Cheapest Travel from St Albans to London commute

[tuckaa]

So I have a 3 month internship in Battersea, going to Clapham common underground station Monday to Friday, getting the 7.38 train from St Albans.

Whats my cheapest option, I'm getting very confused, I am also likely to spend some weekends in London/stay there on a Friday night etc so will potentially be buying tickets for sat etc, but not always.

I also have a 16-25 railcard, so not sure if this complicates things

A day travel ticket from St Albans with my railcard is £11.55 (a price i think you can only get at the station).

So essentially I'm confused at whether to buy single daily tickets or a monthly pass. I'm assuming i'll need to buy the monthly travel card but just thought id check there wasn't a cheaper way!

Thank you!

 

[DasLunatic]

After a consultation with a timetable, I presume you mean St. Albans Abbey, as there is a 0738 departure there, connecting onto a London Midland service.

If it is City, ask someone else

I get a price of £12.00, and seeing as you would use it 21 of upto 31 days in a month, I get a monthly price of £252.00.

National Rail (or the TOCs) usually set prices for monthly tickets to be lower than buying many daily returns, so it looks like your better option is to buy monthly.

It's also easier getting to Clapham Common from Euston then it is from St. P, too.

 

[Romilly]

From September through to June (both inclusive), when you use a 16-25 railcard before 10am then the minimum fare after the railcard discount will be £12. So far as I can see, the £11.55 fare is for a discounted offpeak one-day travelcard, which will therefore not be available to the OP as the OP is travelling too early for an offpeak ticket and in any event the fare is less than the minimum discounted railcard fare.

The 0738 from St Albans City is a train to Brighton, which in London calls at St Pancras, Farringdon, City Thameslink and London Blackfriars. As already mentioned, none of those are the best interchange stations for a Northern Line underground train to Clapham Common.

However, the 0744 (or 0724) from St Albans City calls at Elephant & Castle at 0827 (or 0807), and from there it is just 5 stops on the Northern line to Clapham Common.

A St Albans City to London Zone U12 anytime day return with a 16-25 railcard is £16.15 (this would allow just the return journey to Clapham Common), or an anytime one-day travelcard from St Albans City with a 16-25 railcard is £17.50 (which allows one return journey from St Albans City to/from the edge of Zone 6 and then freedom of travel on underground, DLR and buses within Zones 1 to 6).

An anytime 1 month travelcard from St Albans City to Zones 1 to 6 is £396.30 which, allowing for 20 travelling days, works out at £19.82 per day - or £16 per day if there are 22 travelling days, or about £12.80 per day if there are 31 travelling days.

 

[trevmonk]

Or, if Clapham Junction isn't too far from where you want to go (it is in Battersea) you could go: St Albans City - West Hampstead Thameslink then three minutes walk to West Hampstead London Overground for a direct train to Clapham Junction.

Doing this route with a 16-25 railcard should be £12.60 a day, or £63 per week. You have to ask for St Albans to Clapham Junction VIA West Hampstead to get this fare.

Quite a few of the fast trains from St Albans stop at West Hampstead and typical total journey time to Clapham Junction is 65 to 70 minutes.

 

[hassaanhc]

Clapham High Street is about 10 minutes walk away from Clapham Common. If this is convenient enough, then a season ticket between St Albans City and Clapham High Street is £89.10 per week or £342.20 per month.
You must travel via City Thameslink, with changes at Blackfriars and at Denmark Hill (although some direct services between St Albans City and Denmark Hill are available in the peak).
However, this route is not worth using for day tickets, as an Anytime Return is £16.45, more expensive than one for going to Clapham Common LUL, and an Anytime Day Travelcard is the same £17.50.

 

[yorkie]

Welcome to the forum!

....Whats my cheapest option

Sorry but I can't reveal the absolute cheapest option to get from St Albans to London at peak times to someone who is literally a brand new member who I know nothing about, as to do so would risk it's withdrawal (as the fare is exceptionally good value).

However I will try to advise with your query as best I can.

I also have a 16-25 railcard, so not sure if this complicates things

During the months of September-June (inclusive) there is a mininum fare of £12.00 with a 16-25 Railcard.

During the months of July & August there is no mininum fare, enabling you to always get the full discount.

A day travel ticket from St Albans with my railcard is £11.55 (a price i think you can only get at the station).

By "day travel ticket" do you mean a Travelcard? There is indeed an Off Peak Day Travelcard available from St Albans to London Zones 1-6 for that price. It is available online as well as at the station.

You can use it on the 0929 from St Albans and any train after that.

See: http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=SAC&dest=0035&rlc=YNG&tkt=ODT

Note that if you use it to depart between 0929 and 0959 you will need to pay £12 from tomorrow onwards, due to the aforementioned minumum fare rule.

This would not be valid on a train departing at 0738. So, if you need to travel earlier than the £11.55 ticket, read on...

So essentially I'm confused at whether to buy single daily tickets or a monthly pass. I'm assuming i'll need to buy the monthly travel card but just thought id check there wasn't a cheaper way!

Thank you!

A 7 day season is £109, unlike the off peak ticket it is valid at any time. Assuming you use it for 5 days it works out at £21.80 per day.

You can also buy a season for any period between 1 month and 12 months, use the calculator here http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=SAC&dest=0035&rte=40075&tkt=7TS to get the price for the period that suits you (e.g. if starting tomorrow and assuming you work Mondays-Fridays you may want your first one to last for 1 month & 2 days, which would be £446.90 which averages as £18.62 per weekday)

Other alternatives include using a combination of paper ticket (day tickets or a Season ticket) to a certain point (e.g. West Hampstead) and then using Pay As You Go (PAYG) from there.

The easiest way to look up the point to point paper tickets would be at www.brfares.com and for the PAYG fares, the TfL single fare finder is best.