If my plane lands at Gatwick (north terminal) at 9.15am on a Sunday
morning, what sort of time should I be booking my train for?

And if it's an advance ticket is there any flexibility if the plane is
late? Can I catch any FGW service, or must it be the one that I get my
reservation with?

Presumably the best place to change would be Reading?

My friends have said they've had a 3 hour delay before and simply
caught the next train, is this right?

Thank you

On 14 Sep, 16:21, Fuze  wrote:
> If my plane lands at Gatwick (north terminal) at 9.15am on a Sunday
> morning, what sort of time should I be booking my train for?
>

Er, pass!

>
> And if it's an advance ticket is there any flexibility if the plane is
> late?
>

No.

>
> Can I catch any FGW service, or must it be the one that I get
> my reservation with?
>

If it is an Advance ticket (aka advance purchase ticket) then it has
to be that specific train. If it is an off-peak ticket, which is valid
at any time at weekends, then it can be used on any train (regardless
of whether you have a reservation on a particular train).

>
> Presumably the best place to change would be Reading?
>

Sounds like a plan, though there's only a direct Gatwick - Reading
service every hour (and no through service next weekend - that's
Sunday 21 - presumably because of engineering works).

If travelling via London, one would arrive at Victoria and leave from
Paddington. The Circle line is the easiest way to go between these
stations (esp. with bulky luggage), but it can be slow going -
travelling via the Victoria line and Bakerloo line is likely to be
quicker (and there's a cross-platform interchange between those lines
at Oxford Circus).

But of course the Underground is also subject to weekend engineering
works (esp. the Victoria line at the moment) - you can check what
planned works are in the pipeline here (see the two PDF files linked
to at the top of the page):

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/tube/tube-all-future.html

>
> My friends have said they've had a 3 hour delay before and simply
> caught the next train, is this right?
>

Depends what type of ticket you've got. If you have an Advance ticket
a kindly guard might possibly allow you on a later train, but they are
under no obligation to do so whatsoever - indeed, their company's
policy likely requires them to extract money from you for a valid
ticket to travel.

"Fuze"  wrote in message
news:da85ee47-a96b-48f7-9cee-687f1c1cb905@t54g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> If my plane lands at Gatwick (north terminal) at 9.15am on a Sunday
> morning, what sort of time should I be booking my train for?
>
> And if it's an advance ticket is there any flexibility if the plane is
> late? Can I catch any FGW service, or must it be the one that I get my
> reservation with?
>
> Presumably the best place to change would be Reading?
>
> My friends have said they've had a 3 hour delay before and simply
> caught the next train, is this right?
>
You should allow time for plane delays, waiting for luggage, customs and
immigration - this will depand which airline you're flying with, whether or
not you only have cabin baggage, your passport, etc.

If you book an Advance ticket FGW don't have to honour it if you miss the
specified train because of airline or airport delays, though if you castch
the booked or recommended train from Gatwick and it's delayed and misses the
connection, FGW will then have to accept you on a later train.

A flexible Off-peak (Saver) ticket is more expensive than an Advance for a
single journey, though, depending on your train, on this route an Off-peak
Return may cost very little if any more than two Advance Singles. With a
flexible Off-peak ticket you can take the first available train without
having to allow extra time in case your plane is late or you are delayed in
the baggage hall or at customs or immigration.

Connections at Reading on a Sunday from Gatwick to Plymouth are poor - you
can often get a quicker journey via London (though tickets via this route
are slightly more expensive, and if travelling with luggage you might prefer
to avoid London).

Don't forget to check out engineering work when travelling on a Sunday -
this might affect your choice of route.

Peter

Fuze wrote:
> If my plane lands at Gatwick (north terminal) at 9.15am on a Sunday
> morning, what sort of time should I be booking my train for?
> 

I'd personally say around 11.00.

> And if it's an advance ticket is there any flexibility if the plane is
> late? Can I catch any FGW service, or must it be the one that I get my
> reservation with?

There's no flexibility if it is what the railways call 
an 'Advance' ticket. But if you buy an 'Off-Peak' 
ticket (even in advance!) for some more money, you can 
use any Sunday train even though you might have 
reserved seats on a particular train.

> 
> Presumably the best place to change would be Reading?
>

The Journey Planner wants you to go via London - 
suggesting that via Reading you are taking 5 hours 27 
minand have to also change at Redhill.


> My friends have said they've had a 3 hour delay before and simply
> caught the next train, is this right?

Not with an 'Advance' ticket, no. At least on the FGW 
section from Paddington. Maybe they just got away with it.

Charlie

Mizter T wrote:

> If travelling via London, one would arrive at Victoria and leave from
> Paddington. The Circle line is the easiest way to go between these
> stations (esp. with bulky luggage), but it can be slow going -
> travelling via the Victoria line and Bakerloo line is likely to be
> quicker (and there's a cross-platform interchange between those lines
> at Oxford Circus).

There is also a direct bus Victoria - Paddington, which is worth 
considering. Timewise, I've found there is not much in it end-to-end 
compared to the Circle line.

-- 
Arthur Figgis               Surrey, UK

In message 
, at 
08:21:59 on Sun, 14 Sep 2008, Fuze  remarked:
>If my plane lands at Gatwick (north terminal) at 9.15am on a Sunday
>morning, what sort of time should I be booking my train for?

Others have addressed the "Advance fare" versus "open" rail ticket 
issue.

 From the North terminal you have to get to the railway station via the 
shuttle, and murphy's law says only one of the pair will be working. You 
need to allow at least an hour from touchdown to train departing.
-- 
Roland Perry

thanks all :-)

On 14 Sep, 17:28, Arthur Figgis <afig...@example.com.invalid> wrote:

> Mizter T wrote:
> > If travelling via London, one would arrive at Victoria and leave from
> > Paddington. The Circle line is the easiest way to go between these
> > stations (esp. with bulky luggage), but it can be slow going -
> > travelling via the Victoria line and Bakerloo line is likely to be
> > quicker (and there's a cross-platform interchange between those lines
> > at Oxford Circus).
>
> There is also a direct bus Victoria - Paddington, which is worth
> considering. Timewise, I've found there is not much in it end-to-end
> compared to the Circle line.
>

Absolutely - in fact there are two high frequency bus routes - the 36
and 436 - which go direct between Victoria and Paddington. I'd say and
this is one of the many central London journeys where the bus compares
very favourable with the Underground. The TfL Journey Planner
estimates an off-peak journey time of 23 minutes, but I'm pretty sure
it can be quicker - the only bits where it can be a bit sluggish are
along Edgware Road and on the southbound approach to Victoria.

The Circle line might look like a good option when one looks at the
Tube map (aka Tube diagram), but when considers the geographic
actuality one realises that it is hardly the most direct of routes...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Circle_Line.svg

Nonetheless going round the houses wouldn't matter if the Circle line
was fast, frequent and reliable... but it ain't! Circle line services
are only timetabled to run every 10 minutes, and are liable both to
being held up and to being cancelled leaving long gaps between Circle
line trains - reason being that if there are any problems elsewhere on
the subsurface lines (Met, District, H&C) the Circle line service is
first in line one to be forfeited/sacrificed. My basic rule of thumb
is not to travel on the Circle line - by that I mean specifically the
bits where the Circle is the only service, i.e. between High Street
Ken and Gloucester Rd and also Aldgate and Tower Hill. The TfL Journey
Planner states a journey duration of 15 minutes once your on the train
- which may be the case if things are working properly but I wouldn't
be so sure of that!

The TfL Journey Planner estimates the journey time by Victoria and
Bakerloo lines (changing at Oxford Circus) as being between 14 to 17
minutes. The Victoria line is very frequent (every 2-3 minutes), the
Bakerloo marginally less frequent (every 3-4 minutes, occasionally a
little longer) - but despite this route taking two lines I'd still say
it was considerably more reliable than the Circle.

One advantage of the bus is that there's less lugging around of one's
luggage. The 436 is a bendy bus, and I actually think they're very
easy to use when with luggage, at off-peak times at least - during the
rush hour peak they can be heaving, but then again everything else is
pretty rammed as well. (If one had to make this journey during the
rush hour there might actually be something to be said for the Circle
line, given the larger trains and the slightly more sedate pace on the
line!)

Mizter T wrote:

> One advantage of the bus is that there's less lugging around of one's
> luggage. The 436 is a bendy bus, and I actually think they're very
> easy to use when with luggage, at off-peak times at least - during the
> rush hour peak they can be heaving, but then again everything else is
> pretty rammed as well. (If one had to make this journey during the
> rush hour there might actually be something to be said for the Circle
> line, given the larger trains and the slightly more sedate pace on the
> line!)

The thought of using the Victoria line in the peak with luggage is too 
hideous to contemplate. In fact, I first used the bus when I got to 
Victoria to find the Underground closed because of overcrowding.

-- 
Arthur Figgis               Surrey, UK

"Mizter T"  wrote
>
> One advantage of the bus is that there's less lugging around of one's
> luggage. The 436 is a bendy bus, and I actually think they're very
> easy to use when with luggage, at off-peak times at least - during the
> rush hour peak they can be heaving, but then again everything else is
> pretty rammed as well. (If one had to make this journey during the
> rush hour there might actually be something to be said for the Circle
> line, given the larger trains and the slightly more sedate pace on the
> line!)

Disadvantages of the bus are that it can get caught up in traffic - Central
London is only about two minor collisions from gridlock - and that a
separate fare has to be paid, while a through National Rail ticket includes
the Underground.

That being said, if I have to cross London between termini with a lot of
luggage I will splash out on a taxi.

Peter

Peter Masson  wrote:
> If you book an Advance ticket FGW don't have to honour it if you miss the
> specified train because of airline or airport delays, though if you castch
> the booked or recommended train from Gatwick and it's delayed and misses the
> connection, FGW will then have to accept you on a later train.

Another option, if the ticket prices are cheap enough, is to buy TWO advance
tickets.  Buy one for the time you expect to make, and one for a few hours
later.  Then you've got a backup if your flight is late (where are you
coming from, BTW?  If it's Australia I'd allow more time for delays than if
it's Edinburgh).  Just throw the spare ticket away.

> Connections at Reading on a Sunday from Gatwick to Plymouth are poor - you
> can often get a quicker journey via London (though tickets via this route
> are slightly more expensive, and if travelling with luggage you might prefer
> to avoid London).

Westbound trains normally leave Reading on platform 4 (certainly
Swindon-bound - is that right for those taking the Berks & Hants?).  Gatwick
trains arrive at platform 4a or 4b which are bays at the east end of
platform 4.  So the interchange at Reading should be on the flat, about 200m
walk (or a bit more if your reserved seat is at the other end of the HST).

Theo

On Sep 14, 9:29 pm, Theo Markettos 
wrote:

> Westbound trains normally leave Reading on platform 4 (certainly
> Swindon-bound - is that right for those taking the Berks & Hants?).

Yes.

Ganesh

"Fuze"  wrote in message 
news:da85ee47-a96b-48f7-9cee-687f1c1cb905@t54g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
| If my plane lands at Gatwick (north terminal) at 9.15am on a Sunday
| morning, what sort of time should I be booking my train for?
|
| And if it's an advance ticket is there any flexibility if the plane is
| late? Can I catch any FGW service, or must it be the one that I get my
| reservation with?
|
| Presumably the best place to change would be Reading?
|
| My friends have said they've had a 3 hour delay before and simply
| caught the next train, is this right?
|
| Thank you


There are National Express coach services departing Gatwick at 10:05, 12:05 
taking just over six hours to Plymouth including a change at LHR, single 36 
GBP, unrestricted return 52 GBP, and I would guess than these unrestricted 
fares are about half the price of even a restricted rail fare.
If you miss the coach on which you are booked because the plane is late 
landing, NE are very co-operative about rebooking, and without extra 
charges.

In message <pY2dnTjCqfPtqFPVnZ2dnUVZ8qydnZ2d@posted.plusnet>, at 
11:14:16 on Mon, 15 Sep 2008, Isambard Gricer  
remarked:
>There are National Express coach services departing Gatwick at 10:05, 12:05
>taking just over six hours to Plymouth including a change at LHR, single 36
>GBP, unrestricted return 52 GBP, and I would guess than these unrestricted
>fares are about half the price of even a restricted rail fare.

The cheapest "restricted" ie Advance, rail ticket is £15 (via Reading). 
But only if it's still available.
-- 
Roland Perry