Commuting between Staines and Euston Station/Euston Square

[jkgeyti]

Hi

My girlfriend and I just moved to Staines from Denmark to study. She's studying at RHUL in Egham, hence we ended up in Staines. I am commuting to UCL near Euston Station and Euston Square, and I'm trying to figure out, how I should do this journey.

I'm be going FROM Staines TO London and back ~4.5 days a week, leaving somewhere between 08:00-09:35 (most days will not be in off-peak).

Let's assume I've both got a 16-25 rail card and a Student Oyster.
Unfortuneatly, a 12-month ticket is not an option.

The way I see it, there's a couple of options:

Single tickets

• Day Travelcard (30% off because of travel card): Around £260
• Staines - Euston Station (30% off because of travel card): Around £235
• Staines - Zone 1 (Vauxhall/Waterloo), Student Oyster PayGo within zone 1: ... more than the two other options

Monthly

• Travelcard + Zone 1-6: £274.20
• Travelcard + London Terminals (Euston Station): £214.70

It seems the cheapest option for me is to get a travelcard to London Terminals, and change in Vauxhall.

I was wondering if I could get a Student Oyster zone 1-6 (£143.30 monthly), which would take me to Feltham as far as I see, and buy some kind of extension travel card from Feltham to Staines... I just don't think I want to run out of the train to beep out and check in using my travelcard, hoping I can catch the train again before the door closes :P

So - have I got it right, or do any of you have ideas as to how I can get there cheaper than £214.70 a month?

 

[tony_mac]

You seem to use the term 'travelcard' to mean different things, which is a little confusing (a travelcard is something valid for unlimited travel within the specified London zones).

A Season ticket to 'London Terminals' will not be valid to Euston Station - if you have used the National Rail Season Ticket calculator to find this out, then it is wrong. Sadly, it has been like this for years.

A 1-6 travelcard season ticket from Staines would cost you £274.20 per month.

I don't know much about the Student Oyster, but you don't live in London so don't appear to be eligible for it.

Hopefully somebody else will have some better ideas.

Oh, and welcome to the site!

 

[Be3G]

Hello from an ex-Hollowegian. I used to do kind of the opposite to what you're doing, as I commuted from home in (North) London to RHUL.

tony_mac is right that the 18+ Oyster is only available to London residents; furthermore, it only provides a discount on season tickets, not Oyster PAYG. Although you can load a 16–25 Railcard on to an Oyster to get money off single journeys and price caps.

Anyway, just a thought, but if you fancy a slower journey to UCL in order to save some money, you could consider getting a Staines to zones 2–6 travelcard season ticket, using trains from Staines -> Richmond -> Camden Road, then a frequent bus for the short journey to Gower Street. Despite the fact your travelcard wouldn't include zone 1, it can still be used on buses throughout London. That'd come to £204.70 per month.

 

[maniacmartin]

A Travelcard is a ticket that gives unlimited travel within specified London zones for a certain amount of time

A railcard is a card that allows you to buy discounted tickets

 

[LexyBoy]

I agree that using buses can save you a bit of money if you're willing to take the time hit. I'd think that going Staines-Vauxhall then the 88 up to Euston would be quicker with a Staines-Z2-6 Travelcard.

Cheaper still would be a Staines-Z3-6 Travelcard (£184.80/month) and then the 14 to UCL.

Likely cheapest of all would be to do the entire journey on TfL bus at £72.20/month There's loads of options so it depends on how willing you are to sacrifice time for savings.

Also bear in mind that you should buy Seasons to run up to a specific date - e.g. a Friday or the last day of term (if applicable) - so that you're not paying for any days you're not using it.

 

[island]

A Travelcard is a ticket that gives unlimited travel within specified London zones for a certain amount of time

A railcard is a card that allows you to buy discounted tickets

And a season ticket is a ticket valid for seven days or a period between a month and a year, either between a pair of stations, in certain zones, or a combination of these. A Travelcard can be a season ticket, but not all are, and not all season tickets are Travelcards.

Confused.com yet?

 

[MikeWh]

Anyway, just a thought, but if you fancy a slower journey to UCL in order to save some money, you could consider getting a Staines to zones 2–6 travelcard season ticket, using trains from Staines -> Richmond -> Camden Road, then a frequent bus for the short journey to Gower Street. Despite the fact your travelcard wouldn't include zone 1, it can still be used on buses throughout London. That'd come to £204.70 per month.

Another option is to get a TfL bus to Feltham and then use the trains from there as that is in zone 6. Feltham is two stops from Staines on the train and the TfL bus would be included on the travelcard even though it is outside the zones. Monthly zone 1-6 is £205.10 or zone 2-6 is £139.80 and use the bus from either Camden Road (as above) or Vauxhall. A further advantage of getting the 2-6 travelcard on your Oyster is that if you decided to go the whole way into zone 1 by train on the odd occasion it would only cost £2 per journey deducted from your PAYG balance (£1.30 off-peak with railcard).

 

[Urban Gateline]

If you have an 18+ Student Oyster card then the monthly Z1-6 Travelcard is only £143.30, so taking a bus from Staines to Feltham and then full flexibility on trains within the Zones!

I don't believe it is a requirement to live IN a london borough, as I live just outside the boundary in Surrey and I had an 18+ Student Oyster card with a discounted annual ticket loaded during my time at University!

 

[MikeWh]

From the TfL website: (my bold)

To get an 18+ Student Oyster photocard you must be:

• 18 or over
• Living at a London address during term time
• Enrolled with a participating education establishment registered on the TfL scheme

And one of the following:

• Enrolled on a full-time course made up of at least 15 tuition-led and/or structured learning hours a week (with attendance at scheduled classes being Monday to Friday only and not including evening classes) over a minimum of 14 weeks on the same course
• Receiving NHS bursary money* as a full-time student
• Enrolled on a part-time course lasting at least 14 weeks and receiving NHS bursary money*
• A full-time postgraduate student (for example, studying or writing up for 15 or more hours a week)
• A postgraduate student enrolled on a part-time course lasting at least 14 weeks and receiving financial help from the Access to Learning Fund*
• A sabbatical officer
• A full-time student registered and studying on a higher education course with an education establishment not registered on the scheme, but on mandatory work placement in London for at least 14 weeks. You must still be under the pastoral care of your education establishment

More information about how to apply as a placement student

* You must provide satisfactory evidence of your sponsorship to your education establishment before their authorised online user can validate your application.

If your education establishment is located outside Greater London but you live in Greater London and travel regularly to and from the education establishment, you are eligible.

You are not eligible if:

• You're undertaking on the job training with an employer who pays your wages
• You live outside Greater London during term time

 

[transmanche]

I don't believe it is a requirement to live IN a london borough, as I live just outside the boundary in Surrey and I had an 18+ Student Oyster card with a discounted annual ticket loaded during my time at University!

You are not eligible if: You live outside Greater London during term time

Perhaps in practice they use your postcode to determine if you qualify or not. And as postcodes don't align with the GL boundary, it may be that if your postal district straddles the GL boundary, you get the benefit of the doubt....