What does NOT VIA LONDON really mean?

[puffing billy]

This is another (long) post on what the "Not via London" route means.

Yesterday (Saturday) I got an off-peak day return from Barnes to New Milton, intending to change from the South-West trains Richmond lines, to the South-West trains Wimbledon/Southampton lines, at Clapham Junction (and vice-versa on the way back).

The outbound journey was uneventful, making the change at CLJ, but thanks to a trespasser on the line somewhere in the Poole area, my intended return train was significantly delayed.

At New Milton I caught the first train in the Southampton direction, which happened to be a "slow train" stopping at several intermediate stations. I've used this route before and was aware of the "trick" of changing to a "fast London train" at Southampton.

I asked the train dispatcher at Southampton if the train I was on would be the 1st to get to Clapham Junction and was told it would be, so I stayed on it. Already running late, I was far from amused when, quelle surprise, we stopped for 5 mins near Eastleigh just to wait to be over-taken by a "fast" train from Soton. I was even less amused a few minutes later when it was announced at Winchester that the train I was on would now be running non-stop to Waterloo and the next stopping train would be in 20 mins. [Before going further, I realise that sacrifices have to be made to get the services back normal after delays caused by trespass incidents etc.].

I decided to ignore the announcement, make up some lost time by going straight back to Waterloo, stay in the same group of platforms and get the 1st train back to Clapham Junction, and change there, without getting out at Waterloo.

However, at Waterloo none of the trains in the local group of platforms appeared to be going anywhere so I had no choice but to try my "NOT VIA LONDON" ticket at the Waterloo barriers expecting to haggle with the man at the gates when it failed.

Surprisingly, the gates opened and even more surprisingly the “NOT VIA LONDON” ticket got me back through at platform 17 for a "Richmond line" train back to Barnes. Does “NOT VIA LONDON” mean that you CAN change at a London terminal (but not use the tube perhaps?); did I encounter a glitch in the system; or were the rules relaxed on the day I travelled because of the problems at the other end of line?

I ask this because I often make this type of return journey i.e. SW-trains Wimbledon/Woking lines to SW-trains Richmond lines with a “NOT VIA LONDON” ticket and normally ignore the fast Waterloo-only trains to avoid what I’ve always considered to be an illegal change.

 

[yorkie]

How late were you at your destination?

Not via London tickets are not valid via London Terminals/London Group (it's unclear which, but it makes no material difference for you), and you would be liable to pay an excess fare of £3.10 (see Excess: change of route) unless advised to go via London due to disruption.

It sounds like the gates may have let you through due to the disruption as I doubt they're always programmed that way.

 

[najaB]

It sounds like the gates may have let you through due to the disruption as I doubt they're always programmed that way.

Indeed, as is often pointed out: barrier acceptance is not proof of validity.

 

[puffing billy]

In the end I was late by about 30 mins. Thanks for the advice, I'll continue to avoid Waterloo in the future with a Not via London ticket.

 

[bb21]

Sometimes (eg. during severe disruption) there may be special arrangements put in place to allow people with such tickets to travel via London, but these will be arranged on a case-by-case basis, and announced accordingly. Just make sure that you never assume such arrangements without actually confirming it with staff.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It sounds like the gates may have let you through due to the disruption as I doubt they're always programmed that way.

I think they may in fact be programmed; I recently asked for a ticket to a specific station and requested Via London. This journey involved changing at Waterloo for a fast train.

It was only about an hour after leaving Waterloo on the second train that I noticed the ticket in fact read "not via London" but it had worked the gates twice and passed a visual manual check after leaving Waterloo but before the first stop.

There was no disruption at all that day.

 

[fandroid]

Hazy memory here, but I thought there was an easement that allowed doubling back to Clapham Junction from Waterloo. I assumed (vaguely as usual) that was there to allow for the fact that almost no mainline long-distance SWT trains stop at Clapham in the peaks. I once found out the hard way about the peak-time lack of CJ stops, having come in from Sutton and hoping to get to Basingstoke.

 

[yorkie]

Hazy memory here, but I thought there was an easement that allowed doubling back to Clapham Junction from Waterloo. I assumed (vaguely as usual) that was there to allow for the fact that almost no mainline long-distance SWT trains stop at Clapham in the peaks. I once found out the hard way about the peak-time lack of CJ stops, having come in from Sutton and hoping to get to Basingstoke.

http://iblocks-rg-publication.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/easement_text.pdf

This one?

700014
Tickets with the following route codes may be used to double back between Clapham
Junction and London Waterloo. (Any Permitted, London, London Not Underground, Not
Valid on HS1, AP London Woking)