Main line trains - Advice

stephen1980 · 08-11-2009, 12:34

I live in London and have never been on or tried to book a ticket for a main line train. I have looked on the nationalrail web site but find it confusing, so would be greatfull to someone who understands how the trains/tickets/changes all work to tell me how easy it would be to travel from

Ealing Brodaway to Edenbridge Town Station (hever castle) on or around the 17/18th and/or possible the 28th/29th.

Many thanks.

Dissonance · 08-11-2009, 12:49

Just having a quick look at the NR website (wasn't sure where Edenbridge Town station is!) and it looks as if you'd be better off starting out from London Bridge station as that is where main line trains to Edenbridge depart

From Ealing Broadway you would need to get to London Bridge initially - the NR website suggests taking NR to Paddington, then Underground to London Bridge; I assume you have an Oyster if you live in London and they're not accepted on the NR line between Ealing to Paddington (even though it's be easy to evade the fare on that stretch), so (making the quite brave assumption that Ealing Broadway is your nearest Underground station as well) taking the Central to either Bond Street or Bank then the Jubilee or Northern to London Bridge would be how you get there.

It looks as if from London Bridge, trains that go to Edenbridge depart roughly every hour at 8 minutes past, and will cost around £9 (single). It doesn't look like on that service it'll make a difference to book that early in advance so the easiest thing would be just to get a walk on ticket when you get to London Bridge station.

Hope that helped!

I agree that the NR website can be a little confusing at times, especially if you're not used to it, and especially with the matrix of fare structures that we have to put up with in this country.

MARTYM8 · 08-11-2009, 13:10

Best route from Ealing Broadway to London Bridge is the central line to Bond St or Bank and then get either the Jubillee line (from Bond St) or the Northern line at Bank to London Bridge. Check for engineering works first though - they often disrupt the Jubilee at weekends.

Its probably cheaper to use an oystercard pay as you go to get from Ealing to L Bridge.

The price is cheaper if you do a day trip and return on the same day - £8.90 for a cheap day return from LBridge if you leave after 9.30am

If you are coming back on a sdifferent day you might find it cheaper to buy 2 singles as the return price then is £24 but two singles might only be £16.

The journey from L Bridge takes anything from 37 to 51 mins.

PS There is no logic to rail prices!

technologist · 08-11-2009, 16:01

[quote=Dissonance;36528742]and they're not accepted on the NR line between Ealing to Paddington (even though it's be easy to evade the fare on that stretch),
QUOTE]

Oyster works Paddington to West Drayton - see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ional-rail.pdf

so Ealing is easy ......

BTW there is a a lot of "BR" lines north of the river as wellas Overground where Oyster works.

nom de theatre · 08-11-2009, 19:42

Buy the tickets from Southern Railway's website because they do exclusive web discounts for tickets that cover their franchise area, which includes Edenbridge Town. Currently they have a half price promotion for tickets booked online for travel in November:

http://www.southernrailway.com/

Put in "London" as your starting destination as this will give you a choice of London stations to travel from (use an Oyster card to get there). Once you've entered the station and date information, select two £4.40 single tickets (one for the outward journey and one for the return journey).

If you click on the information icon by the train times it'll tell you the stations the train travels from and the final destination the train is heading to, which will help you find the correct platform at the station. Some train times may be greyed out indicating that they are not valid for the ticket type you selected. Make sure the ticket you buy is valid for the time you want to travel.

Clicking on a train time will reserve a seat, but don't do this unless you want to travel on a specific train. If you reserve a seat and miss the train the seat was reserved for you have to buy a new ticket. It's generally not in your interest to reserve a seat unless it entitles you to a cheaper ticket.

Cornucopia · 08-11-2009, 20:56

The cheapest option is to take the tube from Ealing Broadway to Victoria/London Bridge and then the overground from there.

The overground-underground-overground fare is: £24.80 Rtn (28/29 Nov)

Underground-overground is: £20.10

Overground fares vary by time of day.

stephen1980 · 09-11-2009, 22:49

thanks for the answers, just relised that I left out DECEMBER in my OP, will this make any difference or will there be work being done on the line at that time.

Jimmy Connors · 09-11-2009, 23:08

A day return from London Bridge is £4.45 with Southern. I assume you wanted a day return.

I once found a ticket from Hemel Hempstead to Brighton (Return) for £5 on that site.

Beware though, they change their prices frequently - so you need to be quick. They will post the tickets free of charge to your house. You can also pick the tickets up from a named station (you will need the card you booked with)

I go all over the place using that site.

https://tickets.southernrailway.com/...JourneyDetails

08-11-2009, 12:34	#1
stephen1980 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: London Services: Sky+hd, o2 broadband, o2 - W995 Posts: 891	Main line trains I live in London and have never been on or tried to book a ticket for a main line train. I have looked on the nationalrail web site but find it confusing, so would be greatfull to someone who understands how the trains/tickets/changes all work to tell me how easy it would be to travel from Ealing Brodaway to Edenbridge Town Station (hever castle) on or around the 17/18th and/or possible the 28th/29th. Many thanks.

08-11-2009, 12:49	#2
Dissonance Forum Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Devon UK Posts: 1,376	Just having a quick look at the NR website (wasn't sure where Edenbridge Town station is!) and it looks as if you'd be better off starting out from London Bridge station as that is where main line trains to Edenbridge depart From Ealing Broadway you would need to get to London Bridge initially - the NR website suggests taking NR to Paddington, then Underground to London Bridge; I assume you have an Oyster if you live in London and they're not accepted on the NR line between Ealing to Paddington (even though it's be easy to evade the fare on that stretch), so (making the quite brave assumption that Ealing Broadway is your nearest Underground station as well) taking the Central to either Bond Street or Bank then the Jubilee or Northern to London Bridge would be how you get there. It looks as if from London Bridge, trains that go to Edenbridge depart roughly every hour at 8 minutes past, and will cost around £9 (single). It doesn't look like on that service it'll make a difference to book that early in advance so the easiest thing would be just to get a walk on ticket when you get to London Bridge station. Hope that helped! I agree that the NR website can be a little confusing at times, especially if you're not used to it, and especially with the matrix of fare structures that we have to put up with in this country.

08-11-2009, 13:10	#3
MARTYM8 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 7,836	Best route from Ealing Broadway to London Bridge is the central line to Bond St or Bank and then get either the Jubillee line (from Bond St) or the Northern line at Bank to London Bridge. Check for engineering works first though - they often disrupt the Jubilee at weekends. Its probably cheaper to use an oystercard pay as you go to get from Ealing to L Bridge. The price is cheaper if you do a day trip and return on the same day - £8.90 for a cheap day return from LBridge if you leave after 9.30am If you are coming back on a sdifferent day you might find it cheaper to buy 2 singles as the return price then is £24 but two singles might only be £16. The journey from L Bridge takes anything from 37 to 51 mins. PS There is no logic to rail prices!

08-11-2009, 16:01	#4
technologist Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: London Services: All Digital platforms Posts: 1,126	[quote=Dissonance;36528742]and they're not accepted on the NR line between Ealing to Paddington (even though it's be easy to evade the fare on that stretch), QUOTE] Oyster works Paddington to West Drayton - see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ional-rail.pdf so Ealing is easy ...... BTW there is a a lot of "BR" lines north of the river as wellas Overground where Oyster works.

08-11-2009, 19:42	#5
nom de theatre Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 3	Buy the tickets from Southern Railway's website because they do exclusive web discounts for tickets that cover their franchise area, which includes Edenbridge Town. Currently they have a half price promotion for tickets booked online for travel in November: http://www.southernrailway.com/ Put in "London" as your starting destination as this will give you a choice of London stations to travel from (use an Oyster card to get there). Once you've entered the station and date information, select two £4.40 single tickets (one for the outward journey and one for the return journey). If you click on the information icon by the train times it'll tell you the stations the train travels from and the final destination the train is heading to, which will help you find the correct platform at the station. Some train times may be greyed out indicating that they are not valid for the ticket type you selected. Make sure the ticket you buy is valid for the time you want to travel. Clicking on a train time will reserve a seat, but don't do this unless you want to travel on a specific train. If you reserve a seat and miss the train the seat was reserved for you have to buy a new ticket. It's generally not in your interest to reserve a seat unless it entitles you to a cheaper ticket.

08-11-2009, 20:56	#6
Cornucopia Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,330	The cheapest option is to take the tube from Ealing Broadway to Victoria/London Bridge and then the overground from there. The overground-underground-overground fare is: £24.80 Rtn (28/29 Nov) Underground-overground is: £20.10 Overground fares vary by time of day.

09-11-2009, 22:49	#7
stephen1980 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: London Services: Sky+hd, o2 broadband, o2 - W995 Posts: 891	thanks for the answers, just relised that I left out DECEMBER in my OP, will this make any difference or will there be work being done on the line at that time.

09-11-2009, 23:08	#8
Jimmy Connors Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Services: Sky Posts: 36,171	A day return from London Bridge is £4.45 with Southern. I assume you wanted a day return. I once found a ticket from Hemel Hempstead to Brighton (Return) for £5 on that site. Beware though, they change their prices frequently - so you need to be quick. They will post the tickets free of charge to your house. You can also pick the tickets up from a named station (you will need the card you booked with) I go all over the place using that site. https://tickets.southernrailway.com/...JourneyDetails