How to take a rail journey from London to Exeter

Final Destination: Penzance or Plymouth or Paington or Exeter

All trains also call at: Taunton

Some trains also call at: Tiverton Parkway

A fast train which will take around 2hr 8mins to complete the journey is usually scheduled to depart hourly, but in every other hour a slower train, that makes more station calls, also departs.
Those slower trains can be cheaper, because the faster trains are inevitably more popular, but the journey time by those slower trains is only around 15 mins longer.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online Bookings Open: Usually 12 weeks ahead, but this period can be longer if Great Western Railway is running a promotion

If you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, book an 'Advance' ticket - though be aware that this type of ticket can't be refunded if you subsequently change your travel plans.

If the booking period has been extended beyond 12 weeks, it seems as though 'Advance' tickets will be the only type of ticket available if you book more than 12 weeks ahead.

Also worth knowing is that on this route, Advance tickets will only be available until 18:00 (6pm) on the day before travel.

Though partially due to the frequency of the train service, you shouldn't have to book months in advance to obtain the cheapest possible price for a London to Bath train journey, particularly if you won't be travelling at business hours.

If you would like the flexibility to be able to obtain a refund if you subsequently change your travel plans, it's best to book 'Off-Peak' tickets, though this type of ticket lives up to its name, and may not be available on departures at peak business hours.

'Advance Tickets' are specific to the departure selected when making a booking, but they can be transferred to an alternative departure, though you will incur an 'admin fee' if you have booked an 'Advance' ticket.

Travelling on Saturday-Sunday

Maintenance work on the railway is periodically undertaken at weekends and if it is scheduled on your travel date, it can affect when tickets will be released for sale.

If you're looking up a journey less than around 10 - 12 weeks ahead and the cheaper 'Advance' tickets aren't available, it can be a good indication that works will be impacting on your travel date.
It can be worth checking this on the National Rail website - select 'Great Western Railway' as the operator.

Making an end-to-end journey will still be possible, though you MAY ultimately have to take a substitution bus service for part of the trip.
It's the confirmation of these alternative travel arrangements which can hold up the release of the tickets for sale.

Choosing a departure

There can be significant differences in prices between departures on your travel date, it's often possible to save more than £20 by taking an earlier or later train; the trains which depart London in the middle of the day tend to be cheaper.

Reservations:

When you book an Advance ticket for a London to Bath train journey online, you will automatically be assigned a seat(s) - because a guaranteed seat reservation is a benefit of using a website to purchase the ticket(s).
If you book an Anytime or Off-Peak ticket ahead of your travel date, you can request a reservation.

However, if you buy an Anytime or Off-Peak ticket at the station just prior to boarding, a seat reservation WON'T be automatically included with your booking.
That's because reservations at stations need to be booked by the end of the previous day for morning departures and 3 - 4 hours ahead for afternoon/evening departures; so keep that in mind if you will be using a rail pass, including a Britrail or Eurail pass.

On this route ShowMeTheJourney particularly recommends making reservations when travelling at these times
(1) Any journey on Fridays
(2) On trains departing London before 14:00 on Saturdays
(3) On trains departing London after 14:00 on Sundays

Receiving Your Ticket(s) booked with GWR

The four options for receiving and using your ticket(s) you book on the Great Western Railway (GWR) website are:

(1) Using e-tickets:
You can opt to have an e-ticket attached to your confirmation email, which you can then download to your mobile device.
Then when boarding you can access your ticket(s) on your phone and use it to open the ticket gates.
Though if you opt to use this service, GWR will prompt you to make a test download prior to completing your booking, so that you can be sure that your mobile device is compatible with using this service.

(2) Opt to 'self-print', you will need then need to print off the ticket attached to your confirmation email.

(3) Collecting from the 'Fast-Track' ticket machines at the station.
You will receive a booking reference number on your order confirmation email and you can use this reference number to collect ticket(s) from a 'Fast-Track' ticket machine.
You will need to enter your reference number into the machine, so make sure you'll have easy access to it when you are using the machine.

You will also need to insert the specific credit or debit card you used when making the booking, so have that with you too.
Showing the email you will have received to staff at the ticket gates won't get you on to the train, nor will this be valid if you can only show the email to the conductor when you are on the train.

Take your time and take care that you have picked up all your ticket(s) and seat reservations.

(4) Opt to pay an additional charge to have your tickets posted to you (not an option if you book tickets from outside the UK).

The potential to save by splitting tickets on Trainline

It can be worth looking up this journey on Trainline.

It can be possible to save money by using split ticketing, with the booking process being no more complicated than booking conventional tickets - find out more.

Final Destination: Exeter

All trains also call at: Sherborne, Yeovil Junction, Axminster and Honiton

Something to watch out for is that multiple trains are often joined together on these departures and often only the first part of the train will be travelling to Exeter, while the rear of the train can be terminating at Salisbury or Yeovil.
There will be electronic information within the coaches confirming whether they will be travelling to Exeter, along with on-board announcements which will mention which part of the train will be making the full journey.
The train manager will also confirm whether you are seated in the right part of the train when the ticket checks are carried out.

Book early and save: Yes

The cheaper 'Advance' tickets tend to be available from around 10-11 weeks ahead of the travel date, but tickets can be booked up to 12 weeks ahead.
So if you look up a journey more than 10-12 weeks ahead and can't see any 'Advance' tickets, it will mean that they haven't been released for sale yet - it won't be because they have sold out.

The two disadvantages of booking an 'Advance' ticket is that they can only be used on the specific departure you select when making a booking - and then if you don't take that train, because you change your travel plans or don't get to the station on time, they can't be refunded.

The big plus of booking an 'Advance' ticket is the price, they can be more £20 cheaper than booking last minute tickets at the station; because Advance tickets are taken off sale at 23:59 on the previous day.

Seat reservations:

The process for assigning seats on the trains on this route is unconventional, because the train operator, South Western Railway, doesn’t typically offer seat reservations.
However if you book an Advance ticket for a journey on this route, coach and seat number(s) can be included on the ticket.
But what’s not the norm is that there is no indication on the trains, which inform you and your fellow passengers, which seat(s) have been assigned.

So another traveller may have unwittingly occupied your seat, because the other types of ticket sold for journeys by these trains don’t have reservations available.
They won’t be aware that you, or anybody else, has a ‘reservation’ for the seat they have occupied.

So it’s best to be at Waterloo station ready to board at least 20 minutes ahead of departure, you can then be among the first passengers to join the train, so can then claim the seat(s) on your ticket.

Or if you’d prefer not to sit in the seat you have been assigned, because it is facing backwards etc, you can choose to sit elsewhere.
You don’t have to occupy the seat(s) you have been assigned for your ticket(s) to be valid.