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Buying tickets for Euston to City Thameslink return

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tspaul26

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Can anyone advise where one would buy tickets to travel from Euston to City Thameslink about 9am on a Tuesday, returning on the same day about 5pm?

There will be no other journeys involved in Greater London.

No Oyster, contactless or bus.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:
Ideally:
Tube: Euston to Kings Cross St Pancras OR Euston Square to Farringdon
Thameslink: St Pancras/Farringdon to City Thameslink
 
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JonathanH

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Can anyone advise where one would buy tickets to travel from Euston to City Thameslink about 9am on a Tuesday, returning on the same day about 5pm?

There will be no other journeys involved in Greater London.

No Oyster, contactless or bus.

Thanks in advance.
What is the route you wish to take? If you are going to walk to Euston Square to get the underground to Farringdon, it will almost be as quick to walk to St Pancras.

Walking from Euston to St Pancras, a return from St Pancras to City Thameslink costs £6.30 and can be bought from a ticket machine.

Euston or Euston Square to City Thameslink is £5.50 each way using a paper ticket from the machine at the station.
 
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Watershed

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Can anyone advise where one would buy tickets to travel from Euston to City Thameslink about 9am on a Tuesday, returning on the same day about 5pm?

There will be no other journeys involved in Greater London.

No Oyster, contactless or bus.

Thanks in advance.
If you intend to walk to St Pancras, you can get a paper ticket at the ticket office or ticket machines.

If you intend to get the Tube to St Pancras (or take any other route combining Tube and Thameslink) you should be able to get a paper ticket at the Euston (National Rail/Avanti) ticket office, possibly also at the Tube station ticket machines but I'm not 100% sure on that.

The prices would be £6.30 and £11 respectively, for each route's return ticket.
 

tspaul26

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If you intend to get the Tube to St Pancras (or take any other route combining Tube and Thameslink) you should be able to get a paper ticket at the Euston (National Rail/Avanti) ticket office, possibly also at the Tube station ticket machines but I'm not 100% sure on that.
Excellent. I shall head there once my train gets into Euston.
 

JonathanH

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Euston to Kings Cross St Pancras and then St Pancras to City Thameslink would involve a considerable amount of walking within the stations. At St Pancras, the Northern line is closer to the Thameslink platforms than the Victoria Line but in either case you would need to go through barriers to interchange between the two.

As noted above, Euston Square is a few minutes walk from Euston in the wrong direction although Farringdon interchange is convenient. Overall, it is, in almost all cases, easier to walk to St Pancras from Euston.
 

Hadders

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Is there a reason why you don't want to use Oyster or contactless? A paper ticket is much more expensive.

I agree with others above and personally would go to Euston Square and take the Underground to Farringdon, or walk to St Pancras and take Thameslink. By the time you've descended 3 levels at Euston to the Underground, waited for a train then come back up at Kings Cross St Pancras and walked to the Thameslink platforms, it'll be faster to walk.
 

island

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Walk to St Pancras and take Thameslink. Paper ticket is £6.30 return (a £1.50 premium over contactless).
 

RJ

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Is there a reason why you don't want to use Oyster or contactless? A paper ticket is much more expensive.

I get a lot of customers who want a paper ticket. Some want it for expenses claims, others as a keepsake, others simply do not want to use Oyster or CPC because they've had a bad experience with maximum fares, can't get on with the touch in/out process or don't want their movements recorded.
 

swt_passenger

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Excellent. I shall head there once my train gets into Euston.
Not a great idea in my opinion, because this journey you’re making doesn‘t actually start from London Euston (National Rail/Avanti). It’s the tube station you need.

Personally I think for this particular journey it’s easier to walk along Euston Rd to St Pancras and start there.
 

JonathanH

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I get a lot of customers who want a paper ticket. Some want it for expenses claims, others as a keepsake, others simply do not want to use Oyster or CPC because they've had a bad experience with maximum fares, can't get on with the touch in/out process or don't want their movements recorded.
The paper ticket in this instance is most likely going to get retained by the barriers in any case.
 

Watershed

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The paper ticket in this instance is most likely going to get retained by the barriers in any case.
But the receipt issued by the ticket office won't be. And it's that which the OP may need for an expenses claim.
 

JonathanH

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But the receipt issued by the ticket office won't be. And it's that which the OP may need for an expenses claim.
Indeed, although buying the ticket to City Thameslink / London Zone 1 in the first place would have been a whole lot less hassle.
 

RJ

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The paper ticket in this instance is most likely going to get retained by the barriers in any case.

It's easy to get around that and some people might only need a photograph of the ticket. Just offering some reasons as to why someone might not want to use Oyster or CPC.
 

Watershed

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Indeed, although buying the ticket to City Thameslink / London Zone 1 in the first place would have been a whole lot less hassle.
Much easier, and far less hassle, to buy an additional ticket if travelling on expenses.
 

paul1609

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If going down the £11 route, an anytime day return from South Hampstead to London Zone U1 & 2 is the same price and should be available from any nr ticket office, tvms offering the buy from another station facility or online via tod. Assuming you don use the Euston to South Hampstead section you would have the return portion for expenses etc.
 

tspaul26

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But the receipt issued by the ticket office won't be. And it's that which the OP may need for an expenses claim.
Bingo.
Indeed, although buying the ticket to City Thameslink / London Zone 1 in the first place would have been a whole lot less hassle.
Work travel policy will not allow this.
If going down the £11 route, an anytime day return from South Hampstead to London Zone U1 & 2 is the same price and should be available from any nr ticket office, tvms offering the buy from another station facility or online via tod. Assuming you don use the Euston to South Hampstead section you would have the return portion for expenses etc.
Won’t be able to get that through expenses, unfortunately.

Personally I think for this particular journey it’s easier to walk along Euston Rd to St Pancras and start there.
I will have a lot of legal papers and the weather forecast is for stormy showers so can’t justify the risk of getting soaked, unfortunately.
 

JonathanH

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Work travel policy will not allow this.
I could (just about) understand a travelcard not being allowed under work policy but a point to point ticket to underground zone 1 seems a little draconian, given it is just as easy to purchase as one to the London Terminal.
 

tspaul26

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I could (just about) understand a travelcard not being allowed under work policy but a point to point ticket to underground zone 1 seems a little draconian, given it is just as easy to purchase as one to the London Terminal.
Tell me about it…
 

tspaul26

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Unfortunately, the website the link leads to is giving me a series of errors.
 

yorkie

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Euston to Kings Cross St Pancras and then St Pancras to City Thameslink would involve a considerable amount of walking within the stations. At St Pancras, the Northern line is closer to the Thameslink platforms than the Victoria Line but in either case you would need to go through barriers to interchange between the two.

As noted above, Euston Square is a few minutes walk from Euston in the wrong direction although Farringdon interchange is convenient. Overall, it is, in almost all cases, easier to walk to St Pancras from Euston.
I'd either:
  • walk from Euston to St Pancras (which is shorter than many people think, especially to Thameslink platforms; shortes troute is via Doric Way/ Church Way (alleyway) / cut through the houising estate / Dangoor Walk, though the official route is not much longer via Poenix Road/Brill Place; or
  • walk to Euston Square; change at Farringdon.

Bingo.

Work travel policy will not allow this.

Won’t be able to get that through expenses, unfortunately.


I will have a lot of legal papers and the weather forecast is for stormy showers so can’t justify the risk of getting soaked, unfortunately.
If it's raining then it's safest to go via the deep tube from Euston to King's Cross, but this involves a lot of underground passages. It may be best to take the Northern Line and use the Northern ticket hall route for interchange,but others can advise on that.
 

Hadders

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Unfortunately, the website the link leads to is giving me a series of errors.
It's working fine for me, it's the option in the bottom left of the page - '7 Day Journey & Payment History'.

Just another thought but where is your ultimate destination? Would Chancery Lane or St Paul's be better options taking the Northern Line from Euston to Tottenham Court Road then Central Line.
 

tspaul26

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Just another thought but where is your ultimate destination? Would Chancery Lane or St Paul's be better options taking the Northern Line from Euston to Tottenham Court Road then Central Line.
1min walk from City Thameslink so Central line would be further to go in this instance.
 

Hadders

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1min walk from City Thameslink so Central line would be further to go in this instance.
OK but the walk from Chancery Lane/St Paul's might be less than the walk involved between Euston and Kings Cross/Euston and Euston Square/interchanging at St Pancras.
 

JonathanH

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I could (just about) understand a travelcard not being allowed under work policy but a point to point ticket to underground zone 1 seems a little draconian, given it is just as easy to purchase as one to the London Terminal.
Tell me about it…
Somewhat ironic when the extra ticket that needs to be bought if travelling on the underground (ie London Zone 1 to London Terminals) https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=0785&dest=1072 is exactly the reverse of what is not allowed to be bought from the original station.
 

Royston Vasey

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But the receipt issued by the ticket office won't be. And it's that which the OP may need for an expenses claim.
Our expense claims through SAP Concur only need a photo or of any receipts these days, no need to retain or submit the piece of paper any more. It makes it easy to take a snap of the ticket whilst still on the train.

I get less hassle with the ticket itself, physical or photo, as the ticket receipt gives far less information to Finance than the ticket itself anyway; they want to know I've bought a ticket from home to London for £45, rather than spent £45 on something unspecific.

Tell me about it…
I sympathise. Our policy allows me to book whatever I like with a note of justification to my approving manager which has never been denied.

Is the issue that you must get point to point as they don't trust you not to go to another Z1 station? Or just that Finance need to see clearly specified and destination? Talk about lack of trust!

If you can pre-book online, even on the day of travel, on a booking site, you will be able to specify and receive an email confirmation, itinerary and credit card receipt that states [Origin] to City Thameslink, if that helps you at all. The paper ticket you collect will still say Z1 as the destination.

...

EDIT:

Just looked through a few of my old bookings from Cambridge to Paddington. Online booking emails vary a bit.

- Booking through Thameslink the email states "Cambridge to London Underground and DLR Zones 1-2" With an itinerary to Paddington.
- Booking through LNER the email doesn't state the full title of the ticket or Z1 at all, only the ticket type "Anytime Day Single" with an itinerary to Paddington
- Booking through Greater Anglia and Chiltern the email states "Journey 1: Cambridge to London Paddington" in capital letters and the ticket type "Anytime Day Single" with an itinerary and no mention of Z1.
 
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Taunton

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Is there a reason why you don't want to use Oyster or contactless? A paper ticket is much more expensive.


I showed our overseas visitors how to use Contactless. They went into Central London where at Bond Street the fire alarms had gone off and everyone was being hustled out and the gates were disabled and open.

It only came to light afterwards that they had a huge charge on their credit card from TfL. It was their only trip of the day. This is the sort of experience that leads to still wanting paper tickets. However is this meant to be sorted out?
 

Starmill

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I showed our overseas visitors how to use Contactless. They went into Central London where at Bond Street the fire alarms had gone off and everyone was being hustled out and the gates were disabled and open.

It only came to light afterwards that they had a huge charge on their credit card from TfL. It was their only trip of the day. This is the sort of experience that leads to still wanting paper tickets. However is this meant to be sorted out?
Maximum fares arising from incompleted journeys can be automatically resolved in some cases. This was sometimes done for ExCel events where travellers were asked to exit the DLR without touching out to ease congestion.

Whether a fire alarm can be substantially mitigated in this way I don't know. In any case it is still possible to have the journey resolved and any overcharge refunded by emailing or calling customer services, but then of course there's the hassle factor of doing that.
 
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