Northampton - London City Airport

[jaffa]

Hi, this summer I'm planning to get a plane out from London City Airport on a Sunday and get the train from Northampton to the airport. I then want to get the train back to Northampton a couple of weeks later.

How do I go about getting a through ticket to London City Airport from Northampton? I would like an Off-peak return as it will be a Sunday, is this even possible?

If this isn't possible is my next best bet to buy a ticket to Woolwich Arsenal and stop my journey short? Advances aren't going to be ideal I don't think due to the unreliability of aeroplanes...

Thanks for your help.

 

[cuccir]

Do you have any railcards or access to other discounts?
Are you travelling with anyone else?
Do you have an Oyster card?
Are you planning on doing any other travelling while in London, or just heading straight to/from the airport?

Presuming that you're only travelling straight to the airport, then an off-peak return to Woolwich Aresnal is slightly cheaper than an off-peak return to London + Oyster Card singles, yes.

 

[maniacmartin]

The official through ticket for this journey is Northampton to Zone U123* Londn, but it has no period returns.

I'm not sure if a ticket to Woolwich Arsenal is valid on the DLR, or whether it can only be used between the London Terminals. This page implies to me that it is however valid on the DLR. LU/DLR staff are not always well versed on break of journey restrictions, so such a ticket could result in hassle at the gateline though.

If you have an Oyster card, I would be very tempted to only buy a return ticket to Euston, and use Oyster from there to and from City Airport to save the hassle of arguing about validity.

 

[cuccir]

I'm not sure if a ticket to Woolwich Arsenal is valid on the DLR

National Rail Enquiries offers it as a valid route.

If you have an Oyster card, I would be very tempted to only buy a return ticket to Euston, and use Oyster from there to and from City Airport to save the hassle of arguing about validity.

Yes, the saving is only about 20p so this may be easier!

 

[jaffa]

Thanks for your replies... There will be 3 of us, I have a 16-25 railcard as well as an Oyster card, the other 2 have no discounts although we can use groupsave which is why I thought a through ticket would be best (sorry I really should have mentioned that). I don't really want a hassle at the gateline - it's supposed to be a holiday!

Thanks

 

[cuccir]

Scratch the advice that we gave above. From Terms and Conditions of Off-Peak tickets at National Rail Enquiries:

Other than to change trains, a break of journey at intermediate London Underground or DLR stations is NOT permitted

I'd therefore get the ticket to London, and use Oyster singles to get to London City Airport. Your friends would save £3.60 on Oyster for this trip if they don't have one already - not quite the deposit cost, but close.

 

[maniacmartin]

Well that's news to me. You learn something new every day.

The fuller quote says

Note: Tickets will only be accepted by London Underground and DLR on the date shown on the ticket (or last day of validity for return portions of Off-Peak Returns) and until 04:29 the following day. - Other than to change trains, a break of journey at intermediate London Underground or DLR stations is NOT permitted.- Travel restrictions do not apply on weekends and public holidays.

As jaffa is travelling at a weekend, does that mean that DoJ at the DLR station is allowed?

 

[Be3G]

Technically, I believe the rule is that one is permitted to exit a tube station as part of a cross-London transfer, but one isn't permitted to re-enter the tube network afterwards. So stopping short is possible, but breaking-and-resuming or starting short isn't.

 

[maniacmartin]

Technically, I believe the rule is that one is permitted to exit a tube station as part of a cross-London transfer, but one isn't permitted to re-enter the tube network afterwards. So stopping short is possible, but breaking-and-resuming or starting short isn't.

Yes that rule is listed on National Rail's Crossing London page, however that appears to contradict the information on their Off Peak tickets page, which makes me wonder if Off Peak tickets are further restricted, or whether its just sloppy wording on their part.

 

[Be3G]

Sloppy wording I should imagine: when the restrictions talk about ‘break of journey’, they probably mean in the sense of breaking in two (i.e. breaking then resuming), which isn't possible.

 

[island]

There are no gates at London City Airport so I very much doubt anyone would care if the journey were broken.

I would have suggested a Super Off-Peak Return from Rugby to Zone U123* LONDN at £18.05 each route †LDN MIDLAND ONLY with Groupsave 3, but break of journey isn't permitted on the outbound leg of the ticket so it is technically not valid to board at Northampton. If you're not short of time, you could go Northampton to Rugby to start with (£4.10 each on GS3). That would bring it to £22.15 per person. You can then finish short on your way back.

I haven't considered any London Midland sale fares.

 

[jaffa]

Hey thanks for the info re breaking journeys on the tube network - I'd never heard of this rule so could've found myself in difficulties if I'd had tried it. Now the Super Off-Peak return from Rugby is quite appealing as Rugby station is fairly convenient for me, does the Zone U123* fare include the travel to London City Airport? If so that seems like a really good option (can't get that fare to show with groupsave on londonmidland's site?) Yes and there's also the possibility of a LM sale when I'm travelling which I hadn't considered.

Thanks

 

[Mojo]

From the RailUK Guide to Fares and Ticketing:

It is permitted to finish your transfer short at any Underground station in zone 1 or at any intermediate Underground/DLR station on a reasonable route. If you choose to do this, no further Underground/DLR travel is permitted with that ticket; you will need to purchase an additional ticket if you wish to continue by Underground/DLR.

Therefore there will be no problem with purchasing a ticket to Woolwich Arsenal and finishing short at City Airport if, as I presume you will be travelling Nothampton - Euston - Bank - City Airport.

 

[island]

Hey thanks for the info re breaking journeys on the tube network - I'd never heard of this rule so could've found myself in difficulties if I'd had tried it. Now the Super Off-Peak return from Rugby is quite appealing as Rugby station is fairly convenient for me, does the Zone U123* fare include the travel to London City Airport? If so that seems like a really good option (can't get that fare to show with groupsave on londonmidland's site?) Yes and there's also the possibility of a LM sale when I'm travelling which I hadn't considered.

Thanks

Yes, it is valid through to London City Airport. Buy at a station if you can't get GroupSave to work.

 

[ainsworth74]

I have moved the discussion on break of journey to this new thread.