Train ticket challenge.

Lemonade_Pockets

Hi

I'm looking to travel from Billericay to Bristol temple meades on Sat the 7th of March. Returning on the sunday the 8th.

However on the way out i would like to go via gillingham (dorset). As i need to visit someone there for lunch.

I have found a open return ticket for £37.60 with a young persons card. However it looks like i will have to come back via gillingham too. Is this the case or can i just travel the more direct route. If not what is the cheapest way to this journey?

N.b Billericay to Bristol temple meades by the direct route is £37.60 return also.

Help much appreciated as always!

dzug1

Your best bet is likely to be:

open return to Gillingham

return to Salisbury, break your journey there

buy open return (or whatever's cheapest) Salisbury - Bristol

Return via Salisbury

This does have the disadvantage of returning on the slower route via Salisbury, but no way is a ticket to Bristol going to be valid via Gillingham or vice versa

Lemonade_Pockets

Cheers
The ticket i found includes going via Gillingham, but because its a return it automatically assumes i want to go back via gillingham too. However i only want to do that on the way there not on the way back!

jamespir

Lemonade_Pockets wrote: »

Hi

I'm looking to travel from Billericay to Bristol temple meades on Sat the 7th of March. Returning on the sunday the 8th.

However on the way out i would like to go via gillingham (dorset). As i need to visit someone there for lunch.

I have found a open return ticket for £37.60 with a young persons card. However it looks like i will have to come back via gillingham too. Is this the case or can i just travel the more direct route. If not what is the cheapest way to this journey?

N.b Billericay to Bristol temple meades by the direct route is £37.60 return also.

Help much appreciated as always!

ok theyres no cheaper way my advice is go to the train station and see what they can do for you . i would buy the 37.60 direct ticket cause they usually say any permitted route which means you can go to gillingham and still come the direct route back

Lemonade_Pockets

lol just found out the same thing but thanks for confirming it.
Just got of the phone from national rail who said going via gillingham was permitted route so i just need to book billericay to bristol open return and i'm all good to go. Explains why the ticket prices are the same :-)

Happy days.

Thanks for your help.

moonrakerz

You are aware that there are some direct trains from Waterloo to BTM via Salisbury and that Gillingham is 2 stops from Salisbury - albeit on a different line ??

This may help:

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/SWTrains/Ticketsandprices/Ticket+types/AdvancedFares.htm?&MSHiC=65001&L=10&W=ADVANCED+ADVANCES+FARE+advance+fares+&Pre=%3CFONT+STYLE%3D%22color%3A+%23000000%3B+background-color%3A+%23FFFF00%22%3E&Post=%3C%2FFONT%3E&Letter=D

Don't understand why NR have said that via Gillingham is a "permitted route" - look at a map ! Did that statement come from India ?

omelette451

moonrakerz wrote: »

Don't understand why NR have said that via Gillingham is a "permitted route" - look at a map !

It's quite common for permitted routes to be really quite bizarre and hugely off geographically. For example, tickets from Liverpool to Oxford are actually valid via Sheffield, which if you think about it is a huge detour!

Surely the problem though is that the OP wants to break the journey on the outward leg rather than the return, which is allowed to a much greater extent...?

gner_ex

Just a point here. The ticket is any permitted, so you can indeed go via Gillingham Dorset (and break journey) one way, and then via Didcot the other way.

However - what you cannot do one the outward leg is retrace your steps. If you go via Gillingham then you need to go via Yeovil and Castle Cary to get to Bath and then Bristol.

You cannot do Waterloo-Gillingham, then go back to Salisbury and go through Warminster as this would be considered doubling back. You could of course miss out a bit (for example get a lift in someones car to Yeovil Pen Mill). That said, you would of course get away with going back to Salisbury

Note that you cannot go via Taunton on this ticket (even though that looks more direct). Map at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/print_maps/uk.pdf

The gillingham break can't be overnight.