Complicated Cross London Day Trip Fare Options

[Mattuk]

Hi all,

I need to make a cross London day trip which includes travelling outside zones 6 to the North and the South, and I am not sure what ticket I should buy as a result. The trip I need to make on Friday, 24/6/22 is as follows:

Leaving Oxford (OXF) on 0932 to London Paddington (PAD), arriving @1024
Arriving Hatfield (Herts) (HAT) @ around 1200
Leaving Hatfield (Herts) after 1600
Arriving Epsom (EPS) before 1900

I will be travelling with a 16-25 railcard.

So far, I came up with a few options:

Option 1 (Oyster PAYG and Paper tickets)
OXF -> PAD arriving @1030 Off-Peak Return (FO) £21.50

(GWR)​

PAD -> Potters Bar (PBR) via Moorgate (MOG) arriving @1134 Off-Peak PAYG £5.15

(Elizabeth & GN)​

<Splitting tickets here by touching out at barrier, must leave train>
PBR -> HAT arriving @1151 Off-Peak Day Return (B1) £2.9

(TL)​

​

HAT -> PBR leaving @1603

(GN)​

<Splitting tickets here by touching in at barrier, must leave train>
PBR -> EPS

A. Deptaring @1702 via London St. Pancras Int'L (STP) & Sutton (SUO) arriving 1833 Off-Peak (If touch in before 1630?) NR ONLY PAYG £5.10​

(TL, TL & SN)​

B. Departing @1642 via Finsbury Park (FPK) & Vauxhall (VXH) arriving 1808 Off-Peak (Touch in before 1630?) PAYG £6.65​

(GN, LU & SWR)​

​

Total Cost:
1+A: £24.40 + £10.25 Off-Peak PAYG = £34.65
1+B: £24.40 + £11.80 Off-Peak PAYG = £36.20

I am not sure about the PAYG fares as I cannot find information about a PBR -> EPS daily cap.

Option 2 (Paper Travelcard)
OXF -> PAD arriving @1030 Off-Peak Return (FO) £21.50
Collect:

• EPS -> London Travelcard Zones 1-6 Off-Peak Day Travelcard (US) £10.55
• Hadley Wood (HDW) -> HAT Off-Peak Day Return (B1) £6.2

PAD -> HDW (splitting tickets here, train must stop) -> HAT arriving @1143
(LU & GN)

HAT -> HDW (splitting tickets here, train must stop) -> FPK -> London Victoria (VIC) -> EPS leaving @1633, arriving @1833
(GN, LU & SWR)

Total Cost: £38.25

I don't know if a travelcard extension will be cheaper and/or allow me to take the fast train direct to FBK. I also don't know if using the travelcard but not starting at EPS is allowed.



Overall, I currently favour option 2 as it is quicker and doesn't require me to leave the train. Can someone tell me whether the tickets are valid or if there is a better/cheaper ticket combination?

Thanks in advance!

 

[hkstudent]

Hi all,

I need to make a cross London day trip which includes travelling outside zones 6 to the North and the South, and I am not sure what ticket I should buy as a result. The trip I need to make on Friday, 24/6/22 is as follows:

Leaving Oxford (OXF) on 0932 to London Paddington (PAD), arriving @1024
Arriving Hatfield (Herts) (HAT) @ around 1200
Leaving Hatfield (Herts) after 1600
Arriving Epsom (EPS) before 1900

I will be travelling with a 16-25 railcard.

So far, I came up with a few options:

Option 1 (Oyster PAYG and Paper tickets)
OXF -> PAD arriving @1030 Off-Peak Return (FO) £21.50

(GWR)​

PAD -> Potters Bar (PBR) via Moorgate (MOG) arriving @1134 Off-Peak PAYG £5.15

(Elizabeth & GN)​

<Splitting tickets here by touching out at barrier, must leave train>
PBR -> HAT arriving @1151 Off-Peak Day Return (B1) £2.9

(TL)​

​

HAT -> PBR leaving @1603

(GN)​

<Splitting tickets here by touching in at barrier, must leave train>
PBR -> EPS

A. Deptaring @1702 via London St. Pancras Int'L (STP) & Sutton (SUO) arriving 1833 Off-Peak (If touch in before 1630?) NR ONLY PAYG £5.10​

(TL, TL & SN)​

B. Departing @1642 via Finsbury Park (FPK) & Vauxhall (VXH) arriving 1808 Off-Peak (Touch in before 1630?) PAYG £6.65​

(GN, LU & SWR)​

​

Total Cost:
1+A: £24.40 + £10.25 Off-Peak PAYG = £34.65
1+B: £24.40 + £11.80 Off-Peak PAYG = £36.20

I am not sure about the PAYG fares as I cannot find information about a PBR -> EPS daily cap.

Option 2 (Paper Travelcard)
OXF -> PAD arriving @1030 Off-Peak Return (FO) £21.50
Collect:

• EPS -> London Travelcard Zones 1-6 Off-Peak Day Travelcard (US) £10.55
• Hadley Wood (HDW) -> HAT Off-Peak Day Return (B1) £6.2

PAD -> HDW (splitting tickets here, train must stop) -> HAT arriving @1143
(LU & GN)

HAT -> HDW (splitting tickets here, train must stop) -> FPK -> London Victoria (VIC) -> EPS leaving @1633, arriving @1833
(GN, LU & SWR)

Total Cost: £38.25

I don't know if a travelcard extension will be cheaper and/or allow me to take the fast train direct to FBK. I also don't know if using the travelcard but not starting at EPS is allowed.



Overall, I currently favour option 2 as it is quicker and doesn't require me to leave the train. Can someone tell me whether the tickets are valid or if there is a better/cheaper ticket combination?

Thanks in advance!

For your option 2, you don't need the train to stop at split, as travelcard is a zonal product and allow train not stopping for split.

I think it maybe cheaper to get a
Oxford-London Zone 1-6 travelcard, £23.65
Boundary zone 6 - Hatfield Off Peak Return, £4.10
Boundary Zone 6 - Epsom (you can even get off at Ewell and get TfL bus for free instead), PAYG £1.90 with railcard loaded / £2.30 off peak single

 

[RJ]

I'd recommend going for the following.

Oxford to Boundary Zone 6 single - £14.65
Boundary Zone 6 to Hatfield Off Peak Day Return - £4.10
Epsom Off Peak Day Travelcard - £10.55

Total - £29.30

You're only paying for the journeys you're doing and don't have to worry about having to get off trains where you don't need to.

 

[swt_passenger]

I'd recommend going for the following.

Oxford to Boundary Zone 6 single - £14.65
Boundary Zone 6 to Hatfield Off Peak Day Return - £4.10
Epsom Off Peak Day Travelcard - £10.55

Total - £29.30

You're only paying for the journeys you're doing and don't have to worry about having to get off trains where you don't need to.

Sorry to be picky, but isn’t this using the Epsom travelcard return direction first?

 

[JonathanH]

Sorry to be picky, but isn’t this using the Epsom travelcard return direction first?

Yes, although Epsom is 'in zone 9', the travelcards appear to still be standard outboundary 1-6 travelcards, not 'de facto' Zone 1-9 travelcards.

Do Epsom travelcards get retained by the barriers there?

 

[JB_B]

Sorry to be picky, but isn’t this using the Epsom travelcard return direction first?

I don't see it. Presumably @RJ is referring to this travelcard:-

https://www.brfares.com/!faredetail?orig=EPS&dest=0035&rlc=YNG&tkt=ODT

The outward leg (heading from Epsom towards London) is simply discarded.

 

[RJ]

The OP’s journey ends in Epsom and therefore there is no problem using the Travelcard in that way.

 

[swt_passenger]

The OP’s journey ends in Epsom and therefore there is no problem using the Travelcard in that way.

Ah, perhaps I read too much into the use of an Oxford to Paddington off peak return in the OP’s first options. He doesn’t explicitly say he’s not coming back that day.

 

[RJ]

Mattuk, can you clarify if you are returning to Oxford on the same day, or if your trip ends at Epsom that day?

If returning to Oxford on the same day then hkstudent’s suggestion works best.

 

[MikeWh]

I am not sure about the PAYG fares as I cannot find information about a PBR -> EPS daily cap.

Potters Bar is technically in zone 12 for capping purposes, so Epsom (9) is included in the Potters Bar cap.

 

[Mattuk]

Mattuk, can you clarify if you are returning to Oxford on the same day, or if your trip ends at Epsom that day?

If returning to Oxford on the same day then hkstudent’s suggestion works best.

Thanks for helping, I will be returning to Oxford later next week.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Yes, although Epsom is 'in zone 9', the travelcards appear to still be standard outboundary 1-6 travelcards, not 'de facto' Zone 1-9 travelcards.

Do Epsom travelcards get retained by the barriers there?

Travelcards shouldn't be retained by barriers, as they can still be used on TfL bus services even though you've left the Travelcard area and cannot any longer use it on trains