St Albans one-day Travelcard on Thameslink Key

[TrenHotel]

Hello all. Just bought a ticket for a gig in St Albans next month.

Current plan is to travel from Charlton to St Albans on Thameslink, but - as return services via London Bridge and even Elephant & Castle finish early - to come back to Farringdon and hop on the last Elizabeth Line to Woolwich, which is handy for a bus home.

I've got a Thameslink Key ticket (which I use for odd trips to the coast on KeyGo as I've got a Lapworth-Hatton Gold Gard loaded on it and I'm sick of paper tickets being auto-rejected at gates).

If I was to load a St Albans One Day Travelcard into that Key card, would that work for a trip to St Albans and back as opposed to from St Albans and back? (I'm assuming it would be fine for TfL gates and buses so I could use it earlier in the day too.)

It would save me a few quid, a lot of time and a lot of faffing around if it does work. Thank you.

 

[Hadders]

A St Albans to London Zones 1-6 Travelcard cannot be used to travel from London to St Albans and then return to London.

A St Albans Travelcard with Gold Card discount is £17.00

I'd buy:
London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £10.00 with Gold Card discount
Boundary Zone 6 to St Albans Off Peak Day Return £6.30 (with GC discount)

 

[TrenHotel]

A St Albans to London Zones 1-6 Travelcard cannot be used to travel from London to St Albans and then return to London.

A St Albans Travelcard with Gold Card discount is £17.00

I'd buy:
London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £10.00 with Gold Card discount
Boundary Zone 6 to St Albans Off Peak Day Return £6.30 (with GC discount)

That’s pretty good, sounds like a better option instead - thanks.

The other alternative I was thinking about was doing one part of the trip on Oyster (also with Gold Card) and splitting at West Hampstead (taking the Jubilee Line back to North Greenwich instead). Yours will probably work better on a January night, though!

 

[Egg Centric]

(also depending what day the gig is don't forget the off peak day return may be eligible to be a super off peak saving a little bit more)

 

[paul1609]

A St Albans to London Zones 1-6 Travelcard cannot be used to travel from London to St Albans and then return to London.

A St Albans Travelcard with Gold Card discount is £17.00

I'd buy:
London Zones 1-6 Travelcard £10.00 with Gold Card discount
Boundary Zone 6 to St Albans Off Peak Day Return £6.30 (with GC discount)

It really depends what else you want to do. An Abbey Wood to St Albans Off Peak Day Return with Gold card route "+any permitted" is £12.10 You can start short at Charlton and use contactless from Abbeywood to home if you decide to return that way.

 

[TrenHotel]

It really depends what else you want to do. An Abbey Wood to St Albans Off Peak Day Return with Gold card route "+any permitted" is £12.10 You can start short at Charlton and use contactless from Abbeywood to home if you decide to return that way.

That’s a useful one, thank you!

 

[Haywain]

It really depends what else you want to do. An Abbey Wood to St Albans Off Peak Day Return with Gold card route "+any permitted" is £12.10 You can start short at Charlton and use contactless from Abbeywood to home if you decide to return that way.

However, TfL do not accept such a ticket as being valid on the Elizabeth line - they will only accept a ticket from Zone U1234. This is because they insist that the core section of the line is an underground line and that includes Abbey Wood. An alternative would be a ticket from one station beyond Abbey Wood which will include a cross-London journey.

 

[miklcct]

However, TfL do not accept such a ticket as being valid on the Elizabeth line - they will only accept a ticket from Zone U1234. This is because they insist that the core section of the line is an underground line and that includes Abbey Wood. An alternative would be a ticket from one station beyond Abbey Wood which will include a cross-London journey.

A ticket from Abbey Wood to St Albans, with route +Any Permitted, is indisputably valid with a cross-London transfer which includes Elizabeth Line because it carries a +. The cross-London transfer is between Abbey Wood and Farringdon.

Such a ticket can be bought at Thameslink with an itinerary transferring at Farringdon.

 

[Alex365Dash]

However, TfL do not accept such a ticket as being valid on the Elizabeth line - they will only accept a ticket from Zone U1234. This is because they insist that the core section of the line is an underground line and that includes Abbey Wood. An alternative would be a ticket from one station beyond Abbey Wood which will include a cross-London journey.

From Abbey Wood, yes, but Woolwich EL is also a valid cross-London interchange, so you could use an Abbey Wood - St Albans return to/from there instead.

 

[Haywain]

From Abbey Wood, yes, but Woolwich EL is also a valid cross-London interchange, so you could use an Abbey Wood - St Albans return to/from there instead.

I'm not convinced TfL would see it that way.

 

[paul1609]

However, TfL do not accept such a ticket as being valid on the Elizabeth line - they will only accept a ticket from Zone U1234. This is because they insist that the core section of the line is an underground line and that includes Abbey Wood. An alternative would be a ticket from one station beyond Abbey Wood which will include a cross-London journey.

Im confused now. Abbey Wood to St Albans is +any permitted so how does that not include a cross london journey? For what its worth Belvedere to St Albans off peak day return is the same price.

 

[Haywain]

Abbey Wood to St Albans is +any permitted so how does that not include a cross london journey?

It does but via London Bridge and the underground or Thameslink.

For what its worth Belvedere to St Albans off peak day return is the same price.

And is fully and unquestionably valid on the Elizabeth line from Abbey Wood.

 

[Watershed]

It does but via London Bridge and the underground or Thameslink.

I can't see any valid reason that could be cited for the ticket not being valid for a cross-London transfer beginning at Abbey Wood. The iKB refers:

Ticket prices shown in your TIS or the Fares Finder for journeys where permitted routes include travel via London and marked with the symbol †, include the cost of transfer across London on Thameslink services, or by London Underground, Elizabeth line or Docklands Light Railway between any two of the following Underground / Elizabeth line / DLR stations appropriate to the route of the through journey:

Abbey Wood	Aldgate	Amersham
Baker Street	Balham	Bank
Barking	Battersea Power Station	Blackfriars
Blackhorse Road	Brixton	Canada Water
Cannon Street	Charing Cross	Ealing Broadway (LU)
Edgware Road	Elephant & Castle	Embankment
Euston	Euston Square	Farringdon
Finsbury Park	Greenwich (DLR)	Highbury & Islington
Kensington Olympia	Kentish Town	Kings Cross/St Pancras
Lancaster Gate	Lewisham (DLR)	Limehouse
Liverpool Street	London Bridge	Marylebone
Moorgate	Old Street	Paddington
Queens Park	Richmond	Seven Sisters
Shadwell	Shepherds Bush	Southwark
Stratford	Stratford International (DLR)	Tottenham Hale
Tower Hill	Upminster	Vauxhall
Victoria	Walthamstow Central	Waterloo
West Brompton	West Ham	West Hampstead
Whitechapel	Wimbledon	Woolwich Arsenal
Woolwich (Elizabeth line)

The ticket would simply work the barriers at Abbey Wood. If anything, a ticket from Belvedere could cause more trouble than it's worth since you'd be starting late when joining at Abbey Wood, so it may not work automatically and might require discussion with the gateline staff.

 

[miklcct]

Im confused now. Abbey Wood to St Albans is +any permitted so how does that not include a cross london journey? For what its worth Belvedere to St Albans off peak day return is the same price.

It does. As Abbey Wood and Farringdon are both valid cross-London stations you can use it to cross between Abbey Wood and Farringdon on the Elizabeth line for your Abbey Wood to St Albans journey.

Travel via London stations​

• Abbey Wood
• Aldgate
• Amersham
• Baker Street
• Balham
• Bank
• Barking
• Battersea Power Station
• Blackfriars
• Blackhorse Road
• Brixton
• Canada Water
• Cannon Street
• Charing Cross
• Ealing Broadway
• Edgware Road
• Elephant & Castle
• Embankment
• Euston
• Euston Square
• Farringdon
• Finsbury Park
• Greenwich (DLR)
• Highbury & Islington
• Kensington Olympia
• Kentish Town
• Kings Cross St Pancras
• Lancaster Gate
• Lewisham (DLR)
• Limehouse
• Liverpool Street
• London Bridge
• Marylebone
• Moorgate
• Old Street
• Paddington
• Queens Park
• Richmond
• Seven Sisters
• Shadwell
• Shepherds Bush
• Southwark
• Stratford
• Stratford International (DLR)
• Tottenham Hale
• Tower Hill
• Upminster
• Vauxhall
• Victoria
• Walthamstow Central
• Waterloo
• West Brompton
• West Ham
• West Hampstead
• Whitechapel
• Wimbledon
• Woolwich Arsenal (DLR)
• Woolwich (Elizabeth line)