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Didcot/Oxford Season Tickets to London

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schwyzer

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I'm about to start commuting into Paddington from Didcot. A season ticket from Didcot to Paddington + Travelcard costs exactly the same as a season ticket from Oxford to Paddington + Travelcard (both are £5,272 per year for 2013). This seems pretty odd. Am I missing some hidden restriction on the Oxford-London season ticket? Is there any reason why I shouldn't get the Oxford-London ticket, given that (as far as I can make out) it would then be valid both for the regular Didcot-London commute and for the occasional evening out in Oxford as well?
 
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142094

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It certainly would be valid for those extra journeys to Oxford, no problem with that.
 

kieron

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A ticket to Bicester Town or Heyford would cost the same, and may be a bit more useful as each allows travel via Oxford. I did check Bicester North-London, but the route planners don't seem to think it's valid via Didcot.

If you need a season ticket soonish, remember that the price for these tickets will go up 4% on 2nd January.
 

schwyzer

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Thanks all for the very swift and helpful responses. I hadn't spotted that a Heyford-London ticket would cost the same again - we've got family living in Tackley, so that would be useful, and presumably would also allow significantly cheaper travel to Birmingham (am I right in thinking that if you're making a journey with a season ticket + another ticket your train doesn't actually need to stop at the station where you change from one to the other?).
 

barrykas

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A ticket to Bicester Town or Heyford would cost the same, and may be a bit more useful as each allows travel via Oxford. I did check Bicester North-London, but the route planners don't seem to think it's valid via Didcot.

That'd be because a Bicester North - London ticket isn't valid via Didcot, per Routeing Guide "easement" 42:

ATOC said:
Journeys from or via London to Bicester North may not go via Bicester Town and journeys from or via London to Bicester Town may not go via Bicester North. This prohibition applies in both directions.

Having said that, a ticket from Islip to London is apparently valid via either Oxford or Bicester North (with a walk from Bicester Town). FasTIS and WebTIS will quite happily sell a ticket for such a journey anyway.

Cheers,

Barry
 

LexyBoy

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As others have said, it's perfectly valid. I can say from experience that staff won't bat an eyelid either - I did this in the reverse direction for a year and the only person who said it wasn't valid was a colleague who had obviously read too may telegraph articles.
 

kieron

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That'd be because a Bicester North - London ticket isn't valid via Didcot, per Routeing Guide "easement" 42:
It wouldn't, as easement 42 (and 30132 at that) refers to journeys via Bicester Town, not ones via Didcot.

I was wondering if easement 700028 (Customers travelling from Bicester North to Oxford and beyond, may travel via Banbury) would allow travel from Bicester North to London via Banbury.

It doesn't. NRE does give an itinerary for Bicester North to Acton Main Line changing at Banbury, Reading and Paddington using a Bicester North-London travelcard.

As Schwyzer is looking for a travelcard anyway, that may (at £4760 p.a. at current prices, £5140 after the 2nd) be a cheaper option than anything FGW price.

It may be useful to carry an itinerary from a web site for the first couple of journeys, though.
 

cjp

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It doesn't. NRE does give an itinerary for Bicester North to Acton Main Line changing at Banbury, Reading and Paddington using a Bicester North-London travelcard.

As Schwyzer is looking for a travelcard anyway, that may (at £4760 p.a. at current prices, £5140 after the 2nd) be a cheaper option than anything FGW price.

It may be useful to carry an itinerary from a web site for the first couple of journeys, though.

An interesting journey to discover and to suggest.
How did you think of it?
Are you related to RJ??:)
 

barrykas

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I suspect that "easements" 42 and 30132 are to try and make journey planners behave in the intended manner, given Bicester North and Bicester Town have the same routeing points, and the walk between the two counts as zero miles for "shortest route" purposes.

Certainly WebTIS won't sell a Bicester North ticket for a journey via Bicester Town and Oxford (or nominally via same).
 

kieron

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An interesting journey to discover and to suggest.
How did you think of it?
Are you related to RJ??:)
No. I don't think RJ likes easements that much, as there's no published guidance on which of the routes which satisfy an easement are actually valid. As both Bicester stations are associated with London, all you have are the easements and journeys not much longer than the minimum distance between the stations according to the timetable.

I knew easement 700243 would allow a journey from Bicester North to some other station to go via Banbury, and I only tried Acton Main Line as it was the closest other station to Paddington.

The reason why NRE immediately suggested a travelcard is, in my view, more interesting.

The only tickets between Bicester North and Acton Main Line are travelcards and ticket routed via Greenford. Greenford is only on a through route if you allow rail tickets to be used on the Underground there. NRE doesn't provide a route which does this, and neither does it suggest routes which double back along the Greenford branch. As such, the only things it can offer are travelcards.
I suspect that "easements" 42 and 30132 are to try and make journey planners behave in the intended manner, given Bicester North and Bicester Town have the same routeing points, and the walk between the two counts as zero miles for "shortest route" purposes.
Possibly. I can't help feeling that it would have been a lot easier to give each station the routeing points they actually want it to have.

I don't suppose the current Bicester-London fare structure will survive for long once Chiltern start running trains from Bicester Town to London anyway.
 

barrykas

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I don't suppose the current Bicester-London fare structure will survive for long once Chiltern start running trains from Bicester Town to London anyway.

I suspect you're right...The logical thing to do would be to create a "Bicester Stations" fares group to avoid the need to non-issue/excess tickets if people miss a train to one of the pair and the next one goes to the other.

I'd also guess that the "Bicester Village Shuttle" will be withdrawn once the new chord opens, with passengers for the outlet village directed to Bicester Town instead, as it's practically next to the village.
 
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