That's the way I'd go, via Staines to Twickenham then on to Wimbledon via the Kingston Loop.
I don't think that's valid. It's not the shortest route, there are no direct trains (a change at Twickenham is required) and it's not a mapped route.
It would almost certainly be accepted and logically it seems perfectly reasonable, but officially I can't see that it is a valid route.
Like the route described in the
RG Qs topic (see posts
7 &
8 in particular) there are higher priced tickets than the Any Permitted. The RG gives conflicting information about impact this has on the Any Permitted (if any). In fact it
could be interpreted that the Any Permitted is not valid via any route whatsoever
if a strict anti-customer interpretation is made, as there is no mapped route that avoids Weybridge and Clapham Jn. Clearly such an interpretation would be against all consumer rights and a (strong - in my opinion) legal case could be mounted against SWT if they imposed such an interpretation. Would they really be able to argue in court that the contract is expressed in "plain , intelligible language" and that there is no "doubt about the meaning" of the term Any Permitted? Would they be able to justify the existence of an "Any Permitted" fare that is not permitted by any route, and routes that appear restrictive are actually less restrictive than Any Permitted? I'm not a lawyer but if they could prove that then I'd lose all faith in our courts, let's put it that way.
The fares are a farce, that's for sure.
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 said:
Written contracts
7. - (1) A seller or supplier shall ensure that any written term of a contract is expressed in plain, intelligible language.
(2) If there is doubt about the meaning of a written term,
the interpretation which is most favourable to the consumer shall prevail but this rule shall not apply in proceedings brought under regulation 12.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19992083.htm
The contradiction has to work in the consumers favour according to the law.
At Feltham the OP is unlikely to experience any query about the ticket, and after that no barrier will be used until Wimbledon. In theory he could be considered invalid via Kingston as it is not a permitted route and in theory he could be charged an excess of £0.65[1] (an act I would deem unlawful as described above) for being off route.
[1] Assuming no railcard held, excess from Route Any Permitted CDR (£8.70) to Route Clapham Jn CDR (£10.00) for one-way only = 50% of £1.30 = £0.65