Otford and East Farleigh

[farleigh]

Hi all,

I wonder if you can help.

I want to travel from Bexhill to East Farleigh and include a visit to Otford. All off peak.

Is there a neat route so I can avoid buying Bexhill - East Farleigh and then East Farleigh to Otford returns?

Thank you in advance

 

[Watershed]

You could buy a ticket from Bexhill to Maidstone Stations. An Off-Peak Day Return is £16.30 and would be valid to travel out via East Farleigh, and to break your journey there.

With that ticket, you could then continue on to Maidstone Barracks (where you would end your 'outward journey'), walk over to Maidstone East (where you would begin your 'return journey') and break your journey at Otford.

Finally, you could recommence your journey at Otford and return to Bexhill via Sevenoaks.

 

[farleigh]

You could buy a ticket from Bexhill to Maidstone Stations. An Off-Peak Day Return is £16.30 and would be valid to travel out via East Farleigh, and to break your journey there.

With that ticket, you could then continue on to Maidstone Barracks (where you would end your 'outward journey'), walk over to Maidstone East (where you would begin your 'return journey') and break your journey at Otford.

Finally, you could recommence your journey at Otford and return to Bexhill via Sevenoaks.

Wow - that's superb watershed.

I did not know that my journey would be valid on the Sevenoaks route.

How do you find that out??

Thank you

 

[Watershed]

Wow - that's superb watershed.

I did not know that my journey would be valid on the Sevenoaks route.

How do you find that out??

Thank you

Just a bit of guessing as to which destinations might be valid via which routes, then checking it in the Routeing Guide and in a booking engine.

A ticket to Otford (which can only be used via Sevenoaks, not via East Farleigh) is a bit cheaper at £15.20. So it's not really an anomaly for the Maidstone ticket to be valid via Otford & Sevenoaks, as well as the more obvious routes via East Farleigh or Ashford.

 

[30907]

Wow - that's superb watershed.

I did not know that my journey would be valid on the Sevenoaks route.

How do you find that out??

The simple way is to use a journey planner and see if they offer the route (as I just have, putting "via Otford" the second time).

However, as watershed says, you sometimes need to make an educated guess about the station to name as your destination - Maidstone is reasonably obvious from the railway geography, but the Barracks-East link is slightly more niche.

(Had that not worked, as Tonbridge is on the way to both destinations, you would only have needed a return from Tonbridge to Otford, not from East Farleigh.)

 

[farleigh]

Thank you both.

very much appreciated

 

[Nottingham59]

I did not know that my journey would be valid on the Sevenoaks route.

If a route that is not obvious to you, then it may not be obvious to, say, the gateline staff at Otford. For peace of mind, I'd be tempted to get the NR route planner to generate such a journey for £16.30 and print off the itinerary. That should address any concerns that staff might have.

Clicking on "View Details" on any of the valid trains on this page should work:

Journey Planner - Trains Times and Fares - National Rail Enquiries

The gateway to Britain's National Rail network. A portal into UK rail travel including train company information and promotions; train times; fares enquiries; ticket purchase and train running information.

ojp.nationalrail.co.uk

One such journey is:

No Trains Available | National Rail

We are unable to find your requested journey at this time. Please try and select an alternative route or operator. Thank you.

ojp.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[telstarbox]

I don't think Otford has barriers anyway.

 

[farleigh]

Brilliant - thanks Notts.

I have saved the itinerary to my phone and this has really helped me to see what journeys are valid.

I am enjoying this.

For the same fare it offers Bexhill - London Victoria and then Victoria to Maidstone.

No Trains Available | National Rail

We are unable to find your requested journey at this time. Please try and select an alternative route or operator. Thank you.

ojp.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[paul1609]

I don't think Otford has barriers anyway.

Tbh most stations in Kent and East Sussex are manned by a friendly member of staff who sels tickets, does passenger assistance and sweeps the platform. They wouldnt get a 1.1 if examined on the routing guide but they wouldnt be trying to see you off either. Applies to some Southerns stations in West Sussex come to think of it.

 

[Nottingham59]

For the same fare it offers Bexhill - London Victoria and then Victoria to Maidstone

No it doesn't. Because you've specified via Otford, the system generates routes via Victoria, like the 11:38 train below. But this route not available at the £16.30 fare (and you would actually need to buy two tickets for that routing). You need to actually select both the outward and return trains and still get the desired fare quoted to you before you can be confident it's a valid journey at that fare.

 

[farleigh]

Corrected - thank you

 

[Nottingham59]

No worries. I'd hate you to get a penalty fare because responses on this forum had misled you!

 

[farleigh]

Great day - Marsh Link - Medway Valley Line - home via Otford, Bat & Ball. All for £16.30

Really appreciate your help guys

 

[Nottingham59]

you're welcome!