Bat & Ball? That’s £4 extra!
Historically the fares to London Terminals from Sevenoaks, Bat & Ball and Otford have been identical. However, from January 2019 an error has occurred when calculating and applying the season ticket fare increase. Currently, the fares to London Terminals are: –
| Otford & Sevenoaks | Bat & Ball | |
| 7 Day | £90.20 | £90.30 |
| 1 Month | £346.40 | £346.80 |
| 3 Months | £1039.20 | £1040.30 |
| 6 Months | £2078.30 | £2080.60 |
| Annual | £3608.00 | £3612.00 |
Accordingly, Bat & Ball passengers can save some money by purchasing their season ticket to London terminals from either Otford or Sevenoaks.
However Bat & Ball passengers should be careful about buying Sevenoaks tickets – currently Thameslink are refusing compensation for last summer’s difficulties for Sevenoaks ticket holders, saying that they could have used Southeastern services instead.
Daily tickets to London Terminals and Travelcard fares are still identical at all three stations.
Thanks for the update. Curious as to why this is – an error or a means to recoup some money for the works being undertaken?
I normally use Bat & Ball as my start/end station, travelling via Sevenoaks for the fast trains to London. When I sometimes buy tickets from Sevenoaks station I’ve been asking for it to be issued from Bat & Ball as somebody told me I could get a penalty fare if I didn’t. Is that correct information? Thanks.
As they raise points of principle, it would be worth referring both these issues to the Rail Ombudsman. It’s likely that many Bat & Ballers will have season tickets from Sevenoaks because it’s their nearest station with a ticket office.
If commuters use Bat & Ball because it’s the nearest station to their home then that should be sufficient evidence for compensation eligibility, especially if they have claimed Delay Repay from Thameslink in the past.
@Tim
Southeastern claim that it is rounding – but since in the previous years the fare was exactly the same for Sevenoaks, Bat & Ball and Otford we do not understand why the rounding would be different for Bat & Ball.
For day single and return tickets a Sevenoaks to London ticket is not valid for travel starting from Bat & Ball via Sevenoaks to London, since it does not cover the Bat & Ball to Sevenoaks leg. (It can be used to travel via Otford to London from either Sevenoaks or Bat & Ball.) Similarly a Bat & Ball to London ticket is not valid for travel from Sevenoaks via Otford to London, since it does not cover the Sevenoaks to Bat & Ball leg.
Season tickets are different, because they can be used for multiple journeys and for any intermediate starting and finishing point between the stated origin and destination. So a Sevenoaks to London season ticket can be used on a journey from Bat & Ball via Sevenoaks to London, since Bat & Ball to Sevenoaks is part of a London via Otford to Sevenoaks journey and then Sevenoaks to London is (obviously) a journey also covered by the season ticket.