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Author Topic: Getting from Gloucestershire to London  (Read 15131 times)
Dubbs
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« on: February 18, 2016, 17:43:52 »

Hi all - I'm looking for those gurus/commuters that know a thing or two about living near/around Stroud/Minchinhampton and commuting to London.

I a looking to be in London 3 days a week, I would need to get there before 9am (preferably 08:30 latest) and would want to be catching a train back from Paddington around 17:30 onwards.

I have looked at Kemble or Stroud being a possible station to leave from (Kemble 20 mins drive away) and have considered the 06:43 from there with a 17:43 coming home.

My days can vary about, for example I may find that one week I can do 2 days in London, the next 4 days, or even change mid week depending on what I need to do.

For now though, considering 3 days a week and potentially 06:43 train from Kemble and 17:43(or thereabouts) from Paddington what is the cheapest way to do this ticket-wise?

I'm considering ticket splitting, booking ahead (where I can) and even a season ticket if it works out that much cheaper.

Help?!?!  It's a minefield and I'd appreciate some expert advice  Grin
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patch38
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« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2016, 17:59:43 »

Hi Dubbs and welcome.

06:43 from Kemble with a split at Didcot is, I believe, a popular choice. Parking at Kemble is OK at that time of day too. If you're not worried about the split ticket, it's normally possible to scoot across to the 06:58 on platform 3 at Swindon meaning you can cut out Didcot as a stop.

17:42 from PAD» (Paddington (London) - next trains) is a good train home as it skips Reading so is slightly less busy than some of the rush-hour departures.

I'm not the expert on ticket splits - I'll leave that to the others.

You don't perchance own a D4, do you...  Wink
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grahame
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« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2016, 18:14:54 »

Hi all - I'm looking for those gurus/commuters that know a thing or two about living near/around Stroud/Minchinhampton and commuting to London.

I a looking to be in London 3 days a week, I would need to get there before 9am (preferably 08:30 latest) and would want to be catching a train back from Paddington around 17:30 onwards.

I have looked at Kemble or Stroud being a possible station to leave from (Kemble 20 mins drive away) and have considered the 06:43 from there with a 17:43 coming home.

My days can vary about, for example I may find that one week I can do 2 days in London, the next 4 days, or even change mid week depending on what I need to do.

For now though, considering 3 days a week and potentially 06:43 train from Kemble and 17:43(or thereabouts) from Paddington what is the cheapest way to do this ticket-wise?

I'm considering ticket splitting, booking ahead (where I can) and even a season ticket if it works out that much cheaper.

Help?!?!  It's a minefield and I'd appreciate some expert advice  Grin


A day return from Kemble to London costs 139.00 (peak) and, incredibly, a weekly season is just 247.40 ... if you could do Wednesday to Friday one week, then Monday and Tuesday the next ...

Welcome to the forum ... I too will leave it for others to comment on the splitting ...
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grahame
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« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2016, 18:30:29 »

... I too will leave it for others to comment on the splitting ...

Couldn't resist ...

For a train that calls at Didcot both ways - ^103.20, or if you want to be able to use the ones that don't stop at Didcot - ^104.90.   Subject to verification by others here as that's just my reading of it and I'm not trained on these things.    Single Kemble to Didcot (peak) and back (super off-peak Didcot to Kemble is only restricted in the morning peak).  Then a Didcot to Paddington return.  For a very little more, you can get a week's season from Didcot to Cholsey and a Cholsey to Paddington day return, and because we're playing the ATOC» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) / National Rail version of Mornington Crescent you can invoke NCoC 18c and use a train that doesn't call at Didcot of Cholsey.
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Dubbs
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« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2016, 20:59:43 »

Hi Dubbs and welcome.

06:43 from Kemble with a split at Didcot is, I believe, a popular choice. Parking at Kemble is OK at that time of day too. If you're not worried about the split ticket, it's normally possible to scoot across to the 06:58 on platform 3 at Swindon meaning you can cut out Didcot as a stop.

17:42 from PAD» (Paddington (London) - next trains) is a good train home as it skips Reading so is slightly less busy than some of the rush-hour departures.

I'm not the expert on ticket splits - I'll leave that to the others.

You don't perchance own a D4, do you...  Wink

I just might.... Unless I cut you up and you're looking for blood in which case it was the wife!!!  Grin. What made you ask?
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Dubbs
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« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2016, 21:06:38 »

... I too will leave it for others to comment on the splitting ...

Couldn't resist ...

For a train that calls at Didcot both ways - ^103.20, or if you want to be able to use the ones that don't stop at Didcot - ^104.90.   Subject to verification by others here as that's just my reading of it and I'm not trained on these things.    Single Kemble to Didcot (peak) and back (super off-peak Didcot to Kemble is only restricted in the morning peak).  Then a Didcot to Paddington return.  For a very little more, you can get a week's season from Didcot to Cholsey and a Cholsey to Paddington day return, and because we're playing the ATOC» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) / National Rail version of Mornington Crescent you can invoke NCoC 18c and use a train that doesn't call at Didcot of Cholsey.

So a split at Didcot and a potential further split at cholsey.  Then I guess look to buy as soon in advance as possible?

Think I'll have to put a spreadsheet together with lots of options to try and work it out...

I was told to watch for where the break points are for weekly and monthly as it may end up being cheaper to get a monthly even if I only use it for three days a week.. Shame they can't let people share a ticket as a seat paid is a seat paid  Sad
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patch38
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« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2016, 23:12:28 »

What made you ask?

You have a PM on that other forum  Grin
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grahame
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« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2016, 06:34:38 »

So a split at Didcot and a potential further split at cholsey.  Then I guess look to buy as soon in advance as possible?

Cholsey is really only practical if you have a season ticket in the "combo" - otherwise you'll have to change to a Turbo stopper at Didcot.  There are 3 options for splitting - (a) using a service calling at the split station and (c) one ticket being a season and the other(s) not, and passing through are two of them.  Bit of an "oddball" is (c) - real intent is to let people who have (say) a Maidenhead to London season so out to Reading for a party one night direct from work using a fast train.

Quote
Think I'll have to put a spreadsheet together with lots of options to try and work it out...

I was told to watch for where the break points are for weekly and monthly as it may end up being cheaper to get a monthly even if I only use it for three days a week.. Shame they can't let people share a ticket as a seat paid is a seat paid  Sad

At three days a week, annual season ticket from Kemble to London is going to be very much the lowest cost option  Say 45 weeks, annual ticket ^8792, is ^32.57 per single journey - and it will save you a whole load of booking hassle ... think what your time is worth for all the work of doing individual tickets sets.     Rises to ^41.24 per single journey if you buy weekly for three round trips, still cheaper that 3 sets of splits!

You mention sharing a season ticket ... there ARE a few places where you can buy a transferrable carnet or book of business tickets, but not in the area you're talking about.   

The season ticket from Kemble to London is actually a bargain when compared to walk up peak fares (most passengers would suggest that the walk up fare is too high rather than the season too low, mind you!).  And this leads to some horrid anomalies.   If I'm doing a 10 day course in London, Monday to Friday daytime of 2 weeks in succession, my fare from Kemble is a total of ^494.80 but if the same course is one day a week for 10 weeks, my fare comes out to at least ^1032 if I split, and ^1390 if I buy walkups.

I would be amazed if advance tickets improved on the season ticket rate for you if you're travelling multiple days, and it would only take one or two changes of work schedule for you to end up paying more than you would for a season, having restricted yourself severely.

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Dubbs
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« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2016, 10:23:49 »

Thanks for the advice, that helps a lot.

Thinking that I need to look in to weekly/monthly/annual comparisons and go from there then... Majority of potential clients are in London but I'm going to be looking towards Bristol/Swindon/etc., so will take that in to account and check how flexible the annual.

Is best place for that simply to use GWR (Great Western Railway) website?

Thanks again for the help, invaluable!!!
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Dubbs
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« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2016, 18:02:33 »

I'm considering monthly rather than annual, will GWR (Great Western Railway) website be cheapest and would I still get splits I.e, Kemble to Didcot monthly and Didcot to pad monthly?

Also when I travelled the other day I noticed lots of reserved seats, how do I do that?

Thanks  Smiley
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Ollie
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« Reply #10 on: March 23, 2016, 18:16:50 »

Hi Dubbs

Can still do the Didcot split, subject to the condition mentioned previously (train needs to stop).

For reservations, once you have your season ticket, you can email your ticket and journey details to forward@firstgroup.com and a bulk reservation will be made for you. Can only do one journey in each direction. So, you would need to be sure of what trains travelling on. Although naturally, seasons flexible, so if you get different train, just wouldn't have a reservation for it.

If you don't want to reserve in bulk, a ticket office can do one off reservations, or you can DM us on Twitter and we will be happy to sort it (just include photo of your season ticket).  www.twitter.com/gwrhelp

Hope that helps Smiley
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ChrisB
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« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2016, 18:21:53 »

Monthlies cost the same wherever you buy them. I'm not sure they are available online for that route, so from ticket offices with a photocard.

You'll need to review whether the joint cost of those tickets are cheaper than one for the whole trip - and realise & consider your suggested split would require you to only use those trains that stop at Didcot. Any fast trains non-stopping at Didcot would not be available to you on a split, now or in any new timetable

Reservations for seasons can be got by calling Customer Services I think -or was it by email? Someone else will be able to confirm, Ollie?
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ellendune
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« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2016, 19:49:57 »

You'll need to ... ... realise & consider your suggested split would require you to only use those trains that stop at Didcot. Any fast trains non-stopping at Didcot would not be available to you on a split, now or in any new timetable

I sure others will confirm but I think I am right in saying that this does not apply as at least one of the tickets is a season.
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grahame
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« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2016, 20:12:11 »

You'll need to ... ... realise & consider your suggested split would require you to only use those trains that stop at Didcot. Any fast trains non-stopping at Didcot would not be available to you on a split, now or in any new timetable

I sure others will confirm but I think I am right in saying that this does not apply as at least one of the tickets is a season.

It's only if one of the tickets is a season and the other(s) are not that the "train must stop rule" isn't applicable.  The suggestion here was two seasons.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2016, 21:01:35 »

Seen as a season extension ticket for it not to require a stop at the intermediate station, so Graham is right
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