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Thank you, Whoosh. That's incredibly helpful!

Hello, I recently joined the SWR section of the Railway Pension Scheme and I make additional contributions through BRASS. I have tried to find out the options for taking this 'pot' when I retire, but RPS haven't been very useful. Does anyone know what the commutation rate from lump sum to...

OK, that's a shame - but thank you for the explanation!

Hello, I have seen another thread on here which confused me a bit about Elizabeth Line fares! I have a Bath Spa to London Terminals (valid via any permitted route) season ticket. Can I now use it to travel from Paddington to Blackfriars, using the Elizabeth Line and then Thameslink? Many...

Hello, Can I travel from Reading to Basingstoke or Reading to Guildford on my Bath Spa to London Terminals season ticket? Thanks!

Thank you very much for your clear and helpful replies. Very useful! Much appreciated.

Hello, I have confused myself a bit with what routes are valid on season tickets. Very grateful if someone could help! If I bought a Bath to London Terminals season ticket (possibly including Underground), am I restricted to the GWR Bath to Paddington service or can I also use GWR + SWR to...

Thank you for your explanation! I still don't really understand the 'Section Pay' bit, as the scheme guide only seems to reference the final 12 months salary rather than starting salary, but I'll try and do a bit more research. Thanks!

Thank you! That's really useful. Are you able to explain to a pension novice like me how the Final Average Section Pay (As defined on Page 19 of the Scheme guide) differs from a Final Salary Pension? The scheme guide says 'Final Average Section Pay' is averaged over 12 months prior to...

Hello, all. I have received a job offer from SWR for a non-operational role (awaiting contract to be sent), but there is some confusion around the pension. I was told by HR that it is a Defined Benefit scheme, but not Final Salary. My understanding of the scheme guide linked below is that it is...

I'm still waiting for a £7k+ refund from GWR. I made the claim online 40 days ago and the website states a 26 day processing time. I phoned them this morning and they said it should be with me in the next '1-2 weeks'.

How much was that for? I'm still waiting on mine from 17/4. Although it was for a refund of approximately £7k, so perhaps the high amount means it needs to go over some additional hurdles.

Hi Paul - this is useful, thank you. Given it appears we will be in lockdown for at least another three weeks, and I can backdate the refund to 17th March, then I calculate that to be just over 7 weeks in total. So a refund will be worthwhile. Thanks for your advice.

This may be a stupid question, but if season ticket refunds are calculated on a 40 week rather than 52 week basis, does that mean we need to not be using a season ticket for 12 weeks to make it worthwhile getting a refund? (On the assumption I will need to buy a new one once I start commuting...

Waiting in case they enhance refunds further (remove admin fee etc) or just because the length of lockdown affects whether it is worth getting a refund?

If I am interpreting this correctly then season tickets can now be returned and refunded backdated to 17th March (or the date last used, whichever is later). https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/refunds-and-compensation/season-ticket-refunds That's quite a significant shift in approach, isn't it?

What have they said now then?

I guess one could also argue that as Dougal is working from home, he isn't actually 'out of pocket' regarding his season ticket anyway. I.e. any refund he receives is a saving compared to his typical working schedule. This is the situation I'm in - I'd already budgeted for and bought my season...

Useful responses - thank you all!

There's a new article on the BBC about split ticketing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51077807 In the article it states: " I just wanted to clarify, is this also correct for season tickets? I was of the understanding that a train only had to pass through a station, not stop there. E.g. If a...