+ Any Permitted, inc tube)
£52 SVR; £51.10 SDR; £44.00 CDR (CDR valid for arriving into London after 10:00)

Weymouth to London (Route Westbury)
£52 SVR. (No SDR/CDR)

Weymouth to London (Route Southampton)
£53.10 SVR; £82.10 SDR (that's a joke, right?), £45.50 CDR

So, it is currently cheaper to buy to Potters Bar.

Now, imagine when the new restrictions kick in, the £45.50 CDR won't be available for arrival at Waterloo until 12:00. This makes Potters Bar even more attractive. Oh, and that's before you consider the fact you can go via Westbury if you wish and it includes cross-London transfer!!

 

[devon_metro]

Hilarious SDR! I personally find those restrictions awful. 1200? Thats miles after the peak!

 

[Oracle]

..and fare to Potters Bar, our now-favourite destination, from Ashurst New Forest is now please...?

 

[Tom]

Current fares:
Ashurst New Forest - London Terminals: £28.30 CDR, £35.70 SVR, £53.90 SDR
Ashurst New Forest - Potters Bar: £32.00 CDR, £33.50 SVR, £50.50 SDR.

 

[Oracle]

Will be intereresting to see what it is after the new fares come in. No doubt there will be other answers but for now, well done Tom! You get the "GOLDEN SOP" award, for the soppiest SWT fare anomaly.

I still can't get over Bristol TM -Waterloo compared to Salisbury - Waterloo!

 

[Kris]

I still think that they can do you for not having the correct ticket for the journey. I'll check it out with the RPI's.

Ironically SWT would lose out twice with that ticket because FCC would get a share of it - not sure what percentage.

 

[Tom]

They can't. You can just claim "break of journey" and then don't complete the rest of your journey.

 

[Kris]

They can't. You can just claim "break of journey" and then don't complete the rest of your journey.

As I said before - they've tailed people with plain clothes RPI's and I wouldn't put it past them again especially if they are losing money.

P.S. found out yesterday - RPI's have to supply their own pens for PF notices ....... cutbacks !