Slough to Farringdon (London): Does GWR season pass include Elizabeth line?

[LilEarthquake]

Hi everyone, I will be moving to the UK soon and will need to commute from Slough to Farringdon (London) four days a week. I also plan to visit London on most weekends.

I’m looking into getting a season ticket for the GWR, and was wondering whether the Elizabeth line is included within the London Zone 1-6 add on for the GWR.

For example, if I take the GWR from Slough to Paddington, will my season pass cover my journey from Paddington to Farringdon via the Elizabeth line?

I’d be super appreciative of any advice on the most affordable travel options on this route, especially as someone who will be new to the UK. Thanks in advance!

 

[Watershed]

Welcome to the forum! A ticket described as a "Travelcard" to "London Zones 1-6" is valid on all rail services within Zones 1-6 on this map (whether National Rail*, Underground, Elizabeth line, London Overground, DLR or tram) - this includes the Elizabeth line as well as GWR. It's also valid on all red London Buses (even outside Zones 1-6).

A Travelcard from Slough would additionally be valid on trains (whether GWR or Elizabeth line) between Slough and the boundary of Zone 6 (i.e. West Drayton).

A cheaper alternative to a Travelcard from Slough would be to use one of the red London Buses from Slough to somewhere in Zone 6, as you would only need a Zones 1-6 Travelcard for this, which would be cheaper. However, this would take considerably longer than using GWR or the Elizabeth line from Slough - so you have to work out how much you value your time at!

Depending on exactly how often you'll be travelling into London, you may find that it's cheaper to buy daily paper tickets with a Railcard (assuming you're aged 30 or under and thus eligible for a 16-25 or 26-30 Railcard) - this would cost £15.95 for an Anytime Day Return to Farringdon, or £12.40 for an Off-Peak Day Return if you're travelling after 09:21 Mon-Fri or on the weekend. By comparison, a weekly Zones 1-6 Travelcard from Slough would be £108.40 (it's slightly less per week if you buy a monthly, and an annual costs "only" 40x a weekly).

You do also have the alternative of using a contactless card (or Google/Apple Pay) to pay the Transport for London Pay As You Go (PAYG) fares (see the single fare finder here), but for Slough to Farringdon it's actually cheaper to use paper tickets in most scenarios.

*The only National Rail services a Travelcard doesn't cover are Southeastern High Speed trains between St Pancras International and Stratford International, and Heathrow Express trains between Paddington and Heathrow T2&3.

 

[JonathanH]

GWR and Elizabeth Line services can be used interchangeably within the validity of a ticket.

If you buy a season ticket from Slough to London Terminals, it can be used on both GWR and Elizabeth Line services as far as Paddington.

If you buy a season ticket from Slough to Zones 1-6, it can be used on GWR and Elizabeth Line services between Slough and the boundary, then services in Zone 1 to 6 of all operators participating in the Scheme (ie not Heathrow Express and Southeastern Highspeed but everything else).

 

[redreni]

If you're really looking for something affordable there is a limited stop express bus (number 702) that currently has a flat fare of £2 (government subsidised). It serves a number of stops in Slough including one about 5 minutes walk from the train station and it goes to London via the M4 motorway. In London it has stops at Hammersmith, Kensington, Hyde Park Corner and Victoria.

About 15 years ago I used it to commute 5 days a week from Slough to central London, however:

• I was living about 30 minutes walk away from Slough station but only 5 minutes walk from the bus stop for the 702
• at that time the M4 motorway had bus priority, which was important in the morning peak, but that has since been removed
• I was working near Victoria, so the express bus took me all the way to work
• the frequency of the 702 bus is much lower than the train (but it is commuter-oriented: departures from Slough at 05:40, 06:09, 06:44, 07:04, 07:53 in the morning peak but it reduces to roughly hourly after that during the day)

Since your workplace is in Farringdon, if you use the 702 bus it would only cost you £4/day in bus fares but it would not take you all the way to Farringdon.

If you got off the bus at High Street Kensington, however, then you could take the London Underground to Farringdon for a further £5.60 per day (you'd take the District or Circle line to Paddington and then the Elizabeth Line from there to Farringdon - you would need to use an Oyster card or a contactless payment card for this and it would count as one journey for fares purposes even though, if you follow the signs, you'd need to tap out and back in again at Paddington when changing lines there). Other possible transfer points between the London Underground and the 702 bus include Victoria, Hyde Park Corner or Hammersmith (but Hammersmith is in zone 2 so your journey from there to Farringdon would cost a bit more).

I'm just offering the above as a cheaper option. To be honest I think it would be pretty gruelling to take that route 4 days a week as, while it can be surprisingly fast if traffic is light, it's never as fast as the train and it can be agonisingly slow at times. Whether it makes sense for you or not may depend where in Slough you'll be staying.

It is a very cost effective route, though. I'd say it's at least worth knowing about this route as a low cost alternative in the event of serious disruption, train strikes or any days when you need to travel off-peak (when traffic is lighter and trips by express bus are quicker).

I hope you enjoy your time in Slough! Please don't be rude about it - it's where I grew up and I'm still rather fond of it.