On 12 Aug 2006 06:48:03 GMT, Andrew Black (delete obvious bit) wrote:

I am confused by the concept of "London Terminals"
I asked for a ticket from East Dulwich to Kings Cross Thameslink and was
given a ticked to "London Terminals". This ticket was accepted by the
ticket machine at KX Thameslink.

OTOH my understanding from posts here in the past is that KX Thameslink is
only a "London Terminals" from the North.

This is correct. There have been reports recently (can't remember if
here or uk.railway) that certain ticket machines south of the river
will, if you try to buy a ticket to KXTL, issue you with a ticket
printed as being to London Terminals, but at the same price as the
KXTL ticket (i.e. more expensive).

Anyway, like you say, the gates at KXTL will apparently quite happily
accept any ticket to London Terminals, so your only problem is if you
encounter a gripper.

I was travelling from Westcombe Park to Paddington once (single
required, I was catching the sleeper to Penzance) and used the ticket
machine at WP station (ticket office closed).

I duly typed in my destination as Paddington but it only charged me the
normal Paddington to London Terminals fare (£2.50 if memory serves).
The ticket recorded the destination as London Terminals but I still
hoped that I'd be able to get all the way to Paddington for this price.

Probably needless to say, when I tried to use the ticket to enter the
Bakerloo line at Charing X, it was rejected. I ended up having to pay
£3 for a single to Paddington.

I was a bit miffed because I felt that if I'd been sold the correct
ticket at WP station, it would have been less than £5.50 (=£2.50 +
£3).

Or is there a round-the-houses route from Westcombe Park to Paddington
on surface rail only (ie avoiding the underground) that I could have
used my ticket for?

Regards

asdf wrote:
There have been reports recently (can't remember if
here or uk.railway) that certain ticket machines south of the river
will, if you try to buy a ticket to KXTL, issue you with a ticket
printed as being to London Terminals, but at the same price as the
KXTL ticket (i.e. more expensive).


Almost...

This information applies to trains from both Brockley and Honor Oak
Park stations, and I suspect applies to all of the Southern Metro
network. When selecting KXTL on the ticket machine, you are confronted
with several options, the two most important being CDRs to "KXTL" and
"KXTL (Not via Underground)". Both of these cost £1.60 (from Brockley
with YP railcard). However, only the latter will print out a KXTL
ticket, saying Not via Underground. If you choose the former, the
machine will merrily print out a London Terminals ticket. I suspect the
staff in the ticket offices are confronted with the same options.

I imagine the OP had the same problem from East Dulwich.

I've only ever had a problem once, when the ticket I had, which was a
London Terminals one, refused to work the gate at KXTL, and when I went
to be let out, the gate staff told me the ticket was invalid. I
insisted that was what the machine had sold me, and he let me out. This
was the first I knew about the whole problem, and since then I've
generally bought the Not via Underground ticket to be safe (except for
when I want to come home via Charing Cross, in which case the Terminals
ticket is very useful!).

As for the difference in the two tickets, I wonder if the first of the
two (the one that doesn't say Not via Underground) is therefore valid
on the Tube between London Bridge and KX. I've never tried it, being
too wary of having my ticket swallowed by the London Bridge gates.