On 22 Mar 2006 08:56:22 -0800, "John B" wrote:

And yes, you can also get the Z1-6 paper ticket plus an extension, which
will be about the same price as a cheap day return from West Drayton to
Reading. However, you won't be allowed to take a fast train from
Paddington to Reading on that combination (AIUI, although the rules on
these things seem to be absurdly complicated).

This isn't quite right: AIUI you can use a zone boundary ticket on any
train, and it doesn't need to stop anywhere around the boundary.

During the weekday evening peak, you can't use any CDRs on FGW fast
trains, but this doesn't apply on a Sunday. I don't *think* there are
any rules that say you can only use zone boundary tickets on former NSE
TOCs.

It's not the zone boundary ticket that's the problem, it's the ODTC.
There's an obscure rule in the fares manual (I have no idea whether
it's likely to actually be enforced) that says you can't use a ODTC
(as part of a ticket combination) on any TOC (like FGW) that only has
one station in the Travelcard zones, as those TOCs don't get any
revenue from ODTCs. (Strangely, season Travelcards aren't affected by
this.)

I think your best bet is the £3 prepay to get to Paddington, and then a
simple Network Card-discounted Paddington-Reading Cheap Day Return.

And you could (if you really wanted) save the £3 by going by bus from
Z2 to Paddington.