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Train or coach from London to Southampton?


tassietravellers
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We have 2 nights booked at the Holiday Inn in Southampton prior to our cruise in May, so arrival times aren't an issue, but just wondering what would be the best way of getting to Southampton. I had a look online at trains for the day we're travelling and its 71 pounds for the 2 tickets, this is 4 months in advance, seems quite expensive for like a 90min trip. Do the prices go up a lot closer to the time? Is it easier and a lot cheaper getting a coach, we're staying in Paddington, so presume we'd just have to get to Victoria. thanks for any help :)

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Advance train tickets only become available 12 weeks before departure date and generally depart from London Waterloo or Victoria.Its usually cheaper to travel after 9 30am. It can be cheaper getting the coach (National Express) but we managed to get advance singles from London to Southampton for £5 each for our forthcoming cruise (though that was with a railcard so add on a third without)

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Hi....I always prefer train travel and as ann141 said Advance ticket pricing becomes available 12 weeks before. The only point that would concern me is that there seems to be a lot of rail disruption at the moment....we have had 3 days of strikes this week ...so at this moment I would lean towards National Express for reliability.

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Advance train tickets only become available 12 weeks before departure date and generally depart from London Waterloo or Victoria.Its usually cheaper to travel after 9 30am. It can be cheaper getting the coach (National Express) but we managed to get advance singles from London to Southampton for £5 each for our forthcoming cruise (though that was with a railcard so add on a third without)

 

Thanks so much, so I need to check back again at the end of February, but I'll check the coach at that time too :-)

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Hi....I always prefer train travel and as ann141 said Advance ticket pricing becomes available 12 weeks before. The only point that would concern me is that there seems to be a lot of rail disruption at the moment....we have had 3 days of strikes this week ...so at this moment I would lean towards National Express for reliability.

 

Thanks, I always like going by train, as its something that I don't have at home here, but might be a bit of a worry if there's strikes. :-)

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I would urge caution about using rail if you have a lot of luggage. The trains to Southampton are designed as commuter trains with very limited storage capacity for cases ie there is no dedicated luggage areas at the end of the carriages. Think less overhead space than on a plane. You could put them on spare seats and hope the train doesn't get busy which should be ok unless travelling in peak rush hour. Just a thought

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I would urge caution about using rail if you have a lot of luggage. The trains to Southampton are designed as commuter trains with very limited storage capacity for cases ie there is no dedicated luggage areas at the end of the carriages. Think less overhead space than on a plane. You could put them on spare seats and hope the train doesn't get busy which should be ok unless travelling in peak rush hour. Just a thought

 

Thanks, we'll only have one case each, coming from Australia we don't have the luxury of being able to bring a lot of luggage :cool:. We definitely wont be travelling in peak times, so hopefully we'll be ok, but we'll look at the coach options too, this may work out better for us

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Until recently, there were few reduced fares on the fast trains (1 1/4 hours) between London Waterloo and Southampton. The new operator, South Western Railway, has more deals than the previous operator. I checked a day at random and there were trains with standard fares of £11.60 and first class was only £19.10.

 

A cheaper alternative is to take Southern Railway from London Victoria. There is hourly service of a through train and fares as low as £5 are not hard to find. The downside is the trains are local (about 15 stops) and take well over two hours. Luggage space is even harder to find than on South Western.

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Until recently, there were few reduced fares on the fast trains (1 1/4 hours) between London Waterloo and Southampton. The new operator, South Western Railway, has more deals than the previous operator. I checked a day at random and there were trains with standard fares of £11.60 and first class was only £19.10.

 

A cheaper alternative is to take Southern Railway from London Victoria. There is hourly service of a through train and fares as low as £5 are not hard to find. The downside is the trains are local (about 15 stops) and take well over two hours. Luggage space is even harder to find than on South Western.

 

Thanks for the information :)

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Thanks, hopefully that will all be finished by May :-)

 

 

Hi....unfortunately these strikes...rail disruptions have been going on for quite some time...months & months maybe even stretching into more than a year....at least... so I wouldn't bank on it all being sorted for May. Just another point up here where we live one rail strike was on for two consecutive days :(

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would love to travel down by train instead of driving but coming from Norwich even the advanced fares are more expensive than staying in a cruise and park hotel in Southampton. Plus the hassle of changing in London is so horrible. Hate the drive down but living where we do we seem to be doomed to bad roads and trains.

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In September of last year we stayed several days near Victoria Station (within walking distance of the bus station). I purchased bus ticket to South Hampton about 2-3 months prior to my trip costing less than $7 USD/pp. it was a very pleasant ride with only one stop that allowed a few passengers to get off. After arriving at the bus station in SH, we walked across street to large grocery store to purchase our wine. Walked Back across street to bus station and Cabs were available to take us to ship. I think the cab fee was about 7 pounds. I would definitely take the bus again. So easy and so inexpensive. On a side note victoria Train station is about 3 or 4 blocks from Victoria Bus Station. Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip!

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In September of last year we stayed several days near Victoria Station (within walking distance of the bus station). I purchased bus ticket to South Hampton about 2-3 months prior to my trip costing less than $7 USD/pp. it was a very pleasant ride with only one stop that allowed a few passengers to get off. After arriving at the bus station in SH, we walked across street to large grocery store to purchase our wine. Walked Back across street to bus station and Cabs were available to take us to ship. I think the cab fee was about 7 pounds. I would definitely take the bus again. So easy and so inexpensive. On a side note victoria Train station is about 3 or 4 blocks from Victoria Bus Station. Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip!

 

Thanks so much, very helpful. I will check back with the bus and train sites in a couple of months, sounds very doable :-)

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  • 1 month later...

I've booked two return tickets on National Express Coach for next month from Heathrow for £57 for both of us. I find it easier than trains where you have to watch your luggage all the time and as previous posters have said chances of a strike or maintenance on the line.

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I've booked two return tickets on National Express Coach for next month from Heathrow for £57 for both of us. I find it easier than trains where you have to watch your luggage all the time and as previous posters have said chances of a strike or maintenance on the line.

 

Thank you, I've just checked for the date we want and its only 17.40 pounds for 2 tickets one way, it would have been about 40 pounds each one way on the train. I'll book tonight.

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Thank you, I've just checked for the date we want and its only 17.40 pounds for 2 tickets one way, it would have been about 40 pounds each one way on the train. I'll book tonight.

That sounds like full price tickets on the train. I assume you are aware the cheaper Advance tickets only appear 10 to 12 weeks before travel.

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Thank you, I've just checked for the date we want and its only 17.40 pounds for 2 tickets one way, it would have been about 40 pounds each one way on the train. I'll book tonight.

 

If you have a look on trainline they have tickets from London-Southampton from as little as £9pp eachway on most dates in May the journey is less than an hour and a half and I find the experience a damn site more civilised than some of the coach journies I have encountered, it may be worth a look.

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Do NOT book tickets on Trainline unless you want to pay booking fees they charge and the train company websites (which sell exactly the same tickets) don't.

 

Fair point but the booking fee on two singles from London to Southampton in May is 25p so its hardly life changing.

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If you have a look on trainline they have tickets from London-Southampton from as little as £9pp eachway on most dates in May the journey is less than an hour and a half and I find the experience a damn site more civilised than some of the coach journies I have encountered, it may be worth a look.

 

Thanks for that, checked and cheapest the day we want is 71 pound for 2, the booking fee is only 75p though :-)

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I live half way between London and Southampton and along the train route. Having commuted to London on a regular basis, I am very familiar with the trains on this route peak and off peak.

 

The trains are not designed to hold luggage. So even a couple of suitcases and some hand luggage can be a pain as there isn't storage space. Disruptions are frequent which cause trains to get very busy even off peak.

 

You may get lucky and enjoy a comfortable journey but chances are you will end up on a crowded train. So for me, coach is a more comfortable way to travel. Not sure why others on this thread think train is somehow better or more convenient.

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