THIS PAGE IS UNDER REVIEW FOLLOWING RECENT FARE CHANGES. REVISED INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY
Britain’s railways have an enormously complex fares structure. Even station staff can’t be relied on to give the best advice. So here we offer tips tailored to journeys on and from the Avocet Line. This page updated 2nd October 2011.
Get a Railcard. Each railcard type is aimed at a particular group – for example over 60s, under 25s. They generally save one-third and have varying restrictions. You pay an annual fee (up to £28) and need to make a few journeys a year to save. The national publicity doesn’t mention the very useful Devon & Cornwall Railcard costing £10 which saves one-third off fares in the two counties – for people of any age. It’s available from staffed stations – Exmouth, Exeter Central & St Davids. If you are over 60, the senior railcard is available using Tesco Clubcard’s offers for £14 of vouchers, saving 50% – click here for details
Watch out for offers and promotions – on station posters and rail company websites. The ‘GroupSave‘ offer is permanent on FGW and can save 50% – up to 4 adults travel for the price of two. Up to 4 extra children can be added for £1 each. Available on the web, but note there are some location/date specific exeptions. There is also a Group travel to Gatwick Airport at a special price, which you must buy at station or Telesales on 08457 000 125.
For details about offers across the network go to Best Value Fares - in particular click on See All Offers on the right hand side of the home page.
Book early to get best fares. The cheapest way to travel is with advance fares, often using two singles bought separately. You can book up to 12 weeks in advance; the very cheapest fares go very quickly.
Use the new (and not very well signposted) feature on the National Rail site to find the cheapest fare – go to http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/farefinder/fullSearch#tocS. For London enter just ‘London’ (rather than Paddington or Waterloo) and you can then see FGW & SWT offers and search more widely if you are flexible on dates.
For advance tickets use the FGW website as they offer free delivery by post and no booking fees. If you have a Tesco Clubcard you’ll probably find the offer to exchange Clubcard points for vouchers from Red Spotted Hanky (a booking agent) very attractive – tickets at 2/3rd off. See their website and the ‘Tesco partnership’ page. All rail ticket websites require registration, a chore on your first visit – they then remember your details.
If you are going to London, consider your choices carefully.
- The absolutely cheapest way is by Megatrain into Waterloo – operated by Stagecoach who run South West Trains. This uses pre-allocated seats on 3 or 4 SWT trains a day Exeter to Waterloo.You’d need to buy a single to get to Central or St Davids, but fares start at £1 single – £10 is typical price. The later you book the more expensive. You must go to the stated destination (eg Waterloo not Clapham Junction). See the Megabus / Megatrain website, select UK, then Exeter as start point; it will give you bus and train options to London on most days.
- FGW have limited the availability of normal off-peak services at normal off-peak fares, and tried to price people into pre-booking. They also sell singles at reduced prices for advance booking – even up to the day before, though you will get the best choice and lowest prices if you book at least a couple of weeks in advance. The cheapest advance off-peak single is £12, whilst the full fare single is £99.50 (and an eye-watering £154.50 first class, higher from January 2012). So don’t expect to just turn up and get what you want at a sensible price. On busy trains up to 80% of seats are reserved for advance ticket sales. The first weekday cheapest off-peak service from the Avocet Lne into Paddington now leaves at 08.54 from Exmouth (arrives 12.23). However, you may be able to get cheap advance singles from £27 on weekdays on the 06.15 from Exmouth (arrive Paddington 09.00) if you book far enough in advance via the FGW website, and even returns on the 18.03 from Paddington for just £12 if you can book 6+ weeks in advance. Avoid Friday nights unless you have booked a reserved seat – standing Paddington to Exeter is not unknown.
- You may be able to get better deals on South West Trains. To travel to Waterloo select you may need to enter ‘via Salisbury’ on websites. The single advance fare to Waterloo can be as low as £18 on the 06.45 from Exeter (arrives 10.19, with an 8 minute connection from the first early train – the 06.12 from Exmouth; you might consider driving to Honiton – dep 07.12). You may get the best fares by buying singles from Exeter Central to Waterloo (on the SWT website) and buy a return to Central separately. You can use a Network Railcard from Exeter to Waterloo (but not on the Avocet Line) – might be worth it for frequent off-peak trips. You can of course go into Waterloo one way and back from Paddington, if you buy the appropriate singles, but note that FGW advance tickets are for use on their trains only.
- From Paddington (and Reading / Newbury) there are restrictions on evening peak trains back to Exeter. Use the ‘earlier trains / later trains’ keys on websites to search for alternatives. The cheapest tickets are often on the last train (20.35 from Paddington)
- If you are going to London and then on Eurostar, there are special through fares to hundreds of continental cities – not just Paris & Brussels. From £42.50 single to Paris. See this page on FGW site for details and to book.
- Advice on booking Cross-Country services – book very early (up to 90 days). Some Cross Country trains get very busy through Bristol & Birmingham – booking ahead and getting a reserved seat is a very good idea.
IF THINGS GO WRONG
If you are seriously delayed, you can claim a refund – generally 50% for delays over 1 hour and 100% over two hours, if it was the fault of FGW or Network Rail (eg broken rail, broken-down train, but not eg snow, floods etc). Be sure to keep your ticket to claim. See here (sections 5.7 and 5.8 of page) as the information is well hidden on the FGW website and few train staff offer refund forms.You can claim by e-mail, with a scan of the ticket. The Customer Service Team contact details are here. You can also get a refund if you have made a seat reservation but fail to get a seat (eg because they have not put the reservation tickets on seats) – see section 5.1 here. If your train back from Paddington is delayed and you miss a connection in mid-evening (or even the last train), the station staff in the office on Platform 1 are helpful and will probably arrange a taxi.
