UK train tickets

[TVNews]

Looking to book train tickets from Waterloo to Southampton for our upcoming cruise in mid September but the prices seem very high... 41 GBP per person compared to 14.50 for the same trip the day before. Are prices likely to come down, or are they higher because of more demand for that date (it's a Sunday)?

[Globaliser]

Your travel date is a specific blackout date; the train operating company's website says "Advance Purchase tickets are not available: 22 & 29 July; 16, 17. 23 & 24 September; 1, 7 & 8 October". On a Sunday that's not a blackout date (eg 10 September), you can get Advance tickets. So I would be surprised if it's anything to do with demand on Sundays. (There's obviously something wrong, because as you say Advance tickets are available on some trains on Sat 23 September.)

 

The first two blackout dates are known strike days, on which TOCs often take Advance tickets off sale, at least until there is a firm timetable for the strike day. Also, looking at the blackout dates on that page for other routes, 30 September is also not on sale on the West of England route. All this suggests to me that the TOC thinks that there may yet be timetable changes for some reason on those four successive weekends, and that may be the reason why it isn't selling Advance tickets for those days.

 

So unless £41.00 is a deal-breaker, I would just leave it for the moment. You shouldn't be at risk of having to pay more than that, because I think that that's not a capacity-controlled fare and therefore won't "sell out". But there is a chance that Advance fares will get put into the system later, perhaps when an amended timetable is confirmed. If you check back periodically, you may see whether/when that happens.

[John Bull]

As per Globaliser's post.

 

But you could hedge your bets by booking a National Express bus from London Victoria coach station to Southampton coach station. https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

Book the higher-priced "Fully flexible" tickets at about £18.  This allows you to cancel for a full refund by giving at least 24 hours notice.

 

If  the cheap "advance" train tickets become available you can cancel the bus tickets.

If there's industrial action by railwaymen on your date there'll be extra demand for the bus and you'll be glad to have already secured your bus seats

 

JB 🙂

[gumshoe958]

Annoyingly, it’s common for train companies to delay putting cheap advance tickets on sale for Sundays until they know for sure whether services will be disrupted by weekend engineering work which is fairly common.

 

So the advice above is sensible. Either wait, and keep checking to see if cheap advance tickets become available safe in the knowledge that £41 is the maximum you’ll pay.

 

Or, for guaranteed savings, book fully flexible National Express coach tickets that you can cancel for a full refund if necessary.

[skatie]

Maybe take a look at the trainline.com website as on Sept 17 I’m seeing some cheap tickets depending on departure time. I purchased my tickets through them for Southampton to Waterloo on that day as we disembark from ship and paid $22 Canadian per tickets but it did fluctuate over a number of days and when I saw that price I jumped on the booking

[TVNews]

Thanks for the advice... and for confirming I'm not crazy. I'll keep an eye on things for another week or so and if prices remain high I'll book the National Express tickets as suggested.

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, skatie said:

Maybe take a look at the trainline.com website as on Sept 17 I’m seeing some cheap tickets depending on departure time.

 

The interesting thing about those cheap tickets is that they seem to be valid only on trains that call at Eastleigh. The price is the sum of two cheap tickets, one Advance ticket from Waterloo to Eastleigh and one flexible ticket from Eastleigh to Southampton. This split ticketing only works if your train calls at Eastleigh. SWR is also selling Advance tickets from Waterloo to Eastleigh.

 

I therefore wonder whether the uncertainty about timetabling concerns the part of the route beyond Eastleigh through Southampton. If, for example, the timetabling uncertainty is because of possible engineering work on those weekends, it may be that any such work will close the line beyond Eastleigh through Southampton, but not affect running as far as Eastleigh.

[John Bull]

59 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

The interesting thing about those cheap tickets is that they seem to be valid only on trains that call at Eastleigh. The price is the sum of two cheap tickets, one Advance ticket from Waterloo to Eastleigh and one flexible ticket from Eastleigh to Southampton. This split ticketing only works if your train calls at Eastleigh. SWR is also selling Advance tickets from Waterloo to Eastleigh.

 

I therefore wonder whether the uncertainty about timetabling concerns the part of the route beyond Eastleigh through Southampton. If, for example, the timetabling uncertainty is because of possible engineering work on those weekends, it may be that any such work will close the line beyond Eastleigh through Southampton, but not affect running as far as Eastleigh.

 

 

Super-sleuth !!!

I'm impressed - I have no idea how you thought of checking fares to Eastleigh

 

Yes, cheap advance fares on Sun 17th Sept from London Waterloo to Eastleigh £8.70 (those tickets only good for the train time that you selected, so don't miss it)

Off-peak tickets Eastleigh to Southampton central £3.90 (any train on sunday)

So that's a total of £12.60 pp - actually a couple of pounds cheaper than other dates that week !!

 

Trains from Eastleigh depart 2 to 4 minutes after the train arrives from Waterloo - so that's almost-certainly the same train 🙄

 

So buy your cheap advance tickets to Eastleigh on-line now.

And I guess your Eastleigh to Southampton central tickets as well, because I don't see how you can hop off to buy tickets at Eastleigh. 

 

This is known as split-ticketing. Quite common on longer distances, not usually an advantage on this route but the circumstances on your day are unusual.

 https://book.splitticketing.com/ offer this route at  £14.50, same as other dates that week - but that may be because they're unaware of the special circumstance.

 

I agree with Globaliser that this is because of the possibility of track maintenance on your date - they choose sundays to avoid disrupting commuter services.

If a section of line is closed the train operator lays on buses ("Bus Replacement Service") to bridge the gap, it's included in the fare. Eastleigh station to Southampton central is only 6 miles by road, but of course even though it's a sunday that will take longer, so I suggest you don't choose a train time that cuts it fine for your latest registration time at the cruise terminal. 

 

BTW to Globaliser - all Waterloo / Southampton trains call at Eastleigh

 

JB 🙂

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, John Bull said:

Super-sleuth !!!

I'm impressed - I have no idea how you thought of checking fares to Eastleigh

 

...

 

Trains from Eastleigh depart 2 to 4 minutes after the train arrives from Waterloo - so that's almost-certainly the same train 

 

...

 

BTW to Globaliser - all Waterloo / Southampton trains call at Eastleigh

 

I'm vulnerable to flattery as much as the next person, but there was no sleuthing involved. 😀 The Trainline's website tells you the split when it offers you split tickets, and also tells you the type of ticket which each of the tickets is.

 

It's also easy to check that what is being offered on split tickets is a through train from Waterloo to Southampton by using realtimetrains, which also confirmed that split tickets are offered on the through trains that call at Eastleigh, but not on the through trains that do not call at Eastleigh. That's in accordance with the rules on using split tickets.

 

What I was more interested in was why there are Advance tickets to Eastleigh (or Shawford) but not to Southampton. In addition, there are Advance tickets to Winchester, but only on trains that then call at Eastleigh. Trains that do call at Eastleigh divide there, with part of the train going to Portsmouth (not via Southampton), and the other part going via Southampton to Bournemouth. Now that we (or at least I) have a better handle on TOCs' approach to Advance tickets and disruption, thanks to this year's strikes, the obvious answer seems to be that the absence of Advance tickets to Southampton is to protect the Eastleigh-Bournemouth service against the possibility of a timetable alteration (eg for engineering work) that may require those trains to be cancelled.

 

And for that reason, I adhere to the previous suggestion that the OP does not buy train tickets now. Otherwise they could be stuck with an Advance ticket to Eastleigh that they can't sensibly use because it'll require them to get off there and get on a rail replacement bus, in which case they might as well have used their backup National Express coach ticket, as gumshoe958 wisely suggested.

[John Bull]

37 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

And for that reason, I adhere to the previous suggestion that the OP does not buy train tickets now. Otherwise they could be stuck with an Advance ticket to Eastleigh that they can't sensibly use because it'll require them to get off there and get on a rail replacement bus, in which case they might as well have used their backup National Express coach ticket, as gumshoe958 wisely suggested.

 

I drove Rail replacement buses just a couple of times before I learned to decline those jobs (its a really really boring day because they always lay on too many buses).

The short (5 miles) distance between Eastleigh & Southampton means no great delay, and still quicker than Nat Express from London.

And it means no faffing around with buying & then cancelling Nat Express tickets.

 

We don't know the location of TVNews' London hotel - that may be a deciding factor.

The Tube isn't a great way to travel with luggage, and London taxis are expensive.

So If the hotel is in Waterloo, or significantly closer to Waterloo than to Victoria, that's a plus for the train.

If it's  in Victoria, or significantly closer than Waterloo, that's a plus for the bus.

 

Complicated, innit.

My head hurts 🤕

 

JB 🙂

 

[TVNews]

My head is now spinning, lol. I saw the split-ticketing option on Trainline but didn't quite get how it worked so thanks for the detailed explanation. Our London hotel is in Lambeth so much closer to Waterloo than Victoria station.

Still, with all the other complicating issues we may just opt for the National Express bus to eliminate uncertainty and possibility of having to switch trains or deal with replacement buses on part of the route. Thanks again for all the input.