Greetings!
I had a quick question about the train system- particularly at the one that runs by Bath Spa. I have tickets to depart from the station on a Monday at around 10:40 (am). How early should I arrive, prior to the departure time in order to pick up my tickets, go through their security, and board the train?
Thanks!
There's no 'security' as such at British railway stations, you just walk in, go to your platform, and get on the train. I always arrive at a station 5-10 mins before departure to allow for me to find the platform I need. However, if you're collecting your tickets at the station you may want to add on another 5-10mins in case you have difficulty collecting them.
Jaeson,
There is no security. You just walk in off the street. There may be a ticket barrier which you put your ticket in to open. Some stations have them, some not; I don't know which category Bath is in.
If you already had your ticket already, I would say 5-10 minutes is normal for a small to medium size station.
Add 10-15 minutes to pick up your ticket from the machine. So arrive at the front of the station 30 minutes before the train gives you plenty of time to buy a coffee or some food for the train journey.
The official station info page is here: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/BTH.aspx
Including a station map with photos.
Edit: Looking at the photos, there are ticket barriers.
As others have said, it takes only a few minutes to print out your ticket, go through the fare gate, and walk to the platform. The only thing that could slow you down a little is if there's a line (sorry, a queue) at the ticket machine, although there usually isn't.
Keep in mind that to collect your ticket, you need the booking confirmation number and the credit card used for the purchase. Once I made the boneheaded mistake of deciding that the card I'd used to buy all my train tickets would be my "emergency" card for the trip that I'd pack into deep storage. That took me a few minutes to go rummaging through my bag to get it out.
Thanks, kh, for the heads-up. One of the posters on an earlier thread said we'd need the confirmation number and any credit card to pick up our tickets. I was a bit skeptical about that. We have a similar situation coming up soon, going from London to Canterbury, and I don't want to have to be scrabbling through bags or money belts looking for the right credit card!
