Travelcard and Train to Windsor Castle: How much is the supplemental fare?
 

Please help, as I have tried but cannot find this information on-line. I will have a 6-zone Travelcard when I go to take the train from Paddington to Windsor & Eton Central to visit Windsor Castle. Can anyone please tell me how much (or approximately how much) the supplemental fare will be?

Basically, I am trying to decide whether I would do better to buy the train ticket in advance from National Rail for £17 (2 adults, 1 child) or just show up at the ticket office with a 6-zone Travelcard in hand and pay only the add-on fare.

Thank you for any help you can give me!

Well, there is no advantage in buying the tickets in advance in any case, so you might as well wait to see what the ticket seller has to offer when you show the 6 zone travel card. My guess is you will save money. A cheap day return to Windsor from West Drayton, the only station in zone 6 on the Paddington - Slough line, is £8.75. So that is what you should be charged for your group.

I just returned from London, and I had a travelcard that only included the center of London. I went to Waterloo, used the self-service machine and got a round trip ticket to Windsor for 5.70 pounds (approx $11). Trip was about 50 minutes, they never collected my tickets either way. The train station is very close to the castle so I could walk. Loved the town and the castle. Was very quaint and a nice change from busy London.

Forgot to tell you, the train I took was Southwest so there's a website for them and the fares and the timetables.Try google to find the correct address so you won't get the airlines website by mistake.

There are two lines to Windsor: from Paddington via Slough to Windsor & Eton Central; from Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside. The two stations in Windsor are both close to the castle. Both lines usually have trains every half hour and your choice should depend on where you're staying in London. In either case, just buy a ticket at the station before you board the train. If you have a six-zone Travelcard, you have already paid for part of the journey, so show the travelcard when you buy the ticket. You will be sold a day return ticket from the boundary of zone 6 to Windsor which will always be cheaper than a day return from London to Windsor.

Thank you all, for your replies. Blondie, I checked out Southwest Trains' fares at wwwswtrains.co.uk, and found them to be £17 for day return for my group of 2 adults and 1 child. But I still can't find information on what the supplemental fare would be with a 6-zone Travelcard. Even though it makes sense that add-on fares would have to be lower than full fares, the fact that these advance-purchase fares are purported to be discounted from ticket-office-on-day-of-travel fares makes me wonder, maybe the add-on fare I would get at the ticket office on the day of travel would be higher than if I bought discounted fares in advance. Am I explaining the problem clearly?

Ron, if a cheap day-return for Drayton-Windsor is £8.75 (per adult, I assume; surely not for my group of 2 adults and 1 child??), the add-on fare with Travelcard could conceivably end up higher than the £17 I would have paid by buyin a full fare on-line in advance. Isn't that so, or am I mistaken?

Hey, maybe I'm planning this trip waaaaay too much. Aaaaargh! But it's just that I like to save money where I can, especially with the awful dollar-to-pound exchange rate.

Thanks, everyone who has read through to the end of this!

Then again, Blondie, if you were charged only £5.70 add-on fare with a central-zone Travelcard, perhaps the add-on with the 6-zone Travelcard would be substantially less than £5.70 (one would think!). Thanks for letting me know that -- it helps.

No, Sandykins, the CDR from zone 6 (West Drayton) to Windsor is £3.50 per adult plus £1.75 per child, for a total of £8.75. Although I have never done it, that is what you should be charged if you buy tickets fom Paddington with your 6 zone travelcard.

Thank you very much, Ron, for explaining it further. I understand now, and realize it will indeed cost much less to buy the supplemental fare. That's why I am scheduling Windsor Castle on the day we arrive at Heathrow and have to buy a 6-zone Travelcard to get into London anyhow -- to save money.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ron, Blondie, and Geoff. You've all helped tremendously!

For short journeys like London-Windsor, there is no such thing as an "advance purchase" fare. These are commuter lines. A ticket allows you to travel on any train. There is no advantage whatsoever in buying in advance.