Farringdon season ticket advice

[kdoganorak]

Hi. This is quite a long post, so thanks in advance to anyone who reads it. Any advice would be gratefully received.

I am moving to Kent - to a place half way between East Malling (Maidstone East Line) and Aylesford (Medway Valley line). I work just off City Road near Angel in London. About 15 mins walk from Farringdon

Most days it would suit me toe get the direct Ashford Int. to Blackfriars service (then change for Farringdon) in at least one direction.. changing from a Maidstone East Line train to the Sevenoaks stopper at Bromley South or Otford in the other direction. (getting the direct train in both directions would make my day longer than it needs to be )

At times (i.e. around once a week) I am likely to want to make use of other options such as getting the High Speed Train via Aylesford/Strood or travelling Victoria

However the limited flexibility I am after probably wouldn't warrant the additional cost of a travelcard and/or high speed ticket (the latter of which I am assuming would need to start from Maidstone to give me validity form Aylesford)

Three questions

1) Am I right in my understanding that a ticket to Farringdon is not Valid to Victoria? (may sound like a stupid question)

2) Is a ticket office the only way to get a HS1 upgrade supplement? (if travelling from Aylesford I would want to purchase on the train or from the TVM, and I ask because the relevant page on the Southeastern website only mentions a ticket office)?

3) Is there an option to get a ticket from just north of Zone 1 to give me access to LUL from STP to VIC and validity to trains to/from VIC? (I saw in another post that someone getting a day ticket from the south coast was advised to get a ticket to West Hampstead Thameslink)

Thanks for any advice/thoughts

 

[kieron]

At times (i.e. around once a week) I am likely to want to make use of other options such as getting the High Speed Train via Aylesford/Strood or travelling Victoria

However the limited flexibility I am after probably wouldn't warrant the additional cost of a travelcard and/or high speed ticket (the latter of which I am assuming would need to start from Maidstone to give me validity form Aylesford)

My initial thought is that you may be better off with a ticket from Maidstone than East Malling (which I think is what you're proposing). An East Malling-Farringdon weekly season costs £106.30, and a Maidstone-Farringdon one only an extra £2.20. I don' t know how much a High Speed supplement would cost in either case, but it's £5.30 for the Aylesford-Strood return you'd need to reach the line of the East Malling ticket. The weekly cost of the season ticket is lower for a longer term season, so you may not need to go from Aylesford too often for the Maidstone ticket to work out cheaper.

Three questions

1) Am I right in my understanding that a ticket to Farringdon is not Valid to Victoria? (may sound like a stupid question)

I don't think you are.

If you have a "not HS1" ticket, then easement 700013 states that you can use it to double back between Clapham Junction and London Victoria. This means that East Malling-Victoria-Clapham Junction-Waterloo-Blackfriars-Farringdon is valid. You can start and stop your journey at any point along a valid route, such as at Victoria.

2) Is a ticket office the only way to get a HS1 upgrade supplement? (if travelling from Aylesford I would want to purchase on the train or from the TVM, and I ask because the relevant page on the Southeastern website only mentions a ticket office)?

Strood, maybe? I don't know if any of the on-board staff can sell them, but if you don't have an opportunity to buy an upgrade before you reach Farringdon, you can always get one there.

3) Is there an option to get a ticket from just north of Zone 1 to give me access to LUL from STP to VIC and validity to trains to/from VIC? (I saw in another post that someone getting a day ticket from the south coast was advised to get a ticket to West Hampstead Thameslink)

I doubt it. There are lots of day tickets which include the cost of one Underground journey each way across central London, but you usually need a travelcard to do something like that using a season ticket.

 

[kdoganorak]

Thanks so much for your response. All very useful info!

My initial thought is that you may be better off with a ticket from Maidstone than East Malling (which I think is what you're proposing). An East Malling-Farringdon weekly season costs £106.30, and a Maidstone-Farringdon one only an extra £2.20.

Didn't realise the difference was that small. Worth it for the weekend shopping/pub trips to maidstone!

I don't think you are.

If you have a "not HS1" ticket, then easement 700013 states that you can use it to double back between Clapham Junction and London Victoria. This means that East Malling-Victoria-Clapham Junction-Waterloo-Blackfriars-Farringdon is valid. You can start and stop your journey at any point along a valid route, such as at Victoria.

How sure are you about this? I guess I should ask at SE ticket office? Having since looked it up I would have thought that that easement was about people traveling from e.g. Gatwick Airport to Basingstoke not having to get on stopping train at east croydon for clapham? Is Waterloo-blackfriars an out of station interchange (or whatever they are called in national rail language)?

I had a go at getting my head round the routing guide last night but to no avail

Strood, maybe?

Would likely involve missing my connection, thus making HS1 upgrade pointless

I don't know if any of the on-board staff can sell them, but if you don't have an opportunity to buy an upgrade before you reach Farringdon, you can always get one there.

I'd be getting off at STP if I was going that way. Slightly uneasy about having to wait to where I am going to get my ticket, but I guess if the ticket isn't available at my origin no one should be PF ing me!

I doubt it. There are lots of day tickets which include the cost of one Underground journey each way across central London, but you usually need a travelcard to do something like that using a season ticket.

I thought so but good to no I am not missing something!

 

[b0b]

If you felt extra healthy, a London Terminals ticket would be valid to City Thameslink and add 5 mins to your walk?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

If you felt extra healthy, a London Terminals ticket would be valid to City Thameslink and add 5 mins to your walk?

Five minutes is about right, maybe slightly more. Out the Holborn Viaduct (north) end of the station (taking the escalators off the concourse), cross Holborn Viaduct (the road) walk down Snow Hill and turn right on to Farringdon Street and turn right into Cowcross Street for Farringdon.

 

[kieron]

How sure are you about this? I guess I should ask at SE ticket office? Having since looked it up I would have thought that that easement was about people traveling from e.g. Gatwick Airport to Basingstoke not having to get on stopping train at east croydon for clapham? Is Waterloo-blackfriars an out of station interchange (or whatever they are called in national rail language)?

Sorry, I think I got a bit confused by the fact that you could go to Victoria via Clapham Junction if you wanted to. There are no routes which show the full journey via Clapham Junction as only one map combination (FH) shows the route into Victoria, and that doesn't include Clapham Junction at all.

What you are allowed to do without any specific markings on the map is to walk between Battersea Park and Queenstown Road. This makes the overall journey rather slow, but nationalrail.co.uk has it as something like this*.

I'd be getting off at STP if I was going that way. Slightly uneasy about having to wait to where I am going to get my ticket, but I guess if the ticket isn't available at my origin no one should be PF ing me!

Exactly. If that's the first chance you have to buy the upgrade that day, then they should accept this. If you're worried about staff on the day being difficult, you could send Southeastern an e-mail about it. There's no guarantee that you'll get the correct answer first time, though.

* You may need to delete any nationalrail.co.uk cookies you have for this link to load correctly.

 

[kdoganorak]

Five minutes is about right, maybe slightly more. Out the Holborn Viaduct (north) end of the station (taking the escalators off the concourse), cross Holborn Viaduct (the road) walk down Snow Hill and turn right on to Farringdon Street and turn right into Cowcross Street for Farringdon.

When I lived with my parents 8 years ago (this is where I am going back to) I walked through Smithfield and then up St John Street. I would always get the 4 or 56 back in the evening though and walk along from near St Pauls station.

With the extra change at Blackfriars now I don't fancy doing the walk in both directions

 

[kdoganorak]

Sorry, I think I got a bit confused by the fact that you could go to Victoria via Clapham Junction if you wanted to. There are no routes which show the full journey via Clapham Junction as only one map combination (FH) shows the route into Victoria, and that doesn't include Clapham Junction at all.

What you are allowed to do without any specific markings on the map is to walk between Battersea Park and Queenstown Road. This makes the overall journey rather slow, but nationalrail.co.uk has it as something like this*.

Ah thanks for giving it some more thought - sounds incredibly complicated! As it happens I have since realised there is a second direct blackfriars to Maidstone service at 1904. I would either need a lift or to wait 13 mins for a connection for East Malling as it is fast West Malling to Maidstone. Still useful though.

I think a Farringdon ticket should give me enough options. Thank you everyone for all your help!