Information on train travel between:
- University of Kent (Canterbury)
- Keele University (Stoke-on-Trent)
- University of Westminster (London)
London to/from Canterbury
There are two train routes from London:
1) London Victoria to Canterbury East: Journey time approx 1 hour and 25
minutes. Mondays to Saturdays until 9 pm: two trains per hour; after 9 pm and
Sundays one train per hour.
2) London Charing Cross, London Waterloo East, or London Bridge to
Canterbury West (the nearest train station to the campus): Journey time
approx 1 hour and 35 minutes. Monday to Friday: usually direct hourly service
(some require a change in Ashford) through most of the day.
Train fares: tickets can be bought on the day of travel. A single or return on
the same day ticket costs approximately £18.00, a return ticket within 5 days
(Network Away Break) costs £20.20, and a return ticket returning within a
month costs £24.20.
Canterbury / London - Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent to/from London or Canterbury
To travel from Canterbury to Stoke-on-Trent (and the other way) you need to
travel via London. The trains between London and Stoke are run by Virgin
trains ands the ticketing system is pretty complicated. Roughly there are three
types of tickets:
1) ‘Advance tickets’ - different versions of these need to be booked different
times in advance, from 2 weeks to 1 day, either in a train station or online (see
below). These tickets can be significantly cheaper but the main drawback is
that they are usually only valid for one particular train (leaving a specified
time) – so if you might miss your train or need to change the time, it is not
worth buying these tickets.
2) ‘Saver tickets’ – These can be bought just before your journey in the train
station (they can also be bought in advance or online (as above) if you like).
This ‘walk up fare’ costs £64.50 for a return between Canterbury and Stokeon-Trent. Normally you will be given this ticket when you buy a return in the
station.
However, there are some time restrictions on Mon-Fri for these Saver tickets,
but ONLY on the section between London and Stoke-on-Trent (NOT on the
Canterbury –London section):
a) You would not be allowed to travel from London to Stoke-on-Trent
(which is on a Virgin train) on a Saver ticket between 3:30pm and
6:30pm Mon-Fri. Therefore if you leave from Canterbury, you should
leave before 1.00 pm or after 4.30 pm, so as to avoid peak time in
London for your connection.
b) When traveling from Stoke-on-Trent you would not be allowed on all
trains departing before 9 am.
Note: If you have a student/young person’s rail card, you can use a Saver
ticket on any train.
Also, a Saver Single ticket costs about the same as a Saver return. Therefore,
even if you will only using part of your return ticket, this is usually still cheaper
than buying two separate single tickets. For example, if traveling from Stoke
to Canterbury but then returning to London, you could still get a return from
Stoke but just get off in London on your way back.
3) ‘Standard tickets’ – these are supposedly the standard but actually VERY
expensive. They apply to journeys which include travel during the peak times
as identified above. A return from Canterbury to Stoke-on-Trent would for
example cost £213.00!
For online bookings see the national rail enquiries website
www.nationalrail.co.uk. This website also gives information about routes,
ticket types, etc. and it has ‘live departure boards’ so that you can check that
your train is running on time, as well as information about planned works on
the line.
Please note that for online bookings, tickets can NOT be posted to an address
abroad and it takes 3 days for them to be posted to an address in the UK.
Online tickets can be collected in virgin “fastticket” machines, but these are
only in large train stations, i.e. in London –NOT in Canterbury or Stoke-onTrent
Reimbursements: As the CentreLGS aims to be reasonable in how it spends
its public funds, we will normally only reimburse ‘Saver tickets’. If you are a
regular traveler, e.g. Centre members, we would appreciate it if you could buy
‘Advance tickets’ where possible.
If there is a special reason why you need to travel during peak times and
therefore require a ‘Standard ticket’, please consult us in advance.