First time commuting to London Euston from Milton Keynes Central

[kashmachine]

Hi all,

So I'm a recent school leaver who is about to start work in London Southbank and was wondering what the best way to go about it.

Currently, I have a 16-25 railcard. I will be needing to commute to London Euston from Milton Keynes Central monday-friday plus needing tube travel to the Vauxhall tube station.

Would it be best for me to purchase the £5k+ annual season pass or is there a better solution. I'm totally lost by all of this so I hope one of you can help, thanks.

Kash

 

[MikeWh]

You're not going to get any cheaper travelling through Central London. You can save almost £900/year if you avoid zone 1 and buy a Milton Keynes Central to Zones 2-6 travelcard. You then use the Southern services to Clapham Junction and SWT to Vauxhall. It will take a bit longer, though may be less crowded. If there's no Southern services due then you can get to Clapham Junction by changing at Watford Junction and Willesden Junction. You ought to be able to buy a rail only ticket for about £400 less but they don't seem to sell it. They sell it for Clapham Junction, and with the frequency of trains between there and Vauxhall it wouldn't make the journey any less palletable. You may want to write to Southern (who price the ticket) and ask why they don't sell it to Vauxhall.

 

[tractakid]

A guess, perhaps, is because Vauxhall is an inappropriate London Terminus for Milton Keynes?

 

[kashmachine]

Okay thanks for the speedy replies, was wondering whether it would be worthwhile purchasing daily anytime return tickets with a railcard as if I buy an annual pass, i'm technically paying for weekends too which I wouldn't need

 

[Greeby]

Okay thanks for the speedy replies, was wondering whether it would be worthwhile purchasing daily anytime return tickets with a railcard as if I buy an annual pass, i'm technically paying for weekends too which I wouldn't need

Annuals are weekly X 40 so:
MKC - London Zones 1-6: £137.50 x 40 = £5500.00
MKC - London Zones 2-6: £115.20 X 40 = £4608.00

Daily Travelcards with railcard discount:

Virgin Trains Only (On weekdays, these are no use between 07:15 and 09:18 out, or 15:44 - 18:42 return) £22.05 X 5 = £110.25

Any Permitted: £29.05 X 5 = £145.25

As for Vauxhall, don't attempt to buy the point-to-point fare as for some reason the flow is merely a clone of the London Terminals fares, and won't give cross-London transfer.

 

[island]

I was going to say you could use Milton Keynes C to London Terminals CDRs at £9.55, but Virgin's special permission to use railcard-discounted tickets at any time doesn't work on that route.

 

[Andrewlong]

Okay thanks for the speedy replies, was wondering whether it would be worthwhile purchasing daily anytime return tickets with a railcard as if I buy an annual pass, i'm technically paying for weekends too which I wouldn't need

Putting railcards aside, the rule of thumb is if you will be commuting 3 or more days per week, it's worth getting a season ticket. With a railcard, this will affect your calculations - I would go onto a ticketing website to work out the relative costs. Other thing to think about is whether there are any restrictions on a railcard such travelling during peak hours.

I had a look on national enquiries website and cheapest discounted anytime return was £33.70 available on certain early trains to London

 

[kieron]

A guess, perhaps, is because Vauxhall is an inappropriate London Terminus for Milton Keynes?

I doubt it, as the Thameslink fares don't concern themselves with trifles like that.

For this route, a Milton Keynes-Zone 2 travelcard costs £4608/yr. A Milton Keynes-Shepherd's Bush season costs £4048, with another £492 for Shepherd's Bush-London, for a total of £4540/yr. This can be used to most of the south London terminals, but not to Euston.

I was going to say you could use Milton Keynes C to London Terminals CDRs at £9.55, but Virgin's special permission to use railcard-discounted tickets at any time doesn't work on that route.

Does it work for Northampton-Euston? Or is the problem finding a peak Virgin train you can use between Milton Keynes and Euston?

One thing Kash may consider is buying season tickets for just over a month at a time, starting on a Monday and ending on a Friday. If he can arrange for a ticket to finish just before he goes on holiday, and the next one to start just after he gets back, it may not cost much more than an annual one. And it does avoid the issue of spending thousands in one go for an uninsurable bit of card.

 

[All Line Rover]

Does it work for Northampton-Euston?

Northampton to London is also prohibited. This is understandable given the flow is priced by London Midland.

 

[island]

Does it work for Northampton-Euston? Or is the problem finding a peak Virgin train you can use between Milton Keynes and Euston?

Well, it's more that the Virgin easement is expressed not to apply between MKC and EUS.

 

[bb21]

For this route, a Milton Keynes-Zone 2 travelcard costs £4608/yr. A Milton Keynes-Shepherd's Bush season costs £4048, with another £492 for Shepherd's Bush-London, for a total of £4540/yr. This can be used to most of the south London terminals, but not to Euston.

I make it £676 for a Shepherd's Bush - London Terminals annual season, or £16.90 for a weekly season.

 

[kieron]

I make it £676 for a Shepherd's Bush - London Terminals annual season, or £16.90 for a weekly season.

Sorry; I had use out-of-date figures from brfares.com. Forget that as an option, then.