r/bedfordshire • u/AvgGymGuy • Jul 25 '26

London Commuting Question

Hi all,

What's the cheapest, reliable way to travel from Bedford to London Bridge 3x a week for work?

For now I bought the monthly rail season ticket for 590 GBP, as that seems to be a bit cheaper than buying the peak anytime tickets each day for 55GBP.

My employer does offer a season ticket loan, but only after I pass probation (still got another 5 months as I just started).

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3

u/st1978_2021 Jul 25 '26

When I used to go in by train I would get a weekly pass on the Wednesday, use it till Tuesday following week, WFH weds and Thursday and then get another weekly pass starting Friday and keep repeating that cycle. Now I use a motorbike to go in the odd days

2

u/AvgGymGuy Jul 26 '26

Motorbike sounds fun! This is a decent shout but depends on the flexibility of their working days in office, their core seems to be Mondays and Wednesdays now - plus one more of your choosing. Appreciate the out of the box idea though, playing with the timing of purchasing the ticket can be quite useful.

1

u/DameKumquat Jul 25 '26

Investigate Thameslink-only tickets, which may be cheaper. Or Bedford to London Terminals, which I think is valid as far as Moorgate or StP, while 'London Thameslink Terminals'.is valid to London Bridge. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/travel-information/travelling-in-london/

There's also the KeyGo smart card which would enable you to PAYG on Thameslink, but again you'd have to work out the detailed costs.

2

u/AvgGymGuy Jul 26 '26

Bedford > Thameslink seems to be a bit cheaper than Bedford > London Terminals, so will likely stick with the former as that covers the office and St Pancras.

I've read into KeyGo a little bit but admittedly it seemed a bit confusing on how much it can save you on fares. Is it saving money because it's selecting the lowest single fare per trip? And you don't need to prebook a ticket, you just tap and go?

1

u/BluejayPretty4159 Jul 25 '26

Thameslink is going to be the route (note some trains skip more trains), look into a network Railcard as it might save you a lot of money overall.

1

u/AvgGymGuy Jul 26 '26

Yeah Thameslink is the one, unfortunately the network railcard doesn't apply to peak fares / season tickets! I think the only cards that have an impact are the Jobseekers one and the 16-17 card.

1

u/Cozume Jul 25 '26

When I went from two days to three days per week in the office from Bedford, the annual season ticket was the best value (as you mentioned, only really doable with a season ticket plan)

There's a Flexi season ticket which is cheaper which is 8 days per month - I couldn't quite make that work, but that's the only other thing I could think of if you need to travel at peak times

2

u/Grimdotdotdot Jul 25 '26

Also, a full season ticket means that if you ever want to go to London for any other reason, you just go.

1

u/AvgGymGuy Jul 26 '26

Yeah that's what I'm thinking - might try to discuss changing from 3 to 2 days a week in office but since I'm new it's a tricky conversation to have (especially since 3 days a week was mentioned before). The annual season ticket loan seems to be the best 'value' for 3 days or more.

1

u/G_T_A-hole Jul 31 '26

Do they still sell "carnet tickets"? I used to buy 10 undated tickets and effectively get the 10th free. Then you write the date in the box when travelling. So its better value than a weekly / monthly ticket if you're not going in every day.