Advance tickets and tube strike

[soupsoup]

Hi all

First time poster so please be gentle.......

We've got a weekend away booked in Kingston starting 28th August and have advance tickets from Birkenhead Hamilton Square via Chester and Crewe to Euston. Once there we need to cross London on the tube to get to Vauxhall to catch our onward connection to Kingston.
So, with the proposed tube strike the journey across town is going to cause problems. I've asked my ticket supplier if I can alter my journey because of the planned industrial action but they said no and that I could only get a refund and re-book another journey avoiding London.

My question is could I ask nicely at St Pancras and take a Thameslink to Wimbledon and from there catch a later train on to Kingston?
We've had late running trains before that have caused us to miss a connection and have been told on every occasion that we can take the next available service. Would the tube strike be a similar case do you think?

Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks in advance for your help. Tom

 

[bb21]

Yes, you can, and this is normally recommended for people wishing to avoid LU anyway.

 

[gazthomas]

I agree with bb21, this should be fine

 

[soupsoup]

Thanks for the replies.

That's good to know.

Whenever we've been down, we've normally just used the tube by default as it's the most convenient method of getting around. I just thought that with Thameslink being National Rail any journey taken as part of an advance ticket would need to be listed as part of the route?
It's a pity online booking sites don't give you the option to bypass the tube network, apart from Thameslink, every other site I looked at insisted on routing via the tube, even when the option for slower trains was checked. Under normal circumstances that's not a problem but when you need to find alternate routes it's frustrating....... Unless I've just looked at too many options over the last week

Thanks Tom

 

[najaB]

It's a pity online booking sites don't give you the option to bypass the tube network, apart from Thameslink, every other site I looked at insisted on routing via the tube, even when the option for slower trains was checked.

The National Rail Enquiries page has this to say about cross-London travel:

Crossing London with tickets marked Ԡ'
If your journey involves travelling via, or across London to connect with another National Rail service, your ticket should include the cost of transfer on Tube, Docklands Light Railway or Thameslink services between the relevant main London stations.

So it's Thameslink or the Tube.

 

[soupsoup]

The National Rail Enquiries page has this to say about cross-London travel:

Crossing London with tickets marked Ԡ'
If your journey involves travelling via, or across London to connect with another National Rail service, your ticket should include the cost of transfer on Tube, Docklands Light Railway or Thameslink services between the relevant main London stations.

So it's Thameslink or the Tube.

Bingo

Thanks for that, I'll see if I can find that particular page.

Tom

 

[najaB]

Bingo

Thanks for that, I'll see if I can find that particular page.

Tom

Sorry, forgot to link it. Fixed now.

 

[soupsoup]

Found it and our tickets have "†vtwc &connectns" under Route but "bookdtrainonly" under Validity. Does the latter make any difference to our circumstances?

Tom

 

[najaB]

Found it and our tickets have "†vtwc &connectns" under Route but "bookdtrainonly" under Validity. Does the latter make any difference to our circumstances?

Tom

Nope. Tube / Thameslink services aren't bookable.

 

[soupsoup]

Marvellous, and thank you

Tom

 

[Stats]

It's a pity online booking sites don't give you the option to bypass the tube network, apart from Thameslink, every other site I looked at insisted on routing via the tube, even when the option for slower trains was checked.

I usually find putting City Thameslink as a via point forces booking engines to avoid the tube.
But that may just work for the routes I make.

 

[soupsoup]

It's normally not a problem for us, it's just unfortunate that on this occasion our trip falls on the same day as the proposed strike.
I will make a note of City Thameslink for future reference though.

Tom

 

[hassaanhc]

It may be a good idea to check that morning if there are any alterations to the St Pancras > Wimbledon service, or additional services starting further down the line. Also be prepared for crowd control at Euston, St Pancras and (especially) Wimbledon.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

It may be a good idea to check that morning if there are any alterations to the St Pancras > Wimbledon service, or additional services starting further down the line. Also be prepared for crowd control at Euston, St Pancras and (especially) Wimbledon.

Crowd control at Wimbledon is normally limited to the London bound platforms. If you are heading out of town, you should be fine. All the Kingston trains go from platform 8 at Wimbledon and if you use Thameslink, you'll come in on 9.

 

[soupsoup]

Fingers crossed the two sides in the dispute will have sorted their differences out and our original route will still be available. Time will tell....

Tom