train to moreton in marsh

Tickets should be booked 12 weeks out for the best prices and travel after 9.30 if possible for the cheapest deal. Non flexible tickets are cheapest, but you can only catch the particular timed train that your ticket is valid for, so if you miss it, you will have to buy another ticket.

If you use the national rail website, it will show prices for your day of travel so you get some idea of the fares. Plugging in a single for today vs 12 weeks time shows a variety of fares ranging from £35 to £8.50 per person, depending on which train you catch, so there can be significant savings. Some peak services won't vary as much in price. Two weeks out, the best fare is £17.

Pick your tickets up at Paddington. It's a large station, so allow a few minutes to find your way round as some services depart from platforms that are 5 minutes walk from the main concourse.

If you pre-booked a cheap advance ticket for a specific train & missed the one you are supposed to be on for the return - do not buy another ticket. Often, the ticket inspector on the train will ignore the fact that you are on a later train - especially if it is not a crowded one. This is likely the case with your journey as more people travel into London in the morning and out around 4 to 6pm. So, as you are going in the reverse direction to most commuters, you will not be on the most crowded trains. Having said that, the least crowded trains are between around 9.30am & 3.30pm Mondays to Fridays. On weekends, you will find cheap fares even for the early morning services. However, try and avoid Sundays as that is the day when most engineering work takes place. (The lines that you will be on are currently being electrified). If the ticket inspector is picky, they may demand a surcharge if on the ‘wrong’ train.

To get some idea of the fares, go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and put PAD > MIM
Then try out different dates to see how the fares vary. If you wish to pre-book, do this with www.gwr.com
You can collect your tickets when you arrives from a Ticket Machine by inputting your booking number and the same Debit card on which you made the booking. (Staffed ticket offices may also do this for you and you do not have to wait for the day of the trip).

I think the above relating to advance tickets is potentially risky advice considering the way GWR operates. Note that from Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford there will always be someone on board the train in addition to the driver and as some stations do not have ticket offices there are likely to be ticket checks. Travelling without a valid ticket puts the action at the discretion of the employee you end up dealing with. It would be best in these circumstances to get permission before boarding - and even then there can be problems down the line.

Advance tickets can be very cheap even at peak times weekdays on this service, for reasons only known to GWR.

Thank you all that is helpful.

We are staying in Dalston and looking at getting to Paddington station from there with 5 of us it seems like it could be faster and possibly cheaper to take a taxi or uber rather than the overground to tube (and looks like 2 transfers).

This is the only day during our trip (other than getting to our Eurostar train) that we need to be somewhere at a specific time. How easy are taxis and ubers to catch in Dalston or is that something that people typically book a day ahead? Knowing how taxis work in both Seattle and San Francisco it can often be quite a wait between when you call for one and when it actually arrives.