Gatwick to Piccadilly Circus 17 March

Hello, can anyone please help me with some advice.

I want to travel from Gatwick to Piccadilly Circus on 17 March at about 4.30pm. The time may vary if my plane is late.

I have an oyster card and a senior railcard which is also linked to my oyster card.

What is the cheapest and quickest way of doing the journey?

Last time I got on Thameslink for about £6-70 from Gatwick to St Pancras and then got the tube to Piccadilly using my oyster card. But that Thameslink train is slow.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help, S
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For information I actually want to go from Gatwick to St Pancras but break my journey for 3 hours at Piccadilly Circus. If that helps arrive at my cheapest option.

Additionally I have just noticed that I can buy an anytime ticket from Gatwick to Croydon for £3-45 with my senior railcard. Can I then use Oyster to Victoria and on to Piccadilly. IF so do I have to leap off the train at Croydon to touch my oyster card on the automatic gate?

Thanks again

Yes you would need to get off at Croydon if you had a ticket Gatwick - Croydon and using Oyster Croydon - Central London.

If you have a senior railcard, would you have a bus pass as well? You could catch a bus from a London Terminal (Victoria, Blackfriars etc) to Piccadilly Circus and then another bus or tube to St Pancras.

Thanks but the bus takes ages from Victoria to PC and also from PC to St P.

Also I am not certain that G to C then oystercard is the cheapest option. Does it get capped so that my 3 journeys on it are capped? (C to V, V to PC, PC to St P)

thanks again

You can find out how much the fares are using the TfL single fare finder

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/fares/single-fare-finder

East Croydon to Piccadilly Circus will count as one journey at £3.05, and PC to St P will be £1.50, both with your railcard discount.

That looks like it might be the cheapest whilst also not restricting you to the slower Thameslink route into London, but you would have to get off to touch in.

Thanks again Causton
But that link for fares shows 3 different fares? How do I know which one I will be charged?

For speed and avoiding the need to get off at East Croydon get an Off peak Gatwick to Boundary Zone 6 single for £3.45 and a Z1-6 Travelcard for £7.90. Valid on Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink. Not sure how the costs compare to using Oyster for your break of journey but paper only may be the most convenient. It takes a bit of dexterity on the ticket machines at Gatwick to buy these tickets but the effort is worth it.

Sorry it's taking hours for my replies to appear - apparently a moderator has to look at them first. Is that because I am new?

Anyway..
Several prices come up on the price finder for Croydon to Piccadilly circus. So how do I know which one I will get when I use my Oyster card?

Also, on the price finder link posted I cannot find East Croydon railway station. Only EC bus station?

Does anyone know the layout of EC station? Because I am intending to buy a ticket from Gatwick to East Croydon (£3-45 anytime ticket with travelcard) then leap out at EC and tap my Oyster card on the gate. Is the gate on the platform or up one of the slopes? (I can't see in detail from Google street view).

Thanks for any help.

suzanneparis said:

Thanks but the bus takes ages from Victoria to PC and also from PC to St P.

Also I am not certain that G to C then oystercard is the cheapest option. Does it get capped so that my 3 journeys on it are capped? (C to V, V to PC, PC to St P)

thanks again

Click to expand...

For cheap from Croydon, you would be better off walking to West Croydon which costs £2.05 to Piccadilly if you go via Canada Water and Waterloo.

Going via Victoria will still cost you £3.05. Cheap very rarely means fast.

I think talldave offered an excellent option striking the balance between cost and speed.

suzanneparis said:

Sorry it's taking hours for my replies to appear - apparently a moderator has to look at them first. Is that because I am new?

Click to expand...

It was marked as possible spammer but I think we can safely discount that possibility. It should be resolved now.

Firstly, many thanks 'bb21' for recognising that I am not a spammer!

OK now then. I think the solution may be to go from Gatwick to East Croydon on a £3-45 fare. Then to use my Oyster card to get to Piccadilly.

But... therein lies some questions.
There seem to be several prices for EC to P. How do I ensure I get the cheap fare of £3-05 with my travel card?

Would I have enough time to jump off at EC and tap in my Oyster card? And get back on the same train?

Finally, I don't understand how it all works. If I tap in my Oyster card at EC fine - but then my train goes to Victoria where I must tap my card to go through the barrier then tap it again to get into the underground then tap it again when I leave the underground at Piccadilly. Does this all sort itself out so that the total charge is £3-05??? It seems impossible as I am doing so many in outs on my oyster card??

Thanks again for any help.

suzanneparis said:

There seem to be several prices for EC to P. How do I ensure I get the cheap fare of £3-05 with my travel card?
...
Finally, I don't understand how it all works. If I tap in my Oyster card at EC fine - but then my train goes to Victoria where I must tap my card to go through the barrier then tap it again to get into the underground then tap it again when I leave the underground at Piccadilly. Does this all sort itself out so that the total charge is £3-05??? It seems impossible as I am doing so many in outs on my oyster card??
.

Click to expand...

There is definitely just one fare of £3.05 off peak with Railcard discount (see attached) - are you definitely selecting "National Railcards and Gold Cards" as the fare type?

In answer to your other question, the system will automatically recalculate the fare regardless of number of tap in/out - it is intelligent enough to realise that you have tapped out and in again at Victoria within a short timeframe.

suzanneparis said:

There seem to be several prices for EC to P. How do I ensure I get the cheap fare of £3-05 with my travel card?

Click to expand...

As long as you don't travel during the morning peak you will be charged £3.05 whichever way you go.

suzanneparis said:

Would I have enough time to jump off at EC and tap in my Oyster card? And get back on the same train?

Click to expand...

Probably not, but trains are frequent so you shouldn't be waiting more than 5-10 minutes. Travel in the back of the train from Gatwick as the gateline is up the rear slope.

suzanneparis said:

Finally, I don't understand how it all works. If I tap in my Oyster card at EC fine - but then my train goes to Victoria where I must tap my card to go through the barrier then tap it again to get into the underground then tap it again when I leave the underground at Piccadilly. Does this all sort itself out so that the total charge is £3-05??? It seems impossible as I am doing so many in outs on my oyster card??

Click to expand...

Yes as long as you don't take more than 20 minutes between touch out at the NR gateline and touch back in at the LU gateline. You can read more about the system on my site (link in sig below), particularly the Interchanging trains page.

I am having problems with the fare finder. There isn't an east croydon train station. it only shows an east croydon BUS station. should i use that to calculate the fair?

also i presume i go into victoria from east croydon? then on the tube to piccadilly?
thanks to everyone for their help

suzanneparis said:

I am having problems with the fare finder. There isn't an east croydon train station. it only shows an east croydon BUS station. should i use that to calculate the fair?

also i presume i go into victoria from east croydon? then on the tube to piccadilly?
thanks to everyone for their help

Click to expand...

Yes, that is a bug in the system . Or look at page 5 of this table (National Rail through fares) for the Zones 1-5 fare: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/national-rail-railcard-fares.pdf

East Croydon to Victoria (make sure you don't get a stopping service!)
Then northbound Victoria line to Oxford Circus
Change for the southbound Bakerloo line to Piccadilly Circus.

Many thanks for your help hassaanhc. Now I understand.
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Are the authorities aware of the bug in the system that doesnt list east Croydon on the fare finder page?

If not maybe I should try to let them know. If I could find the contact details.

I tried the fare finder page, entered East Croydon, Piccadilly and hit "show single fares" and it offered me East Croydon Station - with just a trains icon, no bus?!

talldave said:

I tried the fare finder page, entered East Croydon, Piccadilly and hit "show single fares" and it offered me East Croydon Station - with just a trains icon, no bus?!

Click to expand...

It was wrong on Sunday but fixed by yesterday afternoon. Looks like someone at TfL reads this forum!

Still not working properly. It shows a SYMBOL for a train station but calls it East Croydon BUS station.

THANK YOU!!

I thought you would like to know the conclusion to my question that you all so helpfully answered.

I bought the cheap ticket £3-45 from Gatwick to Croydon then got off the train and went up the ramp to go out through the barrier then came back in using my Oyster card.

All went perfectly. Thank you so much.

When I arrived at Piccadilly I had to put some cash onto my Oyster card and I did that at the ticket office where the extremely helpful member of staff also gave me details of my total cost from Croydon to Piccadilly - which was exactly as you had all mentioned. Thank you so much!

For info the whole journey worked well because the train I was on from Gatwick to Croydon did not go to Victoria. So I had enough time at Croydon to run up the ramp and go out then back in on my Oyster card and just make the train which went to Victoria.

All in all a very successful and cheap part of my journey - as I am a pensioner cheap is very important to me!

The only very minor gripe was that the tube from Victoria to Piccadilly was horrendously full at that time of day (about 5.30pm) I could barely get onto the tube with my small suitcase. But it's only a very small gripe.

Overall I am a very happy customer and fan of this excellent forum.

Thank you so much for all of your help. I genuinely appreciate it.