GW Mainline tickets for Freedom Card holder

[TheManOnThe172]

I am trying to advise the holder of an (Adult, Disabled) TfL Freedom Card holder, travelling Paddington-Bristol TM - hoping I could save them a little by advising where to start their GWR ticket. Clearly, they could save a good bit by using their Freedom pass on the Elizabeth Line to Reading and buying a ticket Reading-Bristol. But if they want the faster journey from Paddington, where to join tickets?

BRFares doesn't offer a "Boundary Zone 6" fare. My instinct was that West Drayton was the last Zone 6 station that would be passed through on the main line out of Paddington, and a SSR from there does save a little compared to Paddington.

But checking the Detailed version of RealtimeTrains, it doesn't show West Drayton as a passing point for Paddington-Bristol trains. Have I misunderstood the route, is this a quirk of RTT, or is there some technicality that says mainline trains don't count as passing through West Drayton and so tickets can't be joined there?

 

[akm]

deleted after a much better answer was provided below

 

[Watershed]

All services from Paddington that go to Reading and beyond pass through West Drayton. And as a Freedom Pass qualifies under condition 14.2 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT), this entitles you to do a non-stop split at the last station of validity - so West Drayton in this case. Boundary Zone fares generally only exist for origins/destinations within the Network Area - hence why there are fares to Didcot but not to Swindon or beyond.

Incidentally, it may be possible to save more by splitting more than once - it depends on the times at which this person will be travelling, and - if they're making a return journey - whether they're returning the same day or not. Splitting at Didcot can often result in a saving.

The reason why you might not have seen a time for West Drayton is that it's not a mandatory timing point - so trains that don't stop there won't have it in their schedule.

RTT adds all intermediate timing points to the detailed mode view around 24-48 hours in advance of a train's departure, by interpolating the route taken - you can see these interpolated timings in grey, as compared to the actual timings in black. Therefore, if you search for a non-stop train more than 24-48 hours in advance, you won't see locations such as West Drayton appear.

 

[Benjwri]

Incidentally, it may be possible to save more by splitting more than once - it depends on the times at which this person will be travelling, and - if they're making a return journey - whether they're returning the same day or not. Splitting at Didcot can often result in a saving.

Assuming they are travelling in the validity of a Super Off Peak Return as they mentioned Didcot will provide the best split from West Drayton, however if they are travelling on the same day the second split would likely be at Chippenham, using Off Peak Day Returns for all legs. The easiest way to work it out will likely be searching on trainsplit for West Drayton to BTM (GWR's pricing structure now means splits don't usually offer savings if you look from Paddington on flexible tickets).

You obviously need to make sure the split isn't at a station between West Drayton and Reading (In most cases this won't be an issue as there's unlikely to be a good saving from a station already served only by stopping trains on a long distance journey such as this), and the day return split at Chippenham will limit your possible routing so you will no longer be able to travel via Bristol Parkway.

 

[James H]

Yesterday's TfL customer service panel meeting was depressing viewing for those interested in the contactless / Oyster / Freedom Pass / National Rail ticketing interface at the west end of the Elizabeth line, with both TfL board members and senior management utterly confused about which tickets are valid where ...

 

[fandroid]

I regularly do day trips from Basingstoke to Bristol Temple Meads (BRI) and find that the Forum site gives really good value split tickets based on Day Returns, usually splitting at Didcot and Chippenham and sometimes Swindon too. There's normally at least one train per hour that follows the appropriate stopping pattern so flexible tickets can be used. I'm sure tickets from West Drayton would work in the same way. The only downside is that seat reservations may be all over place and theoretically require a move at each split point.

 

[Benjwri]

I regularly do day trips from Basingstoke to Bristol Temple Meads (BRI) and find that the Forum site gives really good value split tickets based on Day Returns, usually splitting at Didcot and Chippenham and sometimes Swindon too. There's normally at least one train per hour that follows the appropriate stopping pattern so flexible tickets can be used. I'm sure tickets from West Drayton would work in the same way. The only downside is that seat reservations may be all over place and theoretically require a move at each split point.

Currently almost all Bristol trains have the same stopping pattern, although I would be careful after May, after which only 1tph will stop at Didcot.

Regarding seat reservations you could opt not to take one with your tickets, and then book a seat reservation using GWR's site.

 

[mattdickinson]

Yesterday's TfL customer service panel meeting was depressing viewing for those interested in the contactless / Oyster / Freedom Pass / National Rail ticketing interface at the west end of the Elizabeth line, with both TfL board members and senior management utterly confused about which tickets are valid where ...

It's a 2 hour video. At which point is this mentioned?

 

[Haywain]

Currently almost all Bristol trains have the same stopping pattern, although I would be careful after May, after which only 1tph will stop at Bristol.

Where do the other Bristol trains stop?

 

[Benjwri]

Where do the other Bristol trains stop?

My bad, was meant to say Didcot, has been corrected.

 

[lawried123]

It's a 2 hour video. At which point is this mentioned?

It starts at about 25 mine in from the start, but gets a bit bogged down with cycle routes,
Lawrie

 

[Ralph Ayres]

It starts at about 25 mine in from the start, but gets a bit bogged down with cycle routes,
Lawrie

Yesterday's TfL customer service panel meeting was depressing viewing for those interested in the contactless / Oyster / Freedom Pass / National Rail ticketing interface at the west end of the Elizabeth line, with both TfL board members and senior management utterly confused about which tickets are valid where ...

To be fair, it would be worrying if station staff on the ground couldn't explain what someone needed to do, but very senior staff aren't in customer service roles and don't need to know the detail any more than they know how automatic train control works. They're not the ones who negotiated the agreements other than to say "get TfL the best deal possible". The Freedom Pass holder (a GLA member?) who hadn't bothered to find out the validity of her own pass was a bit odd.

 

[bicbasher]

Yesterday's TfL customer service panel meeting was depressing viewing for those interested in the contactless / Oyster / Freedom Pass / National Rail ticketing interface at the west end of the Elizabeth line, with both TfL board members and senior management utterly confused about which tickets are valid where ...

I've watched that segment, it's about 23 minutes into the meeting and it seemed the board member who asked the question was confused about Oyster/Freedom Pass validity. It seems they used Oyster PAYG and got off to buy a paper ticket at West Drayton while other members corrected her by saying that Freedom Passes are valid west of West Drayton.