Hove ticket acceptance

[Beesicular]

Evening.

I commute from Hove to London Bridge and have a southern season ticket (£4,536.00). My trains are now operated by Thameslink. There is an annual season ticket available between Brighton and London Bridge (£3,832.00). Does anyone know if this Thameslink ticket will allow me through the barriers at Hove? Obviously it would be quite a saving and I know that some tickets are allowed at both Brighton and Hove.

Any clarification would be much appreciated!!!

Ta.

 

[Adlington]

Brighton-Hove annual £548.00. Add £3,832.00 for Brighton - London Bridge and you are in the money (just)

 

[Merseysider]

No need for a Brighton to Hove season if a Brighton to London Bridge season is purchased.

The £3832 season is routed ‘Thameslink Only’, and all services between Brighton and London are operated by Govia Thameslink Railway. You may face some occasional aggro using it on GTR’s Southern-branded services but it’s valid nonetheless.

 

[bb21]

I cannot recommend abusing the "Thameslink Only" restriction, especially for a season ticket.

The split option is perfectly fine.

 

[James Wake]

I would be surprised if Brighton to London Bridge via Hove isn’t permitted as it’s less than three miles from the shortest route, which is of course straight to Preston Park.

 

[yorkie]

Evening.

I commute from Hove to London Bridge and have a southern season ticket (£4,536.00). My trains are now operated by Thameslink. There is an annual season ticket available between Brighton and London Bridge (£3,832.00). Does anyone know if this Thameslink ticket will allow me through the barriers at Hove? Obviously it would be quite a saving and I know that some tickets are allowed at both Brighton and Hove.

The trains have been operated by Govia Thameslink for the last two years; the company uses multiple brand names but it's all one company since the merger.

It's valid, however the company spreads FUD in order to make people (including frontline staff) believe such tickets are not valid; therefore only do this with a Season ticket if you have easy and affordable access to a solicitor and you are excellent & experienced at handling disputes and potential conflict.

 

[yorkie]

I would be surprised if Brighton to London Bridge via Hove isn’t permitted as it’s less than three miles from the shortest route, which is of course straight to Preston Park.

Of course it's permitted via Hove, but the problem is that the train company named in the restriction (Govia Thameslink) have instructed their staff to inform passengers holding such tickets that they are not valid on the company's trains which are branded "Southern". Now of course we know that isn't true, but I am not sure I'd want to spend every working day thinking about how I was going to handle a potential dispute with the train company infamously known as the worst in Britain, who have a track record of being ruthless towards their customers.

Some of their staff will falsely claim that the train is operated by a company that ceased to operate trains in 2015, while others will admit that the train is operated by Thameslink but will falsely claim that brand restrictions are allowed.

The fares concerned are "dedicated fares" and are therefore restricted on the relevant operator, in this case Govia Thameslink Railway.

For the record, the relevant document barring the company from having brand restricted fares is the Ticketing Settlement Agreement: https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/our-services/working-with-rdg/ticketing-settlement.html however hardly anyone at Thameslink is even aware this exists, let alone familiar with its contents or able to understand it.

I've had a few arguments with them; I always win of course and have assisted several customers by either preventing them being charged or ensuring additional charges are refunded but I wouldn't want the hassle of arguing every working day when I am trying to go to or from work!

 

[Samuel88]

Wouldn't it possible for the OP to travel by bus from Brighton station? It would save conflict, and it only adds another 5/10 minutes to the journey.

 

[Beesicular]

Thanks so much for all your help! I had unsuccessfully been looking for information for days! For clarification I now get a Thameslink service (Thameslink branded train also) daily. I just wasn't sure if a Thameslink ticket between Brighton and London bridge would let me out at hove. It's strange I can't get a Thameslink season ticket from Hove!

 

[Hophead]

Wouldn't it possible for the OP to travel by bus from Brighton station? It would save conflict, and it only adds another 5/10 minutes to the journey.

For info, the annual PlusBus is £330. Just where the OP lives will determine the actual length of the bus journey and whether that's a worthwhile option.

 

[bangor-toad]

Whenver I am looking at Season tickets I always consider a few stations either side of where I need to go. I've had some good oddities pop up.
So, for the OP, what about an Aldrington to Kentish Town ticket for £3,952? The restiction shown is "(Valid only for travel via (changing trains or passing through) City Thameslink.)" with no reference to Southern or Thameslink.

There would be no issue at Brighton / Hove. I'd imagine that this would be perfectly valid to London Bridge but I'd defer to the experts as the London Bridge - Blackfriars - City Thameslink services aren't running just yet.

Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[Beesicular]

Mr Toad that sounds great. Can anyone clarify if that ticket is accepted at London Bridge?

Thanks again.

 

[higthomas]

Mr Toad that sounds great. Can anyone clarify if that ticket is accepted at London Bridge?

Thanks again.

Definitely should be.

 

[Beesicular]

Definitely should be.

Apparently not, I tweeted Thameslink earlier.

 

[Merseysider]

Apparently not, I tweeted Thameslink earlier.

Ah, their Twitter team are incorrect. National Rail’s website quite clearly shows the route via LBG as valid if you enter that as a via point.

 

[Hadders]

Apparently not, I tweeted Thameslink earlier.

GTR making things up again...

 

[John @ home]

The £3,952 (2017 prices) annual season Aldrington - Kentish Town via City Thamesl is also available at the same price:

• from any of BRIGHTON, ALDRINGTON, PRESTON PARK, FALMER, HOVE, LONDON RD BRGHTN or MOULSECOOMB
• to any of W HAMPSTEAD STNS, FINCHLEY RD & F, KENTISH TOWN, SOUTH TOTTENHAM, GOSPEL OAK, KENTISH TOWN W, BLACKHORSE ROAD, CROUCH HILL, HAMPSTEAD HEATH, CRICKLEWOOD, HARRINGAY GRN LA, WALTHAMSTOW Q RD, CALEDONIAN RD &B, HENDON, LEYTON MID RD, WANSTEAD PARK, CAMDEN ROAD, UPPER HOLLOWAY, LEYTONSTONE H RD or WOODGRANGE PARK.

For all these combinations of origin and destination, travel to, from or via London Bridge is permittted. The fact that the part of the route between London Bridge and Blackfriars is currently closed for engineering work, with a number of alternative routes arranged for travel by tube or bus, does not negate that validity. Thameslink's twitter staff are incorrect if they state otherwise.

 

[ajb690]

I can't comment on the details of ticket routing, I'll leave that to the experts on here. But as a fellow commuter from Hove, I've been using a Thameslink-only Brighton - London season for the past week and had no issues - and saved a lot of money. Brighton - London is absolutely valid via Hove, so I'm confident I'm using a valid ticket since the LBG services switched to Thameslink. Never put the ticket through the gates, mind you, just shown it to the lovely lady who manages the manual gate and she's let me through.