London Paddington [PAD] - Oxford [OXF] Off Peak Returns

[lm321412]

Good Evening.

Travelling this way again Thursday and I am a little confused as to the ticketing structure.

As it would appear, I can use an "Off Peak Day Return" on the 1718 due 1845 but not on the faster train 1750 due 1847?


So, is the journey planner wrong or is this correct?

 

[dzug2]

The journey planner is correct. Off peak tickets are valid on slow trains (for a certain value of slow) out of Paddington in the evening peak but not on fast ones (for a certain value of fast). The rule used to be valid on turbos but not on HSTs but that's not 100% true any more.

 

[yorkie]

Both the Off Peak return (SVR) and Off Peak Day Return (CDR) from London Terminals to Oxford are NOT valid on the following trains:-

From From Final
Padd Rdg Destination
1600 1627 Bristol TM (BRI)
1606___1633___Penzance (PNZ)
1615___1641___Swansea (SWA)
1630___1657___Taunton (TAU)
1636___1704___Exeter St D (FX)
1636___1704___Plymouth(PLY FO)
1645___1712___Swansea (SWA)
1649___1720___Oxford (OXF)
1700___1726___Bristol TM (BRI)
1703___1732___Penzance (PNZ)
1715 1741___Swansea (SWA)
1722 1750 Hereford (HFD)
1730 1756 Taunton (TAU)
1733 1804 Paignton (PGN)
1745___1811___Swansea (SWA)
1748 1816 Cheltenham (CNM)
1750 1822 Worcester (WOS)
1800 1827 Bristol TM (BRI)
1803 1833 Penzance (PNZ)
1815 1841 Swansea (SWA)
1822 1850 Hereford (HFD)
1830 1856 Weston SM (WSM)
1833 1902 Exeter (EXD) FX
1833 1902 Plymouth(PLY) FO
1845 1911 Swansea (SWA)
1847 1918 Cheltenham (CNM)
1851 1922 Oxford (OXF)
1900 1927 Bristol TM (BRI)
1903 1933 Plymouth(PLY)_FX
1903 1933 Penzance(PNZ) FO
1915 1942 Swansea (SWA)

An example itinerary that is valid :

London Paddington 1706
Reading a 1735
Reading d 1741
Oxford a 1805

(It should be possible to get from platform 7 to platform 3 in 6 minutes, but this isn't an official interchange time; the minimum at [stn]RDG[/stn] for an official connection is 7 minutes. But you would normally be fine to make this connection)

 

[bnm]

Regulation of services through Reading is somewhat patchy at the moment with the ongoing improvement works. The 1706 and 1806 fasts (ish) from Paddington (both valid with Off Peak tickets) are often already a couple of minutes down after their only intermediate call at Twyford (shut those doors behind you folks!) and are then queueing for Platform 7 at Reading, because preceding services were dispatched late.

That connection can be made, without a mad dash, but at the moment I'd say more often than not you won't make it. Not easy (or recommended) to run between platforms at Reading at the moment.

Not too bad though, there's another service to Oxford at 1750 from Reading. Incidentally one of the fasts that you are not allowed to board at Paddington.

 

[John @ home]

Not too bad though, there's another service to Oxford at 1750 from Reading. Incidentally one of the fasts that you are not allowed to board at Paddington.

But you're not allowed to board it at Reading either with a CDR London - Oxford. See yorkie's list above.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Good Evening.

Travelling this way again Thursday and I am a little confused as to the ticketing structure.

As it would appear, I can use an "Off Peak Day Return" on the 1718 due 1845 but not on the faster train 1750 due 1847?


So, is the journey planner wrong or is this correct?

The 1718 is HST, or it was when I took it (to Didcot). From the sound of the on board announcements, it seemed a regular occurrence that it had signal stops waiting for access to the slow lines. It's doesn't feel particularly slow though, nice compromise given the saving. Fairly quiet too, if you walk far enough at PAD!

As a general point, the boards are very clear at PAD, each train on the board has a list of tickets NOT valid on that train, just pick the one your ticket isn't listed as being invalid for.

 

[bnm]

But you're not allowed to board it at Reading either with a CDR London - Oxford. See yorkie's list above.

My mistake. So used to using a certain combination of split tickets on this route....

 

[LexyBoy]

It should be possible to get from platform 7 to platform 3 in 6 minutes, but this isn't an official interchange time; the minimum at [stn]RDG[/stn] for an official connection is 7 minutes. But you would normally be fine to make this connection)

If you get on in carriages A, B or C it's a few metres across the platform. Northbound XC services do sometimes use platform 9 though, which would be a push.

 

[yorkie]

As a general point, the boards are very clear at PAD, each train on the board has a list of tickets NOT valid on that train, just pick the one your ticket isn't listed as being invalid for.

Presumably the list makes certain assumptions about the origin and destination of the tickets held?

e.g. York to Didcot Parkway SSR - valid any train out of PAD
e.g. London to Birmingham SVR - only barred out of PAD between 1601 and 1800.

If it's anything like the boards at King's Cross then I fear it could be very misleading.

 

[LexyBoy]

Presumably the list makes certain assumptions about the origin and destination of the tickets held?

Yes, of course it does; it lists restrictions from London to the destinations served by that train only. It also (at least was last year) lists some trains which are not barred in the ticket restrictions (for e.g. RDG<>PAD) as not valid with Off Peak tickets.

It's a difficult one - for the majority of passengers, the assumption will be correct, and it's useful to have it displayed to avoid issues on-board. A longer and more correct wording would be clunky and distracting. But I'm sure that people take it at face value and don't travel when in fact they would be valid.

As a general point, the boards are very clear at PAD, each train on the board has a list of tickets NOT valid on that train, just pick the one your ticket isn't listed as being invalid for.

You can... but you won't find many trains to Oxford between 1600 and 1915 which are not barred . The stoppers are displayed as Radley/Didcot services (or Twyford for the Reading services).

 

[TEW]

The 1718 is HST, or it was when I took it (to Didcot). From the sound of the on board announcements, it seemed a regular occurrence that it had signal stops waiting for access to the slow lines. It's doesn't feel particularly slow though, nice compromise given the saving. Fairly quiet too, if you walk far enough at PAD!

The 1718 has been a 5-car turbo since the December 2011 timetable change.

 

[Royston Vasey]

The 1718 has been a 5-car turbo since the December 2011 timetable change.

Noticed that it was no longer marked HST in the timetable... thought as much. I last used it early last year.