+ connections ?

[30mog]

When you buy an advance single it is obvious which train you are tied to. Then it says '+connections'. Does that mean anything within reason, or is there a time limit? For example, I am going Sheffield to Portsmouth with southbound leg a CC train through to Basingstoke plus connection. Well this is easy, when I get to Basingstoke I will just await the first available train to Portsmouth.

Coming back however, I am routed via London & Doncaster on an Advance. The compulsory train is the 18:55 Kings Cross to Doncaster. This I find a little ambiguous since +connections first of all is a train from Portsmouth to London, which actually takes longer than the booked train. My guess is, if I boarded at Portsmouth after noon, ticket checkers would be happy enough. But, say it were 9AM, so I could have a bit of an excursion in London on route, would they question it? According to the timetable, the recommended service is the one departing Fratton at 15:57. Before now, I have caught a connection perhaps one before the time supplied and no questions have been asked.

 

[maniacmartin]

You must use the trains you are given reservation coupons for. For the 'connections' you can use any reasonable train on which it is not possible to reserve a seat.

You can find out which trains it is possible to reserve a seat on by looking in timetables for an 'R' in a box (and also some booking engines that use WebTIS). As to what's a reasonable train, thats somewhat subjective. I'd say leaving no more than 2 hours between trains is reasonable.

Note that you are not supposed to break your journey in the middle of an Advance ticket journey, although obviously in London there is no way this would be detected.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Coming back however, I am routed via London & Doncaster on an Advance. The compulsory train is the 18:55 Kings Cross to Doncaster. This I find a little ambiguous since +connections first of all is a train from Portsmouth to London, which actually takes longer than the booked train.

It isn't ambiguous. The 'compulsory train' as you put it is one which offers reservations; the duration of travel is immaterial to the the 'compulsion'. If it was physically possible to reserve a seat on a service, then an Advance ticket would generate a reservation.

My guess is, if I boarded at Portsmouth after noon, ticket checkers would be happy enough. But, say it were 9AM, so I could have a bit of an excursion in London on route, would they question it? According to the timetable, the recommended service is the one departing Fratton at 15:57. Before now, I have caught a connection perhaps one before the time supplied and no questions have been asked.

maniacmartin is absolutely correct, but I will add that the "reasonable" test is not normally applied if the ticket is valid for the day of travel and the designated time of travel has not passed nor become impossible. Don't worry about it.

Stating that it is your intention to "have a bit of an excursion" would definitely violate the permissions attached to your ticket. But, I assume that you smoke. When you ask any platform staff where you can enjoy a cigarette while making your journey, then any passenger at an English station wishing to smoke will be directed to leave the station and to return later. I hope you would follow any such direction given to you by any railway staff.

 

[yorkie]

This crops up quite often, some examples include:

• Grantham to Poole 'EC & Connections' Advance ticket query
• "& Connections" Advance question
• EMT + Connections Internet Advance
• Definition of an acceptable delay on a +connections ticket
• East Coast & Connections

and here's what I posted about a year ago:

The rules state that you may take "appropriate" connecting trains, and The Advance FAQs in The Manual provides some additional information:

Q25. Can passengers on an advance ticket travel on earlier connecting trains?

A. Yes if it is non-reservable, no if it is reservable.

An exception that benefits customers: Where East Coast is a connecting TOC from Stevenage via London and vice versa e.g "AP London Reading" or "VWC & connections", East Coast waives the need for travel on the exact East Coast train booked on this relatively short journey Stevenage-Kings Cross, even though retail systems will force a reservation to be made.

Some recent topics include:

• Early connection on advance ticket?
• Advance ticket advice
• Newcastle - Kirkcaldy Advance ticket
• St Albans City to Bath Spa
• Valid travel itinerary
• VWC and connections' advance ticket
• Advance Tickets.unreserved seats
• Unreserved portion on an AP ticket...
• St Albans - Bridgend advanced ticket
• Breaking journey on unreserved last leg of AP ticket
• Advance fare train limitations
• "Advance ticket" question
• AP EMT + Connections: Do time restrictions apply to SWT portion too?
• EMT +cnnectns Leeds - Sheffield
• Tickets 'with Connections'
• Hayle to Paddington
• Advance Tickets: Question on Restrictions.

Another useful place is our RailUK Fares & Ticketing Guide, which has information on Advance tickets, and we also supply ATOC's 'Advance Fares FAQ' from The Manual as an attachment (with their permission). If there's anything that still isn't clear, let us know (but bear in mind terms such as reasonable and appropriate are open to interpretation!)

 

[30mog]

Errrrr.....no I don't smoke! BTW. Is a break of journey putting both feet on the platform, or, putting both feet on the platform and not re-boarding the same train?

Just as a matter of interest. I used a day return back to front this evening. I made the short trip from Fratton to Portsmouth Harbour. Fratton ticket office had closed. The first train that rolled up was a FGW. On which the guard told me to purchase a ticket at PH. Where there was also no one on the ticket office. So I just purchased a PH to Fratton DR. No one checked it!

 

[island]

Neither. A break of journey occurs when you leave a station not on a train, other than in accordance with the instructions of train staff, to stay in overnight accommodation where your journey can't be reasonably completed in a single day, or to make a connection with a train at another station.

If you leave a booked train in the middle of your journey, you have not broken your journey until you leave the station, but you may no longer have a valid ticket to anywhere!

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Errrrr.....no I don't smoke!

That's not the point. It is enough for us to assume that you do, and for you to have the conversation with platform staff based on that assumption.

As island noted, you may 'break a journey' on the instruction of railway staff.

 

[30mog]

Boarded a train an hour earlier than suggested. No questions asked. Now at Parcel Yard, KX, having a pint of Traitors Gate. As I am we'll early. Could have stayed on Piccadilly Line to Cockfosters and back!