5-Day Travel from Luton to London

born_again

Car_54 said:

born_again said:

OsamaMustafa said:

I am a PhD student at King's and my accommodation is in Luton. I have to travel daily 5 days a week from luton to london. Right now, I travel from luton to west hampstead, and than to waterloo underground station. 

Please advise on how can I save on my travel cost?

Given this is in motoring section.

In reality a car is not going to be cheaper due to ULEZ & parking, never mind the rest of the running costs.

The OP's car may be ULEZ-compliant. He may be lucky enough to have cheap or free parking.

However, the congestion charge seems inevitable.

Could well be.
But to answer OP's question.

Please advise on how can I save on my travel cost?

Surely there is really only one answer. Mover closer. 🤷‍♀️

ontheroad1970

But then accommodation gets more expensive the closer you get to London

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've moved this to the public transport board which seems more apt

Andy_L

Would going Luton to City Thameslink & then walking the mile to KCL(thus avoiding the tube fare) be cheaper?

thelawnet

The normal return rail fare is £34.60

You should certainly obtain a 16-25 railcard by going in person to student services at KCL with a copy of the form and asking them to issue one. (don't need to be 16-25, just any student)

Do not do it online, it will take weeks for KCL to process it.

With 16-25 railcard the following fares arise:

* Anytime day return £22.80
* Off-peak day return £16 (arrive after 09:59 at St Pancras)
* Super off-peak day return £12.50 (same arrival, can't return between 16:30 and 19:00)

All trains to Luton stop at St Pancras, but not all do at West Hampstead Thameslink.

Your ticket should be issued to 'London Thameslink', which allows you to travel to Blackfriars from where you can walk to KCL's Waterloo campus, or from City Thameslink to the Strand campus.

If you want  to travel to West Hampstead instead, then there's a small saving, £11.80 (rather than £12.50) for the equivalent ticket. West Hampstead to Waterloo costs £1.80 with 16-25 railcard-discounted Oyster except during 06:30 to 09:30 and £3.40 at 06:30 to 09:30, as well as in the reverse direction £1.80 and £3.40 during 06:30 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 19:00

OsamaMustafa

Many thanks @thelawnet. Just one thing if you could please confirm, do I have to go to the student services and ask them to fill and sign their respective section, and then upload the completed form alongwith the application online? Please correct me if I am wrong.

OsamaMustafa

@thelawnet
If I am 24, would I still need to get the form signed by student services?

thelawnet

OsamaMustafa said:

@thelawnet
If I am 24, would I still need to get the form signed by student services?

no, in this case that's not necessary as you are under 25 so directly eligible and you should just apply for the railcard online:  https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/

MilesT6060842

Research your options using coaches and/or local buses (with Zone 1-2 Tube, or tube excluding Zone 1 and a change to bus or cycle).

For example, Greenline 757 coach (from Luton Town) to Finchley Road (you can get a London bus or Tube connection easily there with good frequency).   Using a London bus for later parts of the journey to avoid the higher Zone 1 tube fare is a useful trick.  Nearby St. John's Wood is at the north end of the Santander cycle network (Annual pass £120 for unlimited rides)

Or buses into Watford (to get onto London Zonal systems from there, e.g. Tube or Overground to South Hampstead--near St. John's Wood--or Euston)

Or buses towards Hatfield to get into the Uno bus network, which overlaps in the south with high frequency London bus service (at least I think it still does--overlap is with London services 113 or 13 I think up near Mill Hill)

Buy weekly passes for any buses you need (except London buses/tubes, use a contactless card unless you can get some sort of concessionary oyster card via your institution where you are studying)

Google maps, travelline.info, intalink and traveline south east are useful websites to help find such possibilities, set the options to not allow trains in the routing.

I will leave further analysis as an exercise for the (university) student.