Cheapest Travel Ideas - Greenhithe to South Quay DLR

[georgia1571]

Hi Everyone

Since I've had to cancel my season ticket due to Covid-19 I was thinking of starting afresh and wondered if anyone had any ideas on the cheapest route of travel for me to get to work. Here are some details:

1. I work by South Quay DLR Monday to Wednesday only
2. I usually get the 0639 from Greenhithe to Greenwich and then a DLR to South Quay
3. I return at around 1600 on the DLR to Greenwich and then use the 1627 Thameslink to Greenhithe
4. I can travel to and from Lewisham too on occasion, but this is rare - however if it made things cheaper I would.

I feel like there must be a cheaper way then spending £144 per month on a season ticket!

Thanks

 

[MikeWh]

I feel like there must be a cheaper way then spending £144 per month on a season ticket!

Can you confirm what this season ticket is?

 

[30907]

The Anytime Return adult fare valid for travel via Greenwich or Lewisham is £15.90. Greenhithe to Greenwich is £12 anyway.
The cheapest Travelcard season I can find is £71-odd per week....
The only cheaper way I can think of would be to use buses within the Zones for the maximum time allowed....

 

[IslandDweller]

As you only work three weekdays, the convenience of a season ticket is not your best option.
As pointed out above, the anytime day return from Greenhithe to Greenwich is £12 per day (£36 for your working week).
At Greenwich, switch to PAYG using contactless or oyster for the DLR leg of the journey. You’ll pay £1.70 per trip (£10.2 for 6 journeys). So £46.20 in total for your three working days. If you get away from work a fraction earlier and tap in at South Quay before 1600, the DLR element would be slightly cheaper at £1.50 for those trips. This won't slow you down as there is an oyster reader on the platform for your morning trip (where you enjoy a cross platform connection) and you'll walk past multiple oyster readers in the afternoon (where you have to use the subway to switch platforms)

If you need to conserve every last penny - walk from Greenwich.
This will extend your commute. You can walk from Greenwich station to South Quay in less than a half hour (via the Greenwich foot tunnel). That drops your total to £36 for your working week, and you’ll be fit too. Pleasant enough route, once through the tunnel you walk through Millwall Park then alongside the docks - cross under the DLR at the underpass near Asda. But it will be a longer commute…...

 

[kieron]

There are a few other options:

1. Greenhithe-TfL zones 2-3 return
This costs £15.90 a day (against £15.40 for Oyster and a Greenhithe-Greenwich return or £15.80 with a Greenhithe-Lewisham one), £47.70 a week, but the ticket is designed to let you change at Lewisham or Greenwich whenever you feel like, rather than committing to that day's route when you buy the ticket.

2. Greenhithe-Greenwich annual season ticket + Oyster/Contactless Greenwich-South Quay
The season costs £1692, equivalent to £32.43 a week. The cost of the DLR tickets depends on how many days you actually work over the year.

3. Greenhithe-Greenwich 5 week season ticket + Oyster/Contactless Greenwich-South Quay
Rail season tickets are charged as so many calendar months and so many days, so the price for the season ticket varies from one month to the next. It will be somewhere between £162.50 and £179, though.
If you travel every working day over those weeks, the total cost is somewhere between £42.70 and £46 per week. Adding an extra week when you buy the season ticket would cost an extra £47.80. This is more than the cost of day tickets, so I'd do that instead.

A disadvantage of season tickets is that you still pay for the days you take off work, so it's unlikely to compare as well against day tickets in real use. An advantage is that you can use the train on a day off if you wish to.