Special Day Returns on South West Trains

Fares from London to Weymouth are routed either ‘ Southampton’ or ‘Westbury’, so what Day Return fare can people buy at Waterloo if they wish to use the new 0750 via Yeovil Junction and Maiden Newton on summer Saturdays?

I pointed this out to South West Trains (SWT) many months back - because the answer is: there isn’t one. If one of the fares was ‘any permitted route’ you could, as it’s a through train - but in this case neither set of fares apply.

Instead, SWT is issuing very cheap Day Returns from Salisbury onwards, and suggesting those from Waterloo and other intermediate stations ‘split ticket’ by buying a return to Salisbury or Gillingham, then one of these new offers.

The special day return fares are available on the 0750 ex-Waterloo (0924 from Salisbury), and also on the 1120 ex-Waterloo (1247 from Salisbury) changing at Yeovil Junction into the 1405 SWT service from there to Weymouth.

The fares (to Dorchester West, Upwey or Weymouth) are £10 Standard or £15 First Class from Salisbury and Tisbury, and £5 Standard or £10 First Class from Gillingham, Templecombe and Sherborne.

In fact, if you want anywhere on the route you should buy these bargains (a break or alighting short is allowed), as £10 for a Day Return from Salisbury doesn’t even get you as far as Templecombe on normal fares - let alone Yeovil Pen Mill or Maiden Newton!

Gillingham to Maiden Newton is normally £13.10, which makes £5 to Weymouth a real bargain! The usual discounts are available for railcard holders and children. Note the tickets are not valid on other trains, especially normal Great Western Railway services to/from Weymouth.

Incidentally, I assume these are meant to be just Day Returns and not Day Rovers, although a few readers have told me they’ve travelled on the train all day (doing the shuttles back to Yeovil) with them!

However, well done SWT for issuing cheap First Class fares. GWR has missed a trick in running an HST to Weymouth on Saturdays and merely declassifying it.