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From St Albans, a standard class monthly Season is £270.80 to "London Thameslink" (which means St Pancras or Farringdon stations)
You can, but they are not available as seasons to just Zone 1, given that St Albans is beyond zone 6. The season ticket would therefore include Zones 1-6. Daily tickets to Zone 1 would be expensive unless you are only working 2 or 3 days a week.Can you not buy a St Albans to Zone 1 ticket?
Yes, Oyster PAYG could be used, but at £1.90 each way that adds up to a lot of money over a year. If it was done daily then a Travelcard will be cheaper.Or if not, how about using an Oyster card for Kings Cross/St Pancras to Oxford Circus? (I don't know the answer as I don't commute, it was just a thought.
Of course this would come out at the same price as all the other options which involve Tube, as a Travelcard would still be required.I think if I were going to Oxford Street from St Albans, I'd be inclined not to go via St Pancras, but change from the Thameslink to the Jubilee Line at West Hampstead, and get that to Bond Street (changing at Baker Street to the Bakerloo line for Oxford Circus if necessary). As quite a few of the fast/semi-fast rush hour trains on the Thameslink do stop at West Hampstead, this would usually be quicker, I think, and could be done with a ticket including a travelcard.
I'm not convinced that it's valid to walk to another station at the start or end of a journey, and then claim that this is the shortest route. We don't have distance-based railway pricing in the UK. If this approach were allowed, then the passenger would be able to choose to pay the lowest fare from anywhere to the chosen destination for the distance travelled.The ticket from St Albans Abbey is slightly cheaper however please note that the London Terminals ticket (instead of London Thameslink) is not valid for travel through Farringdon. You can use this ticket to go from St Albans Abbey to London Euston via Watford Junction, or to St Pancras International by walking to St Albans (Midland) as this is the shortest route.
So if I thought a £11.60 single Dewsbury - Stalybridge (26 miles) was expensive, I could buy a £5.90 single Bryn - Stalybridge (28 miles), "walk" Bryn - Dewsbury and use it from Dewsbury as the "shortest route"? I don't think so.
National Rail, the "definitive source of information for all passenger rail services on the National Rail network in England, Wales and Scotland", says of a St Albans Abbey - London Terminals Season that "Travel is allowed by any route option shown by the Journey Planner where the journey can be made using only one ticket". The Journey planner does indeed only require one ticket for this journey.