New Southgate to Brighton train journey tommorow

[Peregrine 4903]

Hello everyone.

Tommorow I'm doing a train journey from New Southgate to Brighton and return.

I want to catch the direction Southern service from East Croydon to Brighton via Littlehampton and not catch the rail replacement bus from Three Bridges.

However GTR's itinery always suggests to get the bus from Three Bridges. If I buy an off peak return anyway, will it be valid for travelling on the train to Brighton via Littlehampton or will I need to get a different ticket?

 

[Hadders]

This is an interesting one! Strictly speaking I don't think it's valid.

It's not a direct train
It's not the shortest route
It deosn't seem to be a mapped route
And I can't see an easement in the Routeing Guide

I can't get any websites to offer an itinerary via Littlehampton using one ticket.

That said it's entirely reasonable and would probably not get queried.

You might want to split at Gatwick Airport as a Gatwick Airport to Brighton ticket is undisputably valid via Littlehampton as it is a direct train. It's also worth noting that Potters Bar to Gatwick Airport is cheaper than New Southgate to Gatwick Airport at weekends because there are Super Off Peak Day Returns from Potters Bar but not from New Southgate.

Potters Bar to Gatwick Airport £15.50 (start short at NSG)
Gatwick Airport to Brighton £12.10

There is a Thameslink only ticket from Gatwick Airport to Brighton at £8.10 which is legally valid but this depends on your appetite for a potential argument.

 

[Watershed]

Hello everyone.

Tommorow I'm doing a train journey from New Southgate to Brighton and return.

I want to catch the direction Southern service from East Croydon to Brighton via Littlehampton and not catch the rail replacement bus from Three Bridges.

However GTR's itinery always suggests to get the bus from Three Bridges. If I buy an off peak return anyway, will it be valid for travelling on the train to Brighton via Littlehampton or will I need to get a different ticket?

A Super Off-Peak Day Return from Potters Bar to Brighton would only cost £19.70 (£13 with a Railcard). It is routed 'via City Thameslink' so you couldn't take the Underground between Finsbury Park and Victoria (which would be the fastest route).

Although journey planners will not validate the route - as @Hadders explains above - I would say it is still permitted, owing to the following paragraph in the Routeing Guide Instructions:

ENGINEERING WORK, DIVERSIONS AND SERVICE DISRUPTION
...
Any through train diverted from its usual route will count as a permitted route between the stations it is normally scheduled to call at. This does not apply to additional stops on the diversionary route, unless specially advised or they are on the permitted route for the journey being made.

Accordingly, as you might expect, you can't break your journey at Littlehampton - however it's fine to take the diverted through service all the way to Brighton.

Even if you were 'off route', the worst penalty that could befall you would be an excess to the cheapest fare that would be valid for the route taken. But as @Hadders points out, the above paragraph basically just codifies what already happens on the ground.

 

[Starmill]

As others have suggested, this is one of the lucky areas where a reasonable solution, such as your taking your proposed through train from East Croydon to Brighton, is very likely to be accepted.

 

[Surreytraveller]

This is an interesting one! Strictly speaking I don't think it's valid.

It's not a direct train
It's not the shortest route
It deosn't seem to be a mapped route
And I can't see an easement in the Routeing Guide

I can't get any websites to offer an itinerary via Littlehampton using one ticket.

That said it's entirely reasonable and would probably not get queried.

You might want to split at Gatwick Airport as a Gatwick Airport to Brighton ticket is undisputably valid via Littlehampton as it is a direct train. It's also worth noting that Potters Bar to Gatwick Airport is cheaper than New Southgate to Gatwick Airport at weekends because there are Super Off Peak Day Returns from Potters Bar but not from New Southgate.

Potters Bar to Gatwick Airport £15.50 (start short at NSG)
Gatwick Airport to Brighton £12.10

There is a Thameslink only ticket from Gatwick Airport to Brighton at £8.10 which is legally valid but this depends on your appetite for a potential argument.

It is a direct train

 

[Starmill]

It is a direct train

From New Southgate to Brighton?

 

[Surreytraveller]

From New Southgate to Brighton?

From East Croydon to Brighton

 

[Hadders]

From East Croydon to Brighton

That’s fine with an East Croydon to Brighton ticket but the OP is (was) travelling from New Southgate to Brighton. There is no direct train between these stations.

 

[yorkie]

From East Croydon to Brighton

A direct train is always valid (regardless of the routeing maps or shortest route rule) where direct refers to the origin and destination on the ticket both being stations where the train calls at.

Therefore, for the direct train rule to be relevant, the ticket would need to be 'split' at East Croydon.

 

[abn444]

I did Dorking to Brighton using the diverted service (changing at Horsham) just over a week ago and didn't have any problems

 

[paul1609]

from my experience there's zero chance of any ticket to Brighton getting queried on the Littlehampton Diversions. All the Coastway stations the Diversions call at are barriered so you might be questioned if you tried to break you journey at a normally more expensive station but that's about it

 

[Peregrine 4903]

Hello everyone. In the end I went from London Victoria and just got a London Terminals tickest as I wanted to go to Victoria and for some reason GTR's website only gives you the option to collect the tickets in person from your point of origin, and the New Southgate ticket machine is always broken.

But thankyou for all answers, and I had no issues with my ticket.

 

[yorkie]

Hello everyone. In the end I went from London Victoria and just got a London Terminals tickest as I wanted to go to Victoria and for some reason GTR's website only gives you the option to collect the tickets in person from your point of origin, and the New Southgate ticket machine is always broken.

You can collect tickets from any TOD-enabled ticket machine.

But thankyou for all answers, and I had no issues with my ticket.

No worries