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Are rail tickets accepted on London buses if underground are on strike?

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Steveinreading

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I have through tickets from Aachen to Reading on 21 June

Now it looks like both tube & rail will strike that day

I've found a contingency, a Mega Bus from Victoria to Reading. Only 4 a day but I can hang around and get the 19:00.
For £6.15 I've booked in case I need it.

I can get from St Pancras to Victoria on 2 buses. Will my rail ticket that would have included tube be valid on the buses? Or do I pay bus fares and try to claim back the rail ticket?

This all assumes that Eurostar runs ok!
 
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[.n]

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worth noting in case you didn't know in London is £1.65 for as many bus journeys as you want where you start the journey within an hour (though I believe there is an in built leeway so its really 70 minutes), so your two buses will only be £1.65 in total
 

bakerstreet

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worth noting in case you didn't know in London is £1.65 for as many bus journeys as you want where you start the journey within an hour (though I believe there is an in built leeway so its really 70 minutes), so your two buses will only be £1.65 in total
I think it’s 62 minutes since 2021
 

Mike99

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From opposite St Pancras station on Euston Road Bus Route 390 runs direct from there to Victoria Station, which is then a short walk along Buckingham Palace Road to Victoria Coach Station. Routes 11, 44, 170, 211 and C10 link Victoria Station to the next bus stop at Victoria Coach Station. As has been said if your connection at Victoria Station is within the 62 minute period this extra journey will not incur any extra cost.
 

Starmill

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I have through tickets from Aachen to Reading on 21 June

Now it looks like both tube & rail will strike that day

I've found a contingency, a Mega Bus from Victoria to Reading. Only 4 a day but I can hang around and get the 19:00.
For £6.15 I've booked in case I need it.

I can get from St Pancras to Victoria on 2 buses. Will my rail ticket that would have included tube be valid on the buses? Or do I pay bus fares and try to claim back the rail ticket?

This all assumes that Eurostar runs ok!
If you already hold a rail ticket, my advice is to wait until the day, then apply for a refund on it and don't use it. My guess is that you booked through Rail Europe or similar and they gave you multiple tickets for your journey? Either way you need to contact them to get one of them refunded. They can't charge you a processing fee for the refund if it is needed due to Industrial action.

Your Eurostar service will probably run if it's morning or early afternoon. If you learn that it's cancelled your can try and get Eurostar to rebook you on the previous one, or following one if you can't make the previous one. They will almost certainly do this for you at no charge provided they have a seat available.

Some trains are likely to be running between London and Reading but if the megabus is conveniently timed I'd probably just use that now you've paid for it.

Oyster or Contactless is the way to go for the London Bus. Just pay for this out of pocket. As pointed out above you can actually board multiple buses with 62 minutes at a total price of £1.65. Ticket acceptance on London Buses usually isn't in place, though there are exceptions.
 

Hadders

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Expect long queues to use buses in London on strike days. It may well be quicker to walk.
 

[.n]

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I think it’s 62 minutes since 2021

Oh that's a shame - is there a reference to that anywhere please?

The advertised 60 minutes plus the behind the scenes 70 minutes reality was quite handy for me in the past as it fitted in nicely with several bus-train-bus journeys I used to do - anything I've done recently has also been subject to overall capping so hard to tell in it would have applied otherwise
 

Watershed

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Oh that's a shame - is there a reference to that anywhere please?

The advertised 60 minutes plus the behind the scenes 70 minutes reality was quite handy for me in the past as it fitted in nicely with several bus-train-bus journeys I used to do - anything I've done recently has also been subject to overall capping so hard to tell in it would have applied otherwise
See here.
 

Lewlew

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If you have to hang around to wait until 1900 then I’d consider walking. Google Maps is saying 1h 13m. Bus could probs take a similar time on that day.
 

matt_world2004

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The people who arrange emergency ticket acceptance on buses are also on strike that day
 

matt_world2004

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What would they normally need to do if ticket acceptance was needed?
In an emergency (IE unplanned) they radio all drivers explaining the nature of the disruption, give the drivers a resolution code to enter into their etm (All ticket acceptance regardless of toc is charged to LU) then post it on a internal website available to bus controllers.

For planned ticket acceptance it's a non operational team..this is done as briefing notes in bus depots usually

TfL doesn't generally do acceptance.
They do. There is ticket acceptance on buses for the central line today. And on southeastern yesterday
 
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bakerstreet

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They do. There is ticket acceptance on buses for the central line today. And on southeastern yesterday
I think the issue with ‘ticket acceptance’ on TfL is that if you are an Oyster user you are charged for what you use, which in times of disruption can often be more.
So if you are charged more (eg extra zone(s) or mixed mode where you wouldn’t have otherwise or separate bus and tube fare to complete one journey) even where ‘ticket acceptance’ is in place, it’s unlikely TfL will refund.
‘Ticket acceptance’ I think these days literally means paper ticket or non smart ticket.
I often here buses are accepting tube tickets in the area, but I’m never sure what that really means in reality.
 

Class800

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I think the issue with ‘ticket acceptance’ on TfL is that if you are an Oyster user you are charged for what you use, which in times of disruption can often be more.
So if you are charged more (eg extra zone(s) or mixed mode where you wouldn’t have otherwise or separate bus and tube fare to complete one journey) even where ‘ticket acceptance’ is in place, it’s unlikely TfL will refund.
‘Ticket acceptance’ I think these days literally means paper ticket or non smart ticket.
I often here buses are accepting tube tickets in the area, but I’m never sure what that really means in reality.
Probably Maltese cross tickets and paper travelcards are the most common ones
 
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I think the issue with ‘ticket acceptance’ on TfL is that if you are an Oyster user you are charged for what you use, which in times of disruption can often be more.
This is why bus drivers are given a code, but I don't know how often they have time to use it. Does it still happen? Originally, at least, any unresolved underground journey would be fixed, and anything paid so far adjusted to account for the unexpected bus journey. I think a bus fare is charged and the Underground refunded, but that might not be the best solution in all cases, like a rail leg later in the journey.
 

Hadders

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Buses within London are cheaper than trains so no need for ticket acceptance.

For cross London journeys between London Terminals little point in using the bus, even if there is acceptance in place, as they’ll be completely wedged with long queues of people waiting. In many cases it’ll be quicker to walk.
 

Starmill

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Paper or ITSO Travelcards are already valid on London Bus services. U zone tickets and tickets with a cross London marker require the bus driver to be informed of the ticket acceptance to be valid.

Pay as you Go may be adjusted after the fact if your journey is picked up by the process in place to remove the extra charge for the bus journey.

For cross London journeys between London Terminals little point in using the bus, even if there is acceptance in place, as they’ll be completely wedged with long queues of people waiting. In many cases it’ll be quicker to walk.
Yes if there's widespread LU disruption it's unlikely to be worth trying to catch a bus in central London.
 

miklcct

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Buses within London are cheaper than trains so no need for ticket acceptance.

For cross London journeys between London Terminals little point in using the bus, even if there is acceptance in place, as they’ll be completely wedged with long queues of people waiting. In many cases it’ll be quicker to walk.
It's a really long way from St Pancras to Victoria to walk it. If both the tube and National Rail fail, apart from squeezing onto a bus the only other practical option is to hire a Boris bike.

I'll ride a bike if I can, but if I have heavy luggage I'll squeeze onto any bus which goes in the right direction.
 

Haywain

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It's a really long way from St Pancras to Victoria to walk it.
Most places that can be reached from Victoria can also be reached from Charing Cross and London Bridge. And quite a few from St Pancras.
 

miklcct

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Most places that can be reached from Victoria can also be reached from Charing Cross and London Bridge. And quite a few from St Pancras.
Can you explain this? The context is taking a Eurostar into St Pancras and get a coach out from Victoria when both the Tube and the National Rail are on strike.
 

Hadders

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It's a really long way from St Pancras to Victoria to walk it. If both the tube and National Rail fail, apart from squeezing onto a bus the only other practical option is to hire a Boris bike.

I'll ride a bike if I can, but if I have heavy luggage I'll squeeze onto any bus which goes in the right direction.
It's just over 3 miles so around an hour. That's likely to be faster than waiting for a bus and then it crawling through the congested traffic.
 

MikeWh

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Can you explain this? The context is taking a Eurostar into St Pancras and get a coach out from Victoria when both the Tube and the National Rail are on strike.
Are you certain that Eurostar will be running?
 

matt_world2004

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Can you explain this? The context is taking a Eurostar into St Pancras and get a coach out from Victoria when both the Tube and the National Rail are on strike.
I would check Victoria coach station is open that day
 

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