Waterloo to Southampton train time

[jcl410]

Hi -

 

 I want to take the train from London to Southampton on Feb. 15th to board the Queen Mary 2. I'm supposed to check in at the Ocean Terminal at 1500 for my PCR test. 

 

With South Western Railway's current, reduced schedule there is only one non-stop train per hour from Waterloo going to Southampton Central....

 

1) Should I take the train at 1200 (arriving at 1314, or the 1300, which arrives at 1414?

 

2) If the earlier train is safer, any suggestions as to what to do from 1330 to 1500?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Aloha,

 

John

[John Bull]

The limited timetable has - in part at least - been due to staff shortages caused by isolation requirements for those who've been in contact with a confirmed Covid case.

Both infection rates and those requirements have been eased to some degree, consequently the staffing problem has eased, and currently there are TWO direct trains per hour (the timetable may well have changed between you & me looking up the times).

 

Advance ticket prices are £10 cheaper for the 12.35 than for the12.05 or 13.05. All are direct trains, they all have 3 or  4 intermediate stops, they all take about an hour & a quarter.

The 12.35 arrives at Southampton central at 13.49.

 

There's a taxi rank on the station forecourt immediately adjacent to your arrival platform (Platform 4), a ride to.QM2's berth at Ocean Cruise Terminal takes 5 minutes & should cost £7 to £8

The 12.35 would put you at the terminal an hour ahead of schedule (with the 13.05 in reserve if there's a screw-up in London).

There's limited refreshments at the terminal.

Or - less crowded - at the station there are limited refreshments on Platform 4, or a bakery/cafe on Platform 1 (via an elevator).

 

Those train times are shown on the websites of both the national rail system (which I find easier) 

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

and the regional operator

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/buy-train-tickets/

 

JB 🙂

[jcl410]

John -

 

 Thanks for the reply...... Unfortunately, the South Western Rail website is blocked by my work's firewall, so I cannot check the current timetable... The National Rail online Journey Planner still has the yellow triangle next to all the trips, saying that trains listed after the 12th may not be accurate. <shrug> Any way, as of 0300UTC today (8 Feb), the latest PDF time table on the South Western Railway page still said "efffective from 7 Feb until changed", and listed only the top of the hour trains.

 

Any idea what would happen if I am able to book an advance ticket tonigh for the 1220 train, but it ends up not running?

 

Mahalo (Thanks),

 

John

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, jcl410 said:

John -

 

 Thanks for the reply...... Unfortunately, the South Western Rail website is blocked by my work's firewall, so I cannot check the current timetable... The National Rail online Journey Planner still has the yellow triangle next to all the trips, saying that trains listed after the 12th may not be accurate. <shrug> Any way, as of 0300UTC today (8 Feb), the latest PDF time table on the South Western Railway page still said "efffective from 7 Feb until changed", and listed only the top of the hour trains.

 

Any idea what would happen if I am able to book an advance ticket tonigh for the 1220 train, but it ends up not running?

 

Mahalo (Thanks),

 

John

 

Hi again, John,

 

The UK is split into different operators in different parts of the country. 

The yellow warning triangles appear on several other operators' sites with staff shortage-related messages - so things aren't as back-to-normal as I'd anticipated.

 

The train I mentioed is the 12.35 direct, the train at 12.20 (if it runs) involves a change at Basingstoke, which I didn't mention because of the change & the fare. You might have confused it because the 12.35 costs £12.20

 

Advance tickets are normally only good for the train that you chose, but I'm pretty certain that if the 12.35  doesn't run you can use the tickets for any train either side of it with no surcharge. And the 13.05 still gives you a very adequate 40 minutes to get from station to ship.

 

When do you arrive in London?

 

JB 🙂

[jcl410]

We're flying in to Heathrow Saturday the 12th. We're staying at the Mercure Paddington.

 

(I mistyped about the departure time; I meant 1235) Unfortunately, it doesn't show up on South Western's web site; just the 1200, 1220 (with change ), and the 1300 trains.

 

 It looks like waited too long to order the train tickts..... I don't see any "advance" tickets available anymore for the 15th. Oh well.....

 

Can I just wait till I get to London to buy the ticket to Southampton? Is it possible to buy the tickets at Paddington (from GWR?) for the train from Waterloo?

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

 

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, jcl410 said:

We're flying in to Heathrow Saturday the 12th. We're staying at the Mercure Paddington.

 

(I mistyped about the departure time; I meant 1235) Unfortunately, it doesn't show up on South Western's web site; just the 1200, 1220 (with change ), and the 1300 trains.

 

 It looks like waited too long to order the train tickts..... I don't see any "advance" tickets available anymore for the 15th. Oh well.....

 

Can I just wait till I get to London to buy the ticket to Southampton? Is it possible to buy the tickets at Paddington (from GWR?) for the train from Waterloo?

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

 

 

Advance tickets have always been available until the day before travel - and the National Rail website still says that   https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/166857.aspx#:~:text=Available up to 18%3A00 the day before travel.,-Link&text=The majority of Advance tickets,to 15 minutes before departure.

But yes, South-Western advance fares for your date have disappeared from my screen too, fares quoted are the same as walk-up. Advance fares are now showing for the friday onwards. 

 

Four options: ................. 

 

1. Change of train operator. Direct trains to Southampton central with Southern Trains. These go from London's Victoria station, and are not normally suggested because they go "the pretty way", taking over an hour longer. Rather than a more-or-less straight route heading south-west they go south, then near the coast they turn west to Southampton  ie two sides of a triangle. Still "direct" as in no change of trains.

Still showing advance fares, just £8.50 for the 11.34, arriving Southampton 14.03.

And it has a green tick rather than a yellow triangle - it's a priority route.

So a slightly earlier departure, an ideal arrival time, a guaranteed service, and a big big saving over the Waterloo walk-up fares.

 

2. Since you'll be staying in Paddington, you can take a train from Paddington station with just one change of train (at Reading). Eleven minute window at Reading, which is fine. Depart Paddington at 12.18, arrive Southampton central 13.42. Fare £39.00, same as from Waterloo.

This is an often-overlooked option - even for people staying in Paddington - because there's no bargain advance fare on this route, so usually poor value compared to advance fares from Waterloo. 

This route too has a green tick rather than a yellow triangle. 

You can check it out while in Paddington, no panic to pre-book.

 

3. Take the hit and travel from Waterloo at the walk-up fare of £39.00.

12.00 or 13.00 train if they're running, the 12.35 has completely disappeared from my screen. Again, no panic to pre-book.

 

4. Forget the train, and take the bus.

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

From Victoria coach station, 11.30 bus arrives Southampton coach station 13.45, fare just £5.

Comfortable coaches with rest-room & wifi, driver loads & unloads.

 

When checking out trains, use the National Rail website https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/ which includes the trains of all operators.

To save your typing finger, WAT for Waterloo, VIC for Victoria, PAD for Paddington, SOU for Southampton

 

Now I gotta go lie down 😄

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by John Bull

[jcl410]

John -

 

 Thanks for all your help!

 

I ended up going with the 1134 out of Victoria Station. We'll get to see different scenery, and the earlier departure means less waiting after checking out of the hotel! The advance ticket price was great!

 

Do the gates in the station have a scanner for the QR codes, or is there another step to do once we get to Victoria station?

 

 

Aloha,

 

John

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, jcl410 said:

John -

 

 Thanks for all your help!

 

I ended up going with the 1134 out of Victoria Station. We'll get to see different scenery, and the earlier departure means less waiting after checking out of the hotel! The advance ticket price was great!

 

Do the gates in the station have a scanner for the QR codes, or is there another step to do once we get to Victoria station?

 

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

 

 

This is Southampton to Victoria, so you'll have to run this video backwards 😉

 

I don't know Victoria station, but its a major station so I'm pretty certain you can scan direct from your phone at the gate, but best to print it off in case its blurry on your phone.

Or just show it to a member of staff, who will open the gate for you.

https://www.southernrailway.com/tickets/buy-tickets/smart-tickets/etickets

 

Happy travels

 

JB 🙂

Edited February 9, 2022 by John Bull

[Levanah]

Great information here!  We will be sailing from Southampton on NCL on Saturday, May 14.  We have traveled in Europe before with luggage and were fine, but we are getting older and must consider luggage handling.  I read something about ramps at the Waterloo station so that a person can just roll luggage onto the train rather than step up with a piece of luggage.  Is this true?  We are looking at timetables and costs for a mid morning train on the 14th and it all looks reasonable and promising,

 

Does anyone know which berth NCL has at the cruise port?

 

Really looking forward to this cruise and we will be in London for three nights prior.

 

Cynthia

[John Bull]

5 hours ago, Levanah said:

Great information here!  We will be sailing from Southampton on NCL on Saturday, May 14.  We have traveled in Europe before with luggage and were fine, but we are getting older and must consider luggage handling.  I read something about ramps at the Waterloo station so that a person can just roll luggage onto the train rather than step up with a piece of luggage.  Is this true?  We are looking at timetables and costs for a mid morning train on the 14th and it all looks reasonable and promising,

 

Does anyone know which berth NCL has at the cruise port?

 

Really looking forward to this cruise and we will be in London for three nights prior.

 

Cynthia

 

Hi Cynthia,

 

Norwegian Dawn is scheduled for berth 102, the new Horizon Cruise Terminal.

It's about a £6 to £7 taxi ride from Southampton Central station.

https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

 

Sorry, can't help about ramps into the trains at Waterloo, it's a while since I last visited the big bad city. But the step from platform to train is nothing like Amtrak or some European lines.

 

JB 🙂

[Levanah]

So helpful, John - thanks!  We very much appreciate any and all information.  We did have a bit of difficulty with bags on an older train in France a few years ago.  I suspect we’ll be fine at Waterloo and Southampton.

 

For a 14 May journey, how far in advance to you suggest purchasing tickets.  This will be a Saturday trip.

 

Cynthia

[John Bull]

6 hours ago, Levanah said:

So helpful, John - thanks!  We very much appreciate any and all information.  We did have a bit of difficulty with bags on an older train in France a few years ago.  I suspect we’ll be fine at Waterloo and Southampton.

 

For a 14 May journey, how far in advance to you suggest purchasing tickets.  This will be a Saturday trip.

 

Cynthia

 

Hi again,

The cheap advance tickets are currently being offered from about 8 to 10 weeks out, so aim to book around the beginning of April.

Bear in mind that the cheap advance tickets are only good for the train time that you book  ("ticket valid for this service only") . Miss it, and your ticket is trash. 

For Waterloo to Southampton cheap advance tickets are £9.20 instead of up to £31.90 walk-up fare. 

 

With thedownturn in Covid infections & isolations, the timetable will be back to 2 direct trains per hour within the next week or so, altho cheap tickets only available for a few (3 or 4 suit a cruiser's timetable)

https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

[Levanah]

John, ‘

 

Thinking of you and all Brits today as everyone battens down the hatches during storm Eunice.  I am seeing that you are likely (?) in the red zone.  Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy!

 

Cynthia

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, Levanah said:

John, ‘

 

Thinking of you and all Brits today as everyone battens down the hatches during storm Eunice.  I am seeing that you are likely (?) in the red zone.  Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy!

 

Cynthia

 

Hi Cynthia,

 

8 bells and all's well 🙂

Wind gusting to 122mph (UK record) just a few miles away at The Needles on the Isle of Wight. 

But here we're sheltered by the island, no more than about 80mph. Not frightening - in fact quite exhilarating, but some beach huts flooded & damaged by the extra-high tide which accompanies high winds. 

Worse to the west & in Wales.

 

JB 🙂