From north sheen to Waterloo station

[TheOchreFinch]

May I ask please, if I need to get from north sheen to Waterloo everyday, and I buy a monthly pass, do I still need to book a ticket everyday online? Can I just use the monthly pass and hop on and off like the London tube? Sorry I am an international student new to UK.

Just use your contactless card or an Oyster card like you do on the tube. It's all part of the same system.

If you’ve bought a monthly pass, you don’t need to buy another ticket online each day for the journey covered by your pass. You will need to scan in and out with your pass ticket though.

A monthly pass (season ticket) for south west trains will be cheaper, if you are using it daily, than using oyster (contactless card payment). You do not need to do both. I would strongly recommend going and having a conversation at the station with one of the ticket office staff about what your options are.

I will definitely buy the monthly pass. Do I just tap in and out? Do I need to book a seat each day? Is it like the London tube

You don't need to book a seat.
It is like the tube - you just tap in and out.
All the transport within the London zones (you are starting in zone 3) is linked so your monthly ticket will cover the train, tube and bus.

Is the rail the only way to get to north sheen? Any other way? Tube?

Rail is the best way. If there are any problems then as an alternative you could get the District line from Embankment to Richmond.

I suggest you download the Citymapper app which is easy to use and gives routes and costs.

Catching the train will be quicker (about half the time) than catching a tube then a bus. It's a commuter train, they'd laugh at you if you tried to book a seat! As somebody else said, the Citymapper app is your friend

Just treat it like a tube that runs over ground. Do look at the buses from Putney so that if there is a problem with the train you know how to get the tube to and from Embankment (just the other side of the river to waterloo) and then the bus to Sheen.

Make sure you get an Oyster card rather than using your bank card and use that - students get a 10% discount on the monthly cost. Your uni (Kings?) will be able to verify your student status.

This depends on what type of monthly pass you get. Because North Sheen is in the London “zones”, you can choose to get a travel card or Oyster card, which cover all transport within those London zones, OR you can get a rail monthly pass between two specified stations, which only allows you to do that particular journey and no other.

North Sheen is in London zone 3, so if you got a travel or Oyster card, you’d need one for zones 1-3. It’s a very small station, which only has a train line. Also, if you get trains direct from north Sheen to Waterloo, they will be the slower trains, as the faster ones only stop at a few bigger stations and go straight through the smaller ones. If you’re v close to north Sheen station it’s probably still best to do this, but do look to see if you can more easily get to Richmond or Barnes or somewhere if that gives you more flexibility. (Note that if you wanted to go to Richmond, that’s zone 4 so you’d need a zone 1-4 pass).

As a student you can get cheaper fares but you need to plan in advance with photo card etc.
https://content.tfl.gov.uk/18-plus-student-oyster-photocard-fares.pdf

Here’s a map of the zones and what station is where (click on view map) https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/track

The monthly season train tickets that just would literally allow you to go from north Sheen to Waterloo and back don’t allow student discount https://www.southwesternrailway.com/train-tickets/season-tickets/monthly-train-tickets
I think this is still cheaper than getting the oyster monthly pass, but it is more restrictive- you may find it is really worth having a zone 1-3 or 1-4 pass, as this will allow you to get any tubes or buses or other train journeys within this zone all included. It all depends on what you’re likely to be doing.

For all of these, you’d have your monthly pass and treat it as your ticket - swipe in and out with it each time you make your journey.

@TheOchreFinch

I looked at the tfl prices yesterday and a zone 1 - 4 (they don't seem to specify 1 -3) weekly price cap was just over £50. A monthly ticket that covers all trains, tubes and buses (which I assume is on an Oyster card not a paper ticket) was £190.
So not a huge difference.
But it does depend if you can get student discounts - that might make it cheaper to get a monthly one.
But you definitely don't want a monthly ticket that is literally just North Sheen - Waterloo because it doesn't give you any flexibility.
The £50 weekly cap will also cover all trains, tubes, buses within the London zones.

Thank you all for your good advice.