redreni
Member
Just planning a day trip to from Slade Green to Weston Super Mare and getting results from the Railforums / Trainsplit journey planner that are not quite what I expected.
It suggests splitting the fare are Didcot and Swindon, which is fine, but it's how I get to Didcot that is the trouble. (The requirement for the train to stop at Didcot is a pain, but I have a Network Railcard so it's worth it, otherwise I'd have to forego the discount after Reading.)
It suggests an off-peak day return from Slade Green to Didcot Parkway, which would be fine except it's more expensive than a Z1-6 day travelcard plus an off-peak return from West Drayton to Didcot Parkway.
For some journeys it does suggest a day travelcard plus a ticket for onward travel (usually an advance), but the second ticket is always from another station such as Southall or Ealing Broadway, and it always returns an itinerary that uses a slow train (usually the Elizabeth Line) as far as Reading. It's as if the journey planner doesn't know that the train needn't stop at the station where you switch from a travelcard to another ticket.
I would prefer to buy flexible tickets and take a train directly from Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, which would obviously need to call at Didcot Parkway and Swindon but need not call (and would not call) at any of the local stops in West London. Would I be right in thinking this is permitted if I buy a Z1-6 day travelcard (£10) plus an off-peak day return from West Drayton to Didcot Parkway (£12.85)? This is cheaper than the off-peak day return from Slade Green to Didcot Parkway and, obviously, has other advantages such as bus travel at the London end, break of journey in London, etc.
The other thing the journey planner was doing last night, which I can't seem to replicate now, is recommending that I use a day travelcard in conjunction with an off-peak day return from Southall to Didcot Parkway (which seems to be the same price as the West Drayton to Didcot Parkway ticket). Admittedly that was on an itinerary where the train called at both Southall and West Drayton, so it's not bad advice per se (in that it won't get people fined, it will just put them on a slow train unnecessarily). Wouldn't that ticket combination be invalid if the train didn't call at either Southall or West Drayton, though? 14.3 of the NRCoT permits travel on a train that doesn't call at the station where you change from a daily zonal ticket to another ticket, but the last station where one ticket is valid and the first station where the other ticket is valid must be the same station. Southall is not the last station (or first station on the return leg) where the day travelcard is valid.
It suggests splitting the fare are Didcot and Swindon, which is fine, but it's how I get to Didcot that is the trouble. (The requirement for the train to stop at Didcot is a pain, but I have a Network Railcard so it's worth it, otherwise I'd have to forego the discount after Reading.)
It suggests an off-peak day return from Slade Green to Didcot Parkway, which would be fine except it's more expensive than a Z1-6 day travelcard plus an off-peak return from West Drayton to Didcot Parkway.
For some journeys it does suggest a day travelcard plus a ticket for onward travel (usually an advance), but the second ticket is always from another station such as Southall or Ealing Broadway, and it always returns an itinerary that uses a slow train (usually the Elizabeth Line) as far as Reading. It's as if the journey planner doesn't know that the train needn't stop at the station where you switch from a travelcard to another ticket.
I would prefer to buy flexible tickets and take a train directly from Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, which would obviously need to call at Didcot Parkway and Swindon but need not call (and would not call) at any of the local stops in West London. Would I be right in thinking this is permitted if I buy a Z1-6 day travelcard (£10) plus an off-peak day return from West Drayton to Didcot Parkway (£12.85)? This is cheaper than the off-peak day return from Slade Green to Didcot Parkway and, obviously, has other advantages such as bus travel at the London end, break of journey in London, etc.
The other thing the journey planner was doing last night, which I can't seem to replicate now, is recommending that I use a day travelcard in conjunction with an off-peak day return from Southall to Didcot Parkway (which seems to be the same price as the West Drayton to Didcot Parkway ticket). Admittedly that was on an itinerary where the train called at both Southall and West Drayton, so it's not bad advice per se (in that it won't get people fined, it will just put them on a slow train unnecessarily). Wouldn't that ticket combination be invalid if the train didn't call at either Southall or West Drayton, though? 14.3 of the NRCoT permits travel on a train that doesn't call at the station where you change from a daily zonal ticket to another ticket, but the last station where one ticket is valid and the first station where the other ticket is valid must be the same station. Southall is not the last station (or first station on the return leg) where the day travelcard is valid.