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Milton Keynes to Reading NOT via London

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giffy

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Hi

I am trying to find out if I can purchase tickets from milton keynes to reading NOT via london say coventry or birmingham

any ideas

thx
 
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wintonian

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You may be able to use Southern to Clapham Junction the South West trains to Reading but this is likely to be longer than getting the X5 from Milton Keynes to Oxford and getting the train from there.

Going via Coventry would not be permitted due to the routing being +London.

However you can buy a Not London ticket from Northampton which costs (assuming off peak travel) £48.00 for the SVR plus £8.10 is coming back the same day or 2 x £8.00 if not. In this scenarion you would need to use London Midlan from Milton Keynes as your train will need to call at Northampton also making this a slower option.

A normal Milton Keynes to Reading ticket costs £36.40 for a CDR (off peak, return same day) or £50.10 for the SVR (off peak, return within 1 month).
 
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dave87016

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Depending on the dates you wish to travel. there are advances at £6:50 each way from Milton Keynes - Birmingham and then £22 each way advance from Birmingham - Reading

Again a more accurate price can only be given if you post the dates and times and if you hold a railcard or not
 
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RJ

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Hi

I am trying to find out if I can purchase tickets from milton keynes to reading NOT via london say coventry or birmingham

any ideas

thx

You can buy a Milton Keynes to Appleford ticket routed Not Via London. You can then buy another ticket from Appleford to Reading, but this would require you to use a train which stops at Appleford.

For more flexibility and up to £5 more, you can "split" at Oxford instead.
 

MKD

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As others have mentioned:
X5 coach MKCentral 75mins to Oxford Bus Station then <10min walk to station @£8single
then frequent trains from Oxford to Reading c25mins

And you may find this website that an MK guy has been running for years helpful:
http://www.mkdayout.btinternet.co.uk/milton_keynes_raillink.htm


If you do want to go via the hourly Southern train direct from MKC down to Clapham Junction and then on from there, if you are travelling off-peak then a Southern Daysave or Southern Downlander All Network [no evening restriction] can be a VFM ticket as long as you in the 2-7 days pre-booking window:
http://www.southernrailwaytickets.com/main.php?page_id=189

MKD
 
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giffy

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Hi everybody

Thanks for your replies. I already take the X5 to oxford and then the train from oxford to reading and I am just looking to see what alternatives are available.
I know the virgin train from birmingham goes to reading and often stops at coventry so i thought i mignt be able to go mk-coventry and then coventry -reading

thanks again for your help
 

LondonJohn

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What about a Milton Keynes to Banbury Not via London Off Peak Saver Return £25.60 restriction code 2V and then £5.60 CDR Banbury to Oxford.. non railcard fares quoted.
 

wintonian

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Hi everybody

Thanks for your replies. I already take the X5 to oxford and then the train from oxford to reading and I am just looking to see what alternatives are available.
I know the virgin train from birmingham goes to reading and often stops at coventry so i thought i mignt be able to go mk-coventry and then coventry -reading

thanks again for your help

Just to clarify Virgin no longer call at Reading since 2007(?).. Virgin go from Coventry to Milton Keynes and then Euston.

However Crosscountry do go from Birmingham to Reading and the south coast via Coventry.

Also to clarify my first post a Milton Keynes to reading ticket is routed +London which means if you are using that ticket then you must go via London.

In other words to go via Coventry (or not via London) will involve either the purchase of more than 1 ticket or a ticket from or to a different station, i.e. not from Milton Keynes and or not to Reading.
 
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34D

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Hi everybody

Thanks for your replies. I already take the X5 to oxford and then the train from oxford to reading and I am just looking to see what alternatives are available.
I know the virgin train from birmingham goes to reading and often stops at coventry so i thought i mignt be able to go mk-coventry and then coventry -reading

thanks again for your help

Wait for the east west line to become operational, then you'll get quick and cheap journeys (quite possibly a direct MK to reading).
 

johnnycache

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These comments won't be of much help to the passenger but i'd be interested in your views

Milton Keynes Central is in Bletchley Routeing Group
Reading is in Reading Routeing Group
The maps available are:
LONDON
EN+OV+WX
EN+WX

EN gives routes from Milton Keynes to Euston and Clapham Junction
OV gives "overground" routes including Willesden Junction to Richmond
WX gives Clapham Junction - Richmond - Reading

So if there was an "Any Permitted" fare it would certainly be valid for travel as follows:

Milton Keynes
Clapham Junction (via Kensington Olympia)
Reading (via Staines/Ascot)

However it seems the only fare is +LONDON which requires travel via London Termini

This seems ridiculous - have i understood correctly?

If you query MILTON KEYNES CENTRAL to READING on NationalRail.co.uk you naturally enough get services via Euston and Paddington as the quickest

However if you do an Advanced Search and add "via Kensington Olympia" the following journey appears:

Milton Keynes
London Euston
Willesden Junction
Clapham Junction
Reading

Despite the Euston-Willesden Junction double back the normal fares are quoted

There does not seem to be an easement for this

The only easement relating to Willesden Junction is below but not relevant in this case

300418 Customers travelling via Willesden Junction to London Terminals may not travel via Clapham Junction. This easement applies in both directions

This also seems wrong

It seems to me that the correct route for Milton Keynes Reading is

+Any Permitted which would allow but not insist on travel via London
 

yorkie

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jonnycache, I agree completely.

I also think that it is only right that there is a route Not via London or route via Kensington Olympia flow allowing passengers to take advantage of the simple change at Clapham Junction, and avoiding the hassle of the Underground.

I believe Southern (and SWT) may be wrongly denied revenue as a result of this lack of choice.

Is there anything stopping Southern introducing such a flow? There shouldn't be, as other TOCs have introduced route specific flows at a cheaper price recently (a recent example that is local to me is the Route via Harrogate fares between York & Leeds and related stations).
 

wintonian

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Yes that is interesting, it seems to me that the intention is to prevent travel via Coventry rather than force people through London terminals. Personaly I think there should perhaps be a cheaper route: not Coventry/ Ldn ticket.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2
 

yorkie

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Route: via Kensington Olympia would do the trick.

The fares for MKC <> Earley are how they should be for MKC <> Reading, in my opinion.
 

wintonian

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I agree route: Kensington would be good, can't look at fares though as I'm out & about.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2
 

johnnycache

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There are two things that we at Southern are looking at:

1) making Kensington Olympia/Shepherd's Bush London Terminals
2) introducing additional flows such as:

route Shepherds Bush
route +Shepherds Bush (ie to allow Underground Shepherds Bush to Ealing Broadway)
route +Any Permitted
route Not London

Option 1) is most interesting as there are all sorts of issues that we have found operating a service on the West London Line that doesn't call at a London Terminal

The other options are appealing from the point of view of offering a lower fare to attract passengers to this route
 

johnnycache

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Me too.

Good things:

Tickets routed +London would be valid
Any London Terminals ticket eg Milton Keynes to London Terminals, Brighton to London Terminals would be valid

Bad things:

It might be difficult to offer cheaper fares via route Kensington Olympia if it is a London Terminal
 

swt_passenger

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Didn't 'Kenny O' used to be a London Terminal until the early 90s?

In which case presumably whichever organisation changed it must have had a justification, so finding out what that was ought to quickly explain if it can or can't be changed again.

If it was done specifically to allow 'not London' fares via the WLL, there's a bit of a problem...
 

John @ home

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Southern are looking at:

1) making Kensington Olympia/Shepherd's Bush London Terminals ...

Option 1) is most interesting as there are all sorts of issues that we have found operating a service on the West London Line that doesn't call at a London Terminal
Good things:

Tickets routed +London would be valid
Any London Terminals ticket eg Milton Keynes to London Terminals, Brighton to London Terminals would be valid

Bad things:

It might be difficult to offer cheaper fares via route Kensington Olympia if it is a London Terminal
Does anyone know why Kensington Olympia ceased to be a London Terminal in May 1994?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Terminals
 
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