Split ticket Reading - Bristol Parkway

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Quick question from a ticket splitting virgin (...........that sounds awful doesn't it!) 

I've got to do this trip on Wednesday morning, I've purchased Anytime singles Reading-Didcot, and Didcot - Bristol Parkway - my question is, do I have to board a train at Reading that stops at Didcot, or can I catch one that goes direct from Reading to Bristol?

Advice gratefully received.

TG.

[ChrisB]

You need to find trains stopping at Didcot....

[JayMac]

National Rail Conditions of Carriage condtion 19(b) comes into play:

19. Using a combination of tickets

You may use two or more tickets for one journey as long as together they cover the entire journey and one of the following applies:

(a) they are both Zonal Tickets unless special conditions prohibit their use in this way. The Ticket Seller will, if you ask, advise you whether you can use a Zonal Ticket in combination with another ticket.

(b) the train you are in calls at a station where you change from one ticket to another;

or

(c) one of the tickets is a Season Ticket (which for this purpose does not include Season Tickets or travel passes issued on behalf of a passenger transport executive or local authority) or a leisure travel pass, and the other ticket(s) is/are not.

If one of your tickets is a Season Ticket and the other(s) not then you can use services that pass through your split point(s) without stopping.

[TaplowGreen]

Many thanks both, having checked, my preferred service does stop at Didcot so I've saved myself a few ^ by splitting tickets.

[johnneyw]

The Mytrainticket website has a ticket splitting engine on it aside from the more familiar ticket engine used on most rail ticket websites, they charge you 10% of the total savings if you buy a ticket from them.

[JayMac]

I will of course continue to offer split ticket advice to any who ask on this forum.

My fee is 0% of any saving identified. 

Although any person for whom I've identified savings, who bumps into me out in the wild, is more than welcome to buy me a pint! 

[John R]

I'm hoping I don't bump into Ollie in the wild. Around 7 years ago he suggested splitting my season at Chippenham, which has so far saved me around ^2,000, so it would be a very heavy session for both of us.   

[bobm]

Although any person for whom I've identified savings, who bumps into me out in the wild, is more than welcome to buy me a pint! 

Ah so that is why it is always my round!

Seriously though if someone on here is looking for fares advice it is always worth posting details on the forum.  Bignosemac has spent a lot of time not only looking at the complex thing that is the fares structure but has tested a lot of it in the wild too.  He claims he is not an expert - but he is worth a first shot if you are looking to make savings.

[johnneyw]

Even to my rudimentary maths 0% is better than 10%...infinitely. I forgot to also mention that the said website does seem to be a little inconsistent at times. Perhaps a spot of bother with the algorithm?

[JayMac]

Split ticks via mytrainticket.co.uk use the trainsplit.com engine.

The people behind that engine post regularly over at RailUK. They are the first to admit that their algorithms are not perfect. I recently did a Mk1 human brain split ticket search for a journey I planned to undertake. I then went to trainsplit.com to confirm my workings and they were offering fewer splits at around ^30 more.

[Ollie]

I'm hoping I don't bump into Ollie in the wild. Around 7 years ago he suggested splitting my season at Chippenham, which has so far saved me around ^2,000, so it would be a very heavy session for both of us.   

Haha, just tell me where and when 

[bobm]

Chippenham, obviously!