Regular readers will recall that I queried with Southeastern why the January fare increase resulted in different season ticket prices to London Terminals for Bat & Ball when compared to Otford and Sevenoaks; historically the fares to London Terminals for all three stations have been identical. The annual fare increase was 3.2%, this was applied to Bat & Ball fares, but Otford and Sevenoaks fares only increased by 3.09%. Southeastern blamed the differences on rounding and advised that the fares were set in stone and will not be corrected/reviewed until the fare revision in January 2020!
Now that the 2020 fare increase of 2.8% has been announced; I contacted Southeastern and asked them to confirm that they will be correcting the error that occurred when the last fare increase calculations were undertaken, and that the season ticket fares to London Terminals from Bat & Ball, Otford and Sevenoaks will be identical again with effect from January 2020.
In response, I was advised that: –
“Firstly, I realise you’d like to know if the error in calculating the 2019 fares between London Terminals and Otford/Sevenoaks will be rectified in the 2020 fare increase. Having read through your comments, I can certainly see why you’ve raised this with us.
Having spoken with our Fares Team, I can confirm that this has been set to be rectified. We have a number of fares which are due to be revised, and this is one of the ones on the list.”
Season ticket prices are regulated fares; therefore, theoretically, they should not increase by more than the 2.8% January 2020 fare increase. Accordingly, will the current Otford and Sevenoaks prices be increased by 2.8% and the resulting amounts also be charged for tickets commencing at Bat & Ball? One to watch!
Yes, the promise has finally been honoured, the London Terminals annual season ticket from Sevenoaks, Bat & Ball and Otford will cost £3708. As usual, Southeastern hits us with slightly more than the average increase, at least for Sevenoaks and Otford. Yesterday the National Rail website was showing £3712 for the new Bat & Ball fare, so perhaps somebody remembered you !
The good news is that split ticketing via New Cross is still highly cost effective for season tickets. You can save £592 if you just want National Rail travel to London Terminals (except Victoria): your train must always pass through New Cross but it doesn’t have to stop there.
Adding Z1/Z2 Underground is £732 cheaper than a Travelcard to Zones 1 – 6, and is only £8 more than the basic National Rail ticket to London Terminals. You can use London Buses in all zones, but otherwise you’ll have to use PAYG on any services outside Z2, and if you use Victoria mainline your train must pass through New Cross or Lewisham instead of Bromley South.
If you still need the full flexibility of Zones 1 – 6 (including Victoria mainline, Heathrow and London City Airports) you can save £212, so some form of split ticketing is a no-brainer for Sevenoaks commuters !