Ticket from York to Oxford valid on LNER and connections. Not going to Oxford, actually Swindon. Can I get a Bristol/Cardiff/Cheltenham service out of Paddington that calls at Didcot, then get a new ticket from Didcot to Swindon to use on the same train?
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Connecting services
- Thread starter HST43257
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
If it’s an advance ticket then technically not, but in reality nobody would know, so don’t tell them. Make sure it’s not for a specific train London-Oxford rather than just any train.
As your ticket is routed "LNER & Connections", I take it you have an Advance?
If so, you may only use the booked trains. In all likelihood, you'd presumably be reserved on an Oxford/Worcester etc. semifast service out of Paddington - in which case, you have to take that train.
The rules also say that you are also not supposed to break your journey on an Advance - i.e. you can't begin your journey after the origin station shown on the ticket, or finish it before the destination. However, in practice, if you simply get off your booked Oxford service intermediately and change (without exiting the barriers), then nobody will be the wiser.
Fortunately, most Oxford-bound services (other than during the M-F peaks) do now stop at Didcot, so you could get off there and change. Otherwise you could get off at Reading and change.
Fares from Didcot westwards are generally quite affordable.
If so, you may only use the booked trains. In all likelihood, you'd presumably be reserved on an Oxford/Worcester etc. semifast service out of Paddington - in which case, you have to take that train.
The rules also say that you are also not supposed to break your journey on an Advance - i.e. you can't begin your journey after the origin station shown on the ticket, or finish it before the destination. However, in practice, if you simply get off your booked Oxford service intermediately and change (without exiting the barriers), then nobody will be the wiser.
Fortunately, most Oxford-bound services (other than during the M-F peaks) do now stop at Didcot, so you could get off there and change. Otherwise you could get off at Reading and change.
Fares from Didcot westwards are generally quite affordable.
You should follow thw itinerary on the ticket.
If you've not yet bought a ticket, the forum's site will sell you an itinerary with a change at Didcot, if you specify that.
Officially you are not supposed to "break" your journey at Didcot, however if you have another ticket from there, then it could be argued the journey is not being "broken" as such; in practice you won't have any issues doing that.
I would strongly advise against getting a reserveable train which is not on your itinerary.
It may be best to simply alight at Didcot and change there for Swindon.
I’ll put it in real terms. My friend has a ticket through to Oxford that I believe only specifies an LNER journey (now complete). They would’ve been travelling from Paddington on the 1023 to Didcot (destination Oxford), but it was cancelled so they got on the 1015 Cardiff (calling Didcot and Swindon). Even if they don’t mention going to Swindon at this point, I presume the 1015 can be used as a reasonable alternative to Didcot for the GWR Oxford connection, so being on the 1015 should be fine, right?
I wish people would post the full story from the beginning; that would make it a lot simpler! 
That would be fine as it would be entirely reasonable to be connecting onto an Oxford-bound stopper at Didcot.
The only issue would be if you stayed on the same service and had a further ticket check after Didcot. You might then have to explain why you broke your journey on the Advance at Didcot. So to avoid any such conversations I'd change at Didcot.
That would be fine as it would be entirely reasonable to be connecting onto an Oxford-bound stopper at Didcot.
The only issue would be if you stayed on the same service and had a further ticket check after Didcot. You might then have to explain why you broke your journey on the Advance at Didcot. So to avoid any such conversations I'd change at Didcot.
Ok thanks very much!I wish people would post the full story from the beginning; that would make it a lot simpler!
That would be fine as it would be entirely reasonable to be connecting onto an Oxford-bound stopper at Didcot.
Trying to balance facts with a weird anonymity anxiety is not the easiest!
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
One followup question, can that unused Didcot to Oxford section be used much later in the day if my friend is travelling from Swindon to Oxford this evening (separate ticket Swindon to Didcot) or is that bending the rules too far?
Last edited:
No, it's an Advance ticket so you must travel on the booked trains. In this case, being booked on the now-cancelled 10:23 from Paddington, they can take a reasonable alternative set of services around the same time, but not a train hours later in the evening. Your Advance would have to be booked to include such a long connection in order for that to be valid. In future, your friend may wish to use a site like TrainSplit, which allows you to specify multi-hour changes, or to excess their Advance to a walk-up ticket (or buy that in the first place) if they want the flexibility to break their journey.
However, in this case there is an even easier and cheaper alternative - buy an Oxford to Swindon Off-Peak Day Return, route "not via Reading". This covers all of the intended travel and is in fact cheaper (by a pound or two) than the equivalent ticket from Didcot to Swindon!
- Status