Commuting Advice - Biggleswade to Farringdon

[dutchsuperbus]

Hello Everyone,

I hope this is the right place. I'm wanting some advice on my commute, to make sure I'm not overspending and making it as efficient as possible.

I go in twice a week currently get a Biggleswade to London Terminals ticket, I change at Finsbury Park and get off at Old Street station. I use the Trainline monthly flexi-pass which is approx £280, giving me a saving of approx £41.10 (I worked it out to be eight trips for the price of seven.

However, Farringdon would be much more preferable to me as it's a direct train and my office is closer to Farringdon station. Annoyingly, Farringdon isn't a London Terminal and ironically, if I stayed on for two more stops I would reach London Bridge, which is a London Terminal!

So, is the flexi-pass to change at Finsbury Park my best option here or am I missing something?

Any help greatly appreciated

 

[CyrusWuff]

A Flexi Season to London Thameslink (valid as far South as London Bridge and Elephant & Castle) rather than London Terminals would be £294.70.

The London Terminals one isn't valid beyond St Pancras/Moorgate/Kings Cross when travelling into London from the Great Northern route.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Annoyingly, Farringdon isn't a London Terminal and ironically, if I stayed on for two more stops I would reach London Bridge, which is a London Terminal!

...am I missing something?

London Bridge isn't actually a London Terminal if travelling in from Biggleswade, which, of course, is on the North side of Central London/the Thameslink core.

 

[Nottingham59]

Is it the same two days each week that you travel?

 

[swing]

I go in twice a week currently get a Biggleswade to London Terminals ticket, I change at Finsbury Park and get off at Old Street station. I use the Trainline monthly flexi-pass which is approx £280, giving me a saving of approx £41.10 (I worked it out to be eight trips for the price of seven.

However, Farringdon would be much more preferable to me as it's a direct train and my office is closer to Farringdon station.

A Flexi Season to London Thameslink (valid as far South as London Bridge and Elephant & Castle) rather than London Terminals would be £294.70.

As has been said, a London Terminals flexi (from Biggleswade) is £280.70, whereas a London Thameslink flexi is £294.70. The advantage of the latter is that you will (most likely) remain on the current train at Finsbury Park to Farringdon, saving waiting for what I suspect is a busy Moorgate train to get to Old Street, which will add a little time and a less comfortable standing journey. If the office is closer to Farringdon, then the time saving not changing trains, plus the shorter walk may make the additional cost worthwhile:

For example, the 7.30am gets into Finsbury Park at 8.06, with Great Nortern suggesting you'll then be on the 8.12 arriving at Old Street at 8.22, whereas that same 7.30am train from Biggleswade goes direct to Farringdon arriving at 8.19, so you are already 3 minutes faster, and with a shorter walk to the office, should be there sooner.

The only way I could see to save money whilst travelling to Farringdon is possibly a flexi to Finsbury Park (£230.30), where you would need to leave the train, walk downstairs to the validators and start an Oyster / Contactless journey, which would be £3.40 for a (peak) single to Farringdon. Over 8 returns trips, you'll pay £54.40 to TfL, totalling £284.70, saving £10 over the London Thameslink ticket, but the need to leave the train to start the second journey would mean you will be on the next train travelling to St Pancras and onto Farringdon, which might make the delay unacceptable. In the example of the 7.30am train arriving at Finsbury Park at 8.06, the next train to Farringdon looks like the 8.22, not getting to Farringdon until 8.34, so a 15 minute delay for a few pounds saving (and you may have a similar delay in the evening going home). Having said that, if you needed any additional zone 1 travel during the day, you would only need one more zone 1 single to reach the TfL zone 1-2 daily cap (£8.50) and hence might save you money on other zone 1 travel instead.

Personally, I would feel the need to leave the train is not worth the saving, and the cheapest way is to continue travelling via Old Street.

I assume travelling to Moorgate wouldn't be closer?

 

[dutchsuperbus]

Thank you all so much for your advice!!

To answer some questions/points;

• @McRWarrior Good to know that LB isn't a London Terminal when travelling from Biggleswade, I thought it was very odd.
• @swing - thank you for that really detailed reply, I think you're right in that the need to leave the train is not worth the saving there and Moorgate is a tiny bit closer but the difference is marginal.
• @Nottingham59 - I usually travel in Weds-Thurs, however, due to the nature of what I do I may need to be in on a Monday instead of a Wednesday so it would need to be flexible

I think I'll keep it as is but really appreciate your helpful replies

 

[maniacmartin]

What Nottingham59 was hinting at was if you could use one weekly season tickets to cover 2 weeks of commuting, which can start on any day of the week.e.g. Week A - commute Weds and Thurs
Week B - commute Mon and Tues
This could be done on a 7 day season that starts on Weds on Week A. The Biggleswade to London Thameslink 7 day season (Not Underground) is £149.70 though, so this doesn't really save any money over the Flexiseason but does come with a big loss of flexibility.