Derby to Shanklin (Mondays in January 2022, preferably First Class)

[Altrincham]

Good evening,

I’m hoping to get a little help on fares to the Isle of Wight as I want to check if the fare that I am seeing on the Trainline app will give me what I am looking for.

My travel plans are as follows:

Derby - Shanklin: Monday 3rd January (depart 0628)

Shanklin - Derby: Monday 10th January (depart 1015)

I have saved a little money and I want to treat myself to First Class, and the return fare that I can see for the above journeys in First Class is £233.10.

The answer might be staring me in the face, but is it safe for me to assume that First Class will be on both of the Derby-St Pancras and Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour journeys?

 

[Haywain]

Good evening,

I’m hoping to get a little help on fares to the Isle of Wight as I want to check if the fare that I am seeing on the Trainline app will give me what I am looking for.

My travel plans are as follows:

Derby - Shanklin: Monday 3rd January (depart 0628)

Shanklin - Derby: Monday 10th January (depart 1015)

I have saved a little money and I want to treat myself to First Class, and the return fare that I can see for the above journeys in First Class is £233.10.

The answer might be staring me in the face, but is it safe for me to assume that First Class will be on both of the Derby-St Pancras and Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour journeys?

It's probably a safe assumption but I don't think many would regard that as good value.

 

[Gloster]

Two points: your journey across the Solent falls just after and before one of the gaps in the FastCat service (no 11.15 from Portsmouth and 11.45 return). According to Ryde Esplanade today, there usually aren’t any capacity problems on the FastCats, with the possible exception of when the Hovercraft aren’t operating (usually because of weather).

 

[Starmill]

There is First Class between London and Portsmouth which is nice enough, but it's not particularly "premium":

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It's up to you to decide whether you think this is worth paying for. There is no onboard catering.

 

[hermit]

Just to complete the picture, I can confirm that there is no First Class on Island Line.

 

[30907]

I can find a Super Offpeak First Class Return DBY-STP £109.50 and WAT-SHN £116.60; Trainline are adding £6 for the return tube and their £1 booking fee presumably.
These are flexible fares with an afternoon time limit from STP (1535-1847 which is later than you plan to travel; 3 Jan is a public holiday so no time limit).

There are First Class Advance (booked train only) fares WAT-SHN which would save you £50-odd but at the time of your outward journey they are only available using the Hovercraft from Southsea - an experience in itself, should you wish!

Crossing London is cheaper with Contactless/Oyster as you may know.

 

[WesternLancer]

If of any use with 3rd Jan being public holiday weekend first on Midland Main Line (EMR) would be available, if this is of any relevance to bear in mind.

 

[Skymonster]

Do bear in mind that EMR usually (not checked for this year) downgrade first class catering on the London services to beverage and biscuits only during the Christmas-New Year period (which is in effect until January 4th 2022) - if so you will only get the full benefit of first on your return from St Pancras to Derby, although the better seats will be available on all legs except the Solent crossing and Island Line.

It looks like your quoted fare is Super Offpeak Derby-London plus Super Offpeak London-Shanklin, plus an addition for the underground. Personally if I wanted first, I’d buy it for the EMR portion but just do standard class for the Southwest part because the trains between Waterloo and Shanklin are unlikely to be busy at the times you are travelling and there are no real advantages other than a superior feeling. Furthermore, it can often be cheaper to do Waterloo-Ryde Hoverport return and then buy the Island Line ticket separately (rather than Waterloo-Shanklin in one go), but I accept that for the casual traveller the hovercraft might be seen as less convenient than the fast-cat (the former involves a train to Portsmouth and Southsea, them a bus, then the hovercraft, albeit all included in the price - rather than train to Portsmouth Harbour and then the cat), but for me and even though I’ve done it quite a few times I’ll always take Hovertravel simply for the novelty value.

 

[Gloster]

A few more points. The hovercraft will still be operating a special Christmas service on 3 January. It is not clear what timetable the Hoverbuses (*) will be operating and how long you need to allow for the connection. The fare for the Hoverbus is probably not included in the through fares (although I am not certain of this). You will also have to get across the line at Ryde: either a steep footbridge or a long way round via the road exit (not so fun if you have luggage).

Personally, I have never used the hovercraft in eighteen years, always the Cat. Partly it is because the hovercraft goes to Southsea, not the station, and partly on environmental grounds.

* - A misnomer: it is a bus, but it does not hover. It runs on wheels like other buses.

 

[Alex365Dash]

The hovercraft will still be operating a special Christmas service on 3 January. It is not clear what timetable the Hoverbuses (*) will be operating and how long you need to allow for the connection. The fare for the Hoverbus is probably not included in the through fares (although I am not certain of this). You will also have to get across the line at Ryde: either a steep footbridge or a long way round via the road exit (not so fun if you have luggage).

Through tickets routed “via Hovertravel” (or issued to Ryde Hoverport) will be accepted on Hoverbus services as well as the hovercraft - from experience, you shouldn’t have any trouble at all.

If your ticket isn’t one of those, you’d have to use the FastCat anyway.

 

[davetheguard]

There is First Class between London and Portsmouth which is nice enough, but it's not particularly "premium":

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It's up to you to decide whether you think this is worth paying for. There is no onboard catering.

South Western Railway seem to have rather ruined the first class on these sets compared with how they were in South West Trains days. In particular going from 2+1 seating to 2+2.

 

[swt_passenger]

South Western Railway seem to have rather ruined the first class on these sets compared with how they were in South West Trains days. In particular going from 2+1 seating to 2+2.

SWT planned the layout changes, it was mentioned in the relevant thread just a few days ago:

SWR Repaints and Refurbishments

No, they’d have been refurbished to a higher standard. This is First, so low standards are what we should expect. I find that very unlikely. Stagecoach are known to be cheapskates, so it would have been a very low chance of them refurbishing their fleet.

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[yorkie]

Good evening,

I’m hoping to get a little help on fares to the Isle of Wight as I want to check if the fare that I am seeing on the Trainline app will give me what I am looking for.

My travel plans are as follows:

Derby - Shanklin: Monday 3rd January (depart 0628)

Shanklin - Derby: Monday 10th January (depart 1015)

I have saved a little money and I want to treat myself to First Class, and the return fare that I can see for the above journeys in First Class is £233.10.

The answer might be staring me in the face, but is it safe for me to assume that First Class will be on both of the Derby-St Pancras and Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour journeys?

The Derby - St Pancras and Waterloo - Portsmouth legs of your journey convey 1st class accommodation, yes.

Trainsplit comes up with an itinerary outward via Barnham & Hovertravel and returning via Whitelink and Haslemere for £210.70, if that's of interest.

I can find a Super Offpeak First Class Return DBY-STP £109.50 and WAT-SHN £116.60; Trainline are adding £6 for the return tube and their £1 booking fee presumably.
These are flexible fares with an afternoon time limit from STP (1535-1847 which is later than you plan to travel; 3 Jan is a public holiday so no time limit).

There are First Class Advance (booked train only) fares WAT-SHN which would save you £50-odd but at the time of your outward journey they are only available using the Hovercraft from Southsea - an experience in itself, should you wish!

I would strongly recommend taking the Hovercraft at least one way, to experience it!

It would also be nice to travel via Barnham one way and Haslemere the other way; the Arun Valley and Portsmouth 'direct' lines are quite scenic in places and it's always a bonus to travel via slightly different routes, for variety.

To be honest First Class is only really worth it between Derby and London, but if that was the aim it would have to be booked as two separate journeys. Which is fine, but care would need to be taken to ensure sufficient interchange time is allowed to cross London.