Buying a ticket to/from a station group

[niconico]

Hey!

Whenever I purchase a return e-ticket to London Euston from my home station (as that's the terminus I can access from here), I often get a ticket for "London Terminals".

There have been times where I've bought a return to Manchester Piccadilly/Victoria and I've received a ticket for "Manchester Stations" as well.

It seems really inconsistent what I get, and I can't figure out/remember how I'm able to specifically get this.

Having a 'stations' ticket is quite valuable when it comes to travelling to/from Manchester because it means I can either get the faster train from Victoria, or if it's later in the evening, go from Piccadilly instead, or maybe I just want to travel on a different operator (sometimes I travel specifically with Avanti because I find their on-board hot chocolate really tasty lol), removing the need to plan so far ahead.

I'm aware "via any permitted route" tickets exist, however that's just travel between the start and end, when I'd want to go to any end.

So I guess to sum it up, is there a way to get these kinds of vague tickets on purpose?

 

[Dirty_Mac]

You can just set your destination to "Manchester Stations" or "London Terminals" etc. in the ticketing website.

 

[mikeg]

In the case of, say, Manchester to London, the 'any permitted' tickets are 'Manchester Stations' to 'London Terminals', as are the 'Via Chesterfield' tickets (though in practice that would mean going to St Pancras on the London end rather than Euston). However the advances routed Avanti West Coast and also the LNR and TFW only tickets are from Manchester Pic to London Euston. If you're travelling on an advance you have to stick to the exact itinerary anyway so this doesn't really take anything away. Meanwhile the 'any permitted' tickets allow you to travel via the shortest route, on any through train or any route allowed by the National Routeing Guide, so you are allowed to use any appropriate Manchester Station or London Terminal.

 

[Tester]

In the case of, say, Manchester to London, the 'any permitted' tickets are 'Manchester Stations' to 'London Terminals', as are the 'Via Chesterfield' tickets (though in practice that would mean going to St Pancras on the London end rather than Euston). However the advances routed Avanti West Coast and also the LNR and TFW only tickets are from Manchester Pic to London Euston. If you're travelling on an advance you have to stick to the exact itinerary anyway so this doesn't really take anything away. Meanwhile the 'any permitted' tickets allow you to travel via the shortest route, on any through train or any route allowed by the National Routeing Guide, so you are allowed to use any appropriate Manchester Station or London Terminal.

Another complication is that you can have a ticket to stations it is not valid to!

I had an off peak ticket recently to 'Liverpool Stations' which actually listed them on the ticket (Liverpool Lime Street or Central or James Street or Moorfields) but was only valid to Lime Street.

The railway really doesn't help itself!

 

[mikeg]

Another complication is that you can have a ticket to stations it is not valid to!

I had an off peak ticket recently to 'Liverpool Stations' which actually listed them on the ticket (Liverpool Lime Street or Central or James Street or Moorfields) but was only valid to Lime Street.

The railway really doesn't help itself!

Oh quite! That'swhy I said 'appropriate Manchester Station or London Terminal'. This is particularly relevant in the case of London Terminals, if the OP wanted to travel on a Thameslink train having travelled via Chesterfield they would have to alight at St Pancras, despite some of the further stations being in the list of London Terminals, a London Thameslink ticket, which doesn't appear to exist for the flows the OP is talking about, would be required. Personally if there's one area ripe for simplification which could be done in favour of the passenger at minimal cost, it['s the whole London Terminals/London Thameslink thing. Tbh I didn't understand it until recenlty.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Another complication is that you can have a ticket to stations it is not valid to!

I had an off peak ticket recently to 'Liverpool Stations' which actually listed them on the ticket (Liverpool Lime Street or Central or James Street or Moorfields) but was only valid to Lime Street.

The railway really doesn't help itself!

The off peak single/return London Terminals to Liverpool Stations is also valid via Chester and Merseyrail so all four are valid destinations.

 

[Tester]

The off peak single/return London Terminals to Liverpool Stations is also valid via Chester and Merseyrail so all four are valid destinations.

That may well be, but my ticket wasn't!

 

[yorkie]

That may well be, but my ticket wasn't!

It would still technically be valid to any of the stations in the group, but I'm guessing you chose an operator restricted fare, which is the real reason you couldn't reach the full range of stations in the group .

This complaint is the reason some operator specific fares are only issued to the named station(s) usually served by the relevant operator.

In this case I would assume Avanti or West Midlands Trains, in which case no harm in the fares being restricted to Lime Street.

However in some cases it causes problems during engineering works; a good example is GWR into Marylebone/Waterloo.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Sep 2025 ==

Hey!

Whenever I purchase a return e-ticket to London Euston from my home station (as that's the terminus I can access from here), I often get a ticket for "London Terminals".

There have been times where I've bought a return to Manchester Piccadilly/Victoria and I've received a ticket for "Manchester Stations" as well. It seems really inconsistent what I get, and I can't figure out/remember how I'm able to specifically get this. Having a 'stations' ticket is quite valuable when it comes to travelling to/from Manchester because it means I can either get the faster train from Victoria, or if it's later in the evening, go from Piccadilly instead, or maybe I just want to travel on a different operator (sometimes I travel specifically with Avanti because I find their on-board hot chocolate really tasty lol), removing the need to plan so far ahead.

I'm aware "via any permitted route" tickets exist, however that's just travel between the start and end, when I'd want to go to any end.

So I guess to sum it up, is there a way to get these kinds of vague tickets on purpose?

Use our forum's ticketing site and choose an "open return" from Manchester Stations to wherever, and then click the option to choose ticket selection and check you are happy with the flexibility the ticket offers.

We don't charge a booking fee, do it won't be more expensive than buying from a train company. It would be cheaper than Trainline, if not bought on the day using their app.

 

[Haywain]

In this case I would assume Avanti or West Midlands Trains, in which case no harm in the fares being restricted to Lime Street.

Although someone wanting to go to Liverpool might select the wrong station (Liverpool Central would seem more obvious) and not see all of the fares

 

[Tester]

It would still technically be valid to any of the stations in the group, but I'm guessing you chose an operator restricted fare, which is the real reason you couldn't reach the full range of stations in the group .

This complaint is the reason some operator specific fares are only issued to the named station(s) usually served by the relevant operator.

In this case I would assume Avanti or West Midlands Trains, in which case no harm in the fares being restricted to Lime Street.

However in some cases it causes problems during engineering works; a good example is GWR into Marylebone/Waterloo.

Yes it was the recent LNR/WMT promotion, so operator specific.

Perfectly reasonable, but just seemed daft to specifically mention stations where not valid!

 

[Fenchurch SP]

What are the rules regarding passing through one of the Stations to reach another?
I'm specifically thinking of Merstham to Croydon Stations where you can generate an itinerary for a journey to West Croydon via East Croydon and Norwood Junction at the Croydon Stations price. The fare to West Croydon is higher if using Oyster/contactless.
Am I correct in thinking that if you have a valid itinerary then the fare is definitely correct in this case?

 

[OscarH]

You can just set your destination to "Manchester Stations" or "London Terminals" etc. in the ticketing website.

This is often not the case, it just gives you a journey to any of the group members, not necessarily a group fare.

On sites that let you choose the fare from a list it should tell you which are to/from the group