Train London to Southampton on morning of embarkation?

[dstein]

Any advice about traveling via TRAIN from London (Waterloo) to Southampton on the morning of the day of embarkation?  Are train cancellations and/or delays realistic concerns?  What about rail strikes on a Saturday?

 

I know many folks recommend arriving in SOU at least one day early, but my sense is that this advice is really targeted to those using motor vehicles (i.e. cars, shuttles, buses) as a hedge against traffic slowdowns and/or accidents closing the roads.

 

If we were taking ground transport I'd definitely heed the advice to arrive the day before to avoid stress, but trying to get a better idea of whether the advice is still relevant to train travel?

[John Bull]

Folk from London and much further travel to Southampton on sailing day by car by bus, by train. No worries.

 

Yes, we're still getting the occasional rail strike, but there are no wild-cat strikes - unions are required by law to give 14 days notice of any industrial action.

And I can't remember when no trains ran because of industrial action - Waterloo to Southampton & beyond is a key route, and all resources are directed to keeping key routes going so even on a strike day those trains or at least most of them will run. It's the less-important local and cross-country routes that will suffer.

So book with reasonable confidence and keep an eye on this page   https://www.journeycheck.com/swr/

 

Half-hourly direct trains on a saturday.

The walk-up fare is an eye-watering £54.50.

But if you buy in advance it can be as low as £14.00

Advance fares are dynamic - they're available from about 12 weeks out, and the price creeps up as the travel date approaches so buy as soon as available.

But Advance Tickets are only good for the train time that you selected - miss that train and you'll have to buy fresh walk-up tickets at £54.50 each.
 

You can book via the National Rail website https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ or direct with the  train operator https://www.southwesternrailway.com/ (same info, same fares)

 

Altho those Advance tickets are "no changes, no refunds", in the unlikely event that industrial action means your chosen train doesn't run, they can be used at alternative times and on alternative routes. Or you are entitled to a full refund.

 

JB 🙂 

 

[dstein]

Thank you! 

 

I have to add that this is one of the clearest and most informative answers I've ever received.  Whether you realized it or not, you touched on every concern that motivated my original question (including issues I was thinking about but didn't voice in my question), and then added answers that anticipated potential follow-up questions.  Very impressed and very grateful!

[TouchstoneFeste]

11 hours ago, dstein said:

Thank you! 

 

I have to add that this is one of the clearest and most informative answers I've ever received.  Whether you realized it or not, you touched on every concern that motivated my original question (including issues I was thinking about but didn't voice in my question), and then added answers that anticipated potential follow-up questions.  Very impressed and very grateful!

JB is good.

[Cotswold Eagle]

14 hours ago, John Bull said:

Altho those Advance tickets are "no changes, no refunds",

This is a common misconception, oft reinforced on these boards. 
 

Advance tickets are changeable until time of departure of the booked train, for a £10 fee and change of fare to an available one for the service one now wishes to travel on. 

[MeHeartCruising]

Great advice above from the locals.  I took a departure day London Waterloo to Southampton train for a cruise with zero issues.  I arrived in Southampton around 9:30am and there were taxis waiting to take me to the ship.  It was a very easy and pleasant trip.

Edited March 24 by MeHeartCruising

[stan01]

We would like to do this, but will have 2 medium sized bags (would have to be checked for air travel) and two carry-ons for the two of us.  I know the trains from Waterloo to Southampton do not have storage for luggage other than overhead, and our larger bags will be too big to put on the overhead rack.  I guess we would put them on a seat next to us and hope for the best?  Or stand if we must while our bag sits on our paid for seat?  Just curious how we can expect to handle this on a busy summer day with several cruise ships in port at Southampton.  Thank you.

[hellokittyluver]

I just purchased two train tickets from Waterloo to Southampton for my cruise in June. Chose the time of 9:35 am and getting to SOU at 10:49 am. Hope this train won't be too crowded with regular luggage. Thank you for the information JB. 

[gumshoe958]

4 hours ago, hellokittyluver said:

I just purchased two train tickets from Waterloo to Southampton for my cruise in June. Chose the time of 9:35 am and getting to SOU at 10:49 am. Hope this train won't be too crowded with regular luggage. Thank you for the information JB. 

This is what the trains look like inside (when empty). The overhead racks are actually fairly roomy but all being well you’ll be able to find room for larger cases in an empty seat next to you.

 

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, stan01 said:

I know the trains from Waterloo to Southampton do not have storage for luggage other than overhead, and our larger bags will be too big to put on the overhead rack.  I guess we would put them on a seat next to us and hope for the best?  Or stand if we must while our bag sits on our paid for seat?

 

The bags could also just sit in the floor in front of a seat even though that also takes the seat out of use for a passenger. Or one could sit on the floor and the other could sit on the seat, so that the pair only takes up one extra seat. But this is all part of improvising. These are commuter trains with no seat reservations, so it's not like you're prohibited from using any seats other than the ones you're sitting in. (Even on long-distance trains where there are seat reservations, unreserved seats are often used for luggage.) Only if the train is really, really busy might there be any chance of you having to stand.

 

Also, if you are near two rows of seats that are arranged back to back, there's usually an A-shaped hole between the rows and you may be able to fit the bag(s) in there.

[LesleyWootten]

There's a small area when you get on the train that luggage can sit. We had no issues doing that and it kept it out of the way as well. There's also plenty of room to just keep it with you in front of you. 

[dcrow72]

On 3/24/2024 at 8:40 AM, Cotswold Eagle said:

This is a common misconception, oft reinforced on these boards. 
 

Advance tickets are changeable until time of departure of the booked train, for a £10 fee and change of fare to an available one for the service one now wishes to travel on. 

This is direct from the National Rail service website:  

 

"If you have an Advance ticket and need to change the day or time that you are travelling, you can amend your ticket right up to the time your journey is due to begin. You may be charged £10 to change each ticket and you will also be charged for any difference in price between your ticket and the new ticket."   

 

Quite clear you will be paying the current rate plus 10 if you change it!  

[stan01]

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

The bags could also just sit in the floor in front of a seat even though that also takes the seat out of use for a passenger. Or one could sit on the floor and the other could sit on the seat, so that the pair only takes up one extra seat. But this is all part of improvising. These are commuter trains with no seat reservations, so it's not like you're prohibited from using any seats other than the ones you're sitting in. (Even on long-distance trains where there are seat reservations, unreserved seats are often used for luggage.) Only if the train is really, really busy might there be any chance of you having to stand.

 

Also, if you are near two rows of seats that are arranged back to back, there's usually an A-shaped hole between the rows and you may be able to fit the bag(s) in there.

 

Thank you for the tips, being we are booked on a QM2 Crossing I'm going against my instincts which are to travel light.  No way to do travel light with formal wear!

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

On 4/6/2024 at 9:27 PM, hellokittyluver said:

I just purchased two train tickets from Waterloo to Southampton for my cruise in June. Chose the time of 9:35 am and getting to SOU at 10:49 am. Hope this train won't be too crowded with regular luggage. Thank you for the information JB. 

I am doing the same for August, although I have yet to purchase my tickets.

Would you mind posting your experience after your cruise in June?  Thanks in advance!

 

Edit -  I see @MeHeartCruising said it went smoothly - can you tell me details for dummies?  Like since you have a purchased ticket, I assume the area in Waterloo where you board wouldn't have a tap in entrance for payment then??

Edited April 8 by ColoradoMom!!

[hellokittyluver]

4 hours ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

I am doing the same for August, although I have yet to purchase my tickets.

Would you mind posting your experience after your cruise in June?  Thanks in advance!

 

Edit -  I see @MeHeartCruising said it went smoothly - can you tell me details for dummies?  Like since you have a purchased ticket, I assume the area in Waterloo where you board wouldn't have a tap in entrance for payment then??

To be honest it wasn't easy purchasing the tickets on their website. But I am glad I purchased the tickets because less worrying for me anymore. I don't know if they have a tap in entrance for payment, maybe someone who lives there can answer that question. If there happens to be a railway strike in June, I will probably get a car service like Blackberry cars. I have Blackberry picking my husband and I after the cruise back to Heathrow. 

[gumshoe958]

3 hours ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

I am doing the same for August, although I have yet to purchase my tickets.

Would you mind posting your experience after your cruise in June?  Thanks in advance!

 

Edit -  I see @MeHeartCruising said it went smoothly - can you tell me details for dummies?  Like since you have a purchased ticket, I assume the area in Waterloo where you board wouldn't have a tap in entrance for payment then??

You cannot ‘tap in’ with a contactless card or Apple/Google Pay at Waterloo for trains to Southampton. That only applies to journeys wholly within London and a few destinations just outside.

 

For Southampton you need to buy a ticket. If you know the exact train you want, it’s far cheaper to buy an ‘advance’ ticket online, up to about 3 months in advance. This can be delivered either as an e-ticket on your phone or as a code you use to get a paper ticket from a machine at the station.
 

If you’d rather stay flexible, you can buy a ticket on the day from the ticket office or the machines at Waterloo station but you’ll pay considerably more for the flexibility.

[ColoradoMom!!]

Thanks @gumshoe958

 

So if I were to take the tube from Waterloo, is it considered outside of London proper - would it have contactless payment?  And that entrance would be different than where I would access the trains  - like underground probably- no pun intended.

[gumshoe958]

34 minutes ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

Thanks @gumshoe958

 

So if I were to take the tube from Waterloo, is it considered outside of London proper - would it have contactless payment?  And that entrance would be different than where I would access the trains  - like underground probably- no pun intended.

Contactless can be used for any tube journey (and should, because it’s much cheaper than buying a paper ticket).

The escalators to/from the tube station at Waterloo are within the main rail station but totally separate from the mainline platforms.

 

So if you were to take the tube to Waterloo then the train down to Southampton, you would go through two sets of ticket barriers. First you’d touch out with your contactless card to exit the tube station, then go upstairs and use your train ticket to access the mainline platform.

[Cotswold Eagle]

45 minutes ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

Thanks @gumshoe958

 

So if I were to take the tube from Waterloo, is it considered outside of London proper - would it have contactless payment?  And that entrance would be different than where I would access the trains  - like underground probably- no pun intended.

Waterloo is absolutely right in the heart of London. 
 

It will all make a lot more sense once you are here, but the Underground and the national rail system are entirely separate systems. So you will tap out of the Underground station (yes, at Waterloo it’s underground, but outside central London most of the Underground network is overground!) enter the mainline station and need a ticket at the gate for the platform for you train to Southampton. 

[Island2Dweller]

To add to that, it's less than a mile from Waterloo to Trafalgar Square.  It is very much central London, albeit on the south side of the Thames

[Globaliser]

 

4 hours ago, hellokittyluver said:

9 hours ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

I assume the area in Waterloo where you board wouldn't have a tap in entrance for payment then??

I don't know if they have a tap in entrance for payment, maybe someone who lives there can answer that question.

 

In the London area, the gates both for the Underground and for National Rail all have a reader pad for Oyster and contactless, and also a slot into which you can insert a traditional credit card size paper ticket. (For these purposes, Underground also includes other TfL railways like London Overground and Elizabeth Line - although most of the DLR is gateless.)

 

Gates for National Rail also have an additional optical reader that will scan 2D barcodes (eg QR codes) for those with other kinds of paper tickets on which there's a 2D barcode, or those who are using a mobile phone to display a 2D barcode.

 

Some National Rail stations outside London also have gates, and these have both optical readers and slots for traditional paper tickets.

 

As gumshoe958 has said, you can't pay for London to Southampton using Oyster or contactless even though in practice the gate would let you in if you touch in with an Oyster or contactless, and you would then be able to board the train. If you do this, you would be travelling without a valid ticket and there would be consequences (and IIRC there are gates at Southampton so that you wouldn't be able to get out of the station at Southampton without assistance, so you would be found out there even if not before). So you have to make sure you have a valid ticket before you go through the gate to board the train to Southampton.

 

At Waterloo, if you exit from the Underground and then take a South Western Railway train, I think that (whatever route you take through the station) you will have to pass through a TfL gate to touch out of the Underground and then you will have to pass through a National Rail gate using your London-Southampton ticket before boarding the train to Southampton.

 

So you can't really go wrong doing this: you just need to present the appropriate method of payment at each gate.

 

However, the Underground and National Rail systems are not actually hermetically sealed from each other, and in some places it is possible (by design) to change between Underground and National Rail trains without having to pass through a ticket gate. But this doesn't apply at Waterloo - and even where it does apply, the system is intended to be intuitive to reflect the fares integration between TfL and National Rail for journeys within the TfL area. Things only go wrong if people forget how they're paying for more complex journeys, or in edge cases in which a TfL touch in or touch out is needed but there are no readers positioned on any reasonable route through the station - and bloggers usually point these out quickly enough that TfL then installs additional readers where necessary.

 

1 hour ago, Island2Dweller said:

To add to that, it's less than a mile from Waterloo to Trafalgar Square.  It is very much central London, albeit on the south side of the Thames

 

Waterloo is in Zone 1. 'Nuff said! 😄

[mets07]

So in our case we are staying at a hotel right near Waterloo station. And if I understand correctly we simply buy a ticket at the National Rail ticket office to get to Southampton (we will be getting on a cruise). This is a Friday in July. We understand we will pay more if we do not purchase in advance.

 

Please confirm. Thank you. 

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, mets07 said:

And if I understand correctly we simply buy a ticket at the National Rail ticket office to get to Southampton (we will be getting on a cruise).

 

You can also use the (plentiful) ticket machines on the concourse, which could save you some queueing time (depending on how busy the ticket office is).

 

As you will have luggage with you, I'd recommend that one person's job should be to watch the luggage while the other/another person buys the tickets. If both/all people have their attention focused on the ticket machine, bad things can happen. This applies both in the ticket office and on the concourse, although the concourse is naturally higher risk.