Should we be concerned when no Megatrain tickets are available?

On 10-25-2014, four of us need to take the train from Waterloo to Southampton to board our cruise ship. There are no Megatrain tickets available for that date most likely because that is a holiday and there is also a 3 PM soccer game in Southampton. Does that indicate that trains will run full and it will be difficult to purchase a ticket? It looks like one cannot purchase an advanced ticket for that route.

Thanks for any feedback…

Judith

I believe the megatrain website is run by Stagecoach which is principally a coach company and they do hop you across to coach services without telling you. They also seem to avoid offering train bookings where they clash with their coach services and it is possible that their coach services are fully booked.

You WILL certainly get a train to Southampton. There are normally three direct trains per hour from Waterloo to Southampton, though one is a slow train, leaving just a couple of minutes after a fast train and taking 1hr 40 mins instead of 1hr 15 mins.

Pre booking is a good idea as you normally get assigned a seat. We do not allocate specific seats to people who just walk up and buy a ticket and if the train is overbooked on a busy day, people just stand up and you don't want to be one of those people.

I tend to use http://www.trainline.com and I know they will send tickets to you in North America. Others report that they avoid trainline as they sometimes charge a commission and that the train company's own website which is http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk is better.

I am not sure that you can get South West to mail tickets to North America, but you can pre-book your tickets and collect them from a self service ticket machine at Waterloo.

EDIT

OOPS Spotted the problem. The issue is not the football match but planned weekend maintenance work which is closing the line between Basingstoke and Winchester on 25th Oct. There are trains but you either need to change at Havant, or use the special bus service that is being laid on between Basingstoke and Winchester which makes it a two hour journey. I got this information from the trainline site, and suggest that you visit this and South West trains website to get all the times.

Well its not because its a Saturday, 'cos they are available either side of your date. You can either just keep trying or send them an e mail to ask.

The football game shouldn't make any difference...Southampton are at home every other weekend and it isn't a holiday (ooh, just thought, is it half term?). Right, that week (w/c 27/10/14) is school half term in Southampton, but I wouldn't have thought this would make a difference either.Bit of a mystery! :rolleyes: You should have no problem getting a 'walk up' ticket , but it will be around £35 each.

Simon

SEE THE EDIT TO MY PREVIOUS POST.

It is planned maintenance work between Basingstoke and Winchester.

This link gives the details

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/engineeringwork.aspx?date=25/10/2014

Included in the notes is the statement.

"An hourly service will run between London Waterloo and Weymouth via Guildford and Fareham."

These special trains will go through Southampton, (all trains to Weymouth HAVE to pass through Southampton) though it is a slower route. These trains show up on the South West Trains booking site. The train leaves at 5 mins past the hour and takes 1 hour 55 mins.

Nice route through Guildford.

AHA!! Should have thought of that! Right, transferring from train to bus to train is a pain! I think you basically have 2 choices.

1) London Victoria - Southampton. This trip takes about 2hrs 30 mins (so an hour longer), but currently on http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search if you enter 'VIC' as your departure and 'SOU' as your destination, the 1032 train is available for £10 and its a direct train (no changes). Obviously you would have to get yourself to Victoria station.

2) National Express coach from Victoria Coach station (300 yds down road from train station) http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx . Takes about 2hrs 15mins and costs £12.60.

I'd probably go for the Victoria - Southampton train...and you can see some countryside on the way!

Simon

PS Wrote this before Corfe added the bit about the Guildford train. However, if its still about £35 I think I'd still go from Victoria.

Ok. More information, this time re the football match.

On 25th Oct Southampton are playing Stoke City. There is an excellent relationship between Stoke City FC and it's fan base and for the whole of this season the club is providing free coach transport to all away matches for the fans who purchase tickets through the club.

As a result virtually all Stoke fans will be arriving on special coaches and very few will arrive by train. Football fans will not therefore be an issue.

What is more, anyone travelling independently by train from the Stoke area, for whatever reason, will be using the Cross country service (mentioned on the engineering works page).

You are therefore very unlikely to see many football fans on your train.

One idea: It's a Saturday. Buy a normal standard class ticket from Waterloo to Southampton, plonk yourself down in a first class carriage, pay the guard/ticket inspector £5 for Weekend First. And then enjoy the trip - particularly as it's longer than usual so you get better value for your £5.

Don't forget the other side re the football. As the day progresses and as you get nearer Southampton the trains will fill up with the Southampton fans on their way to the match - from Winchester for example.

But I assume you will be travelling much earlier in the day?

As you are boarding in London, you should probably get your seat ok, but after the journey by bus from Basingstoke - Winchester, you will be one of the crowd searching for a seat.

Also, seat reservations are no longer offered on South West Trains, but as has been said, passengers in Standard Class can upgrade to First Class (=seats) with Weekend First Upgrades on some South West Trains services.

BUT if you are considering the SW Train Service London Waterloo to Southampton with the bus link Basingstoke to Winchester - which I agree is a real pain, especially with luggage and having to battle again for a seat at Winchester - I would seriously have a look at the National Express coach option London Victoria to Southampton. Cheaper and at least you will have a seat all the way on the coach and will stay on one coach.

PS Or indeed the train from London Victoria.

PS Or indeed the train from London Victoria.

Don't forget also that there are through trains from Waterloo to Southampton on 25th. They just won't follow the normal route and take 1hr50 instead of 1hr15 and more importantly- because they are special trains for this one day only they do not appear in the timetable on other days. The direct trains from Waterloo will run every hour departing at 5mins past the hour arriving Southampton at 5mins to the hour.

Probably not much to choose between this train and the Victoria train and OP should make choice on which out if Victoria and Waterloo is easiest.

Don't forget also that there are through trains from Waterloo to Southampton on 25th. They just won't follow the normal route and take 1hr50 instead of 1hr15 and more importantly- because they are special trains for this one day only they do not appear in the timetable on other days. The direct trains from Waterloo will run every hour departing at 5mins past the hour arriving Southampton at 5mins to the hour.

 

Probably not much to choose between this train and the Victoria train and OP should make choice on which out if Victoria and Waterloo is easiest.

Had forgotten! Absolutely! Anything to avoid having to go via Basingstoke..

I am the OP and want to thank all of you for taking the time to respond to my inquiry.

Corfe Mixture and Simon…thank you for the time you spent researching this online and for your knowledge. I would have never found the information on my own and I am very good with software. We now have a complete understanding of the reason train travel will be complicated on our date. By the way, the tickets on 25-10-2014 are priced at 38.50£ pp. Taxi fare from the train station (SOU) to the cruise ship is another 6£ per couple.

Here is our solution:

We have booked a car service for the four of us. I researched this and selected one that was highly recommended on both CC and Trip Advisor. Now here is the good news. We will travel from hotel to cruise dock (door to door) for 13£ less per couple than the train + taxi would have cost us! We are very pleased.

Again…thank you all so much! Your kindness is so appreciated……..

Judith

That's fantastic, Judith. That's a great result and so much more convenient and comfortable.

Glad its all worked out OK. At least you found out now!

Simon

Don't forget also that there are through trains from Waterloo to Southampton on 25th. They just won't follow the normal route and take 1hr50 instead of 1hr15 and more importantly- because they are special trains for this one day only they do not appear in the timetable on other days. The direct trains from Waterloo will run every hour departing at 5mins past the hour arriving Southampton at 5mins to the hour.

 

Probably not much to choose between this train and the Victoria train and OP should make choice on which out if Victoria and Waterloo is easiest.

So taking the train from Waterloo to Southampton on the longer train will not involve switching? I don't mind a longer trip if I do not have to switch. Out hotel is right next to the Waterloo station so was really hoping to use that. But am not willing to change. I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly.

Thanks in advance.

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You should be OK. Its a direct train, just on a different (longer) route to normal. You can always ask at the ticket barrier before you get on the train to make sure its going all the way!

Simon

No problem full schedule for direct train on 25th October is:

Dep Waterloo. 09.05

Clapham Junction 09.12

Woking 09.32

Guildford 09.41

Havant 10.18

Fareham 10.32

Southampton Central 10.58

Train then continues to Weymouth stopping at:

Brockenhurst 11.12

Bournemouth 11.31

Then all (well virtually all) stations: Branksome, Parkstone, Poole, Hamworthy, Wareham, Wool, Dorchester, before arriving at Weymouth at 12.24

If you want to leave one hour earlier or one hour later simply add or subtract one hour to/from all the above times.

So taking the train from Waterloo to Southampton on the longer train will not involve switching? I don't mind a longer trip if I do not have to switch. Out hotel is right next to the Waterloo station so was really hoping to use that. But am not willing to change. I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

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Just realised that you are not the OP.

This discussion relates to one specific day, 25th October when the line between Basingstoke and Winchester is going to be closed for engineering work.

The above train ONLY RUNS ON THAT DAY. On normal days there are three direct trains per hour, two fast trains and one slow train. See the earlier posts in this thread for details of those trains.

OOPPS.

Just noticed your ticker says you are travelling on 25th. Sorry, ignore this post. My previous post does apply.

Why can't we have a delete button :(

Thank you so much.

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