I used to be a slave to South West Trains - well, sort of, because from Richmond to London, there is a 'choice' (LOL) of SWT, District Line or Silver Link. At least the latter two start from Richmond, so one can normally get a seat, but SWT, ostensibly faster, should be avoided whenever possible, particularly during rush hours. They are simply too crowded to get on, and on the rare occasions one is in such a hurry that one has to join the pushing, shoving, raging, seething mass of people, there are so many problems at each stop, that you might as well have taken the slower route in the first place.
To be fair, outside rush hour, you can often get a hassle free ride to Waterloo. But so you should - it's not that far. Going westwards towards Portsmouth etc is a gamble. Will it make connections; can you make your meeting or should you aim at 2 trains earlier to be sure. (If you do, sod's law, it will be OK, and you can twiddle your thumbs the other end.)
Still, I shouldn't slate them too much - I've got a Gold Card (their euphemism for annual season ticket), so every year I receive 6 free tickets for unlimited weekend/bank holiday use - for the day. ie Stay overnight and that's 2 tickets. Still, it gets us to Torquay! (You can take someone else, using up another ticket, provided they travel with you).
In fact, the gold card includes a network card, which gives various travel discounts, so you can take up to four adults with you at the same discounts and up to 4 children at £1 each, single journey.
And I won a free ferry trip to Cherbourg + free travel to Portsmouth on the strength of the gold card.
I just wish the trains were pleasanter and more reliable
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Aug 14th, 2000
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