Alternative routings to Waterloo

[whole diary]

[stuving]

The line from Wokingham to Waterloo was attacked by a tree (presumably a big one) this morning. The alternative offered was Reading-Paddington:

Description   

The tree that was blocking the line between Virginia Water and Ascot has now been moved, however it has caused some damage to the track. Whilst engineers work to rectify the faults, the following alterations will apply:

        Buses will continue to run between Virgnia Water and Ascot, causing delays of up to 30 minutes.
        London Waterloo to Reading services will start and terminate at Virginia Water.
        Reading to London Waterloo train services will start and terminate at Ascot.

    Trains between Virginia Water and Weybridge are not affected by this problem.

    Alternative travel options

    You may use your ticket on:

        Great Western Railway services between Reading / Windsor & Eton Central and London Paddington.
        London Underground services between London Paddington and London Waterloo

Of course normally that costs a lot more, and if you want to go to Waterloo, or for example Richmond, it's not ideal - especially from Wokingham.

Journey Planner also offers travel via Guildford. This is now routinely offered without disruption, and is not much slower. (That depends on connection time at Guildford; that seems better than in the past.) It has its own fare and routing, though the prices are only a little higher. I've never really understood why it needs one - as it is slower it makes sense only as a back-up, in which case it might well be allowed when checked even if it isn't official. "Any Route" is via Reading, so that's the only one that works via Ascot and Guildford.

So why wasn't that offered as a "tickets accepted" routing? Capacity is limited, but that's true of the alternatives, and numbers won't be that high as it's only a good route from Wokingham and nearby.