longbridge to worcester foregate street on easements 700473 and 700474

[keyy729]

hi guys, just a quick one.

west midlands railway's service between longbridge and worcester foregate street has been abhorrent, and only deteriorating further. out of 6 work shifts in the past week, i have been late to 4 of them and one of them has been cancelled because of this service, even though it should get me to worcester foregate street 25 MINUTES before my shift starts (my work place is ON worcester high street). obviously, my manager isn't too thrilled about this and is talking about "having a discussion" about my future at his company

a couple of questions:
1. are easements 700473 and 700474 valid via worcestershire parkway? they're not operator nor via specific, so doesn't say "WMR only" or "via Droitwich Spa" - obviously it fails the fare check (£7.60 vs £31.70), but easements take priority anyways.
2. if not, what can i do? i've asked multiple station staff from GWR, XC, WMR AND National Rail, and not a single one of them can give me a cohesive answer about these easements. i've had "yes" "no" and "what the hell is a railway easement" (but god forbid i didn't know this information, i'd get fined)

because quite frankly, i'm:
a) sick of paying for a service that isn't going to get me anywhere
b) not losing my job over west midlands railway of all things

if i can't use the easements, what can i do? i can't keep asking for my shift to be pushed back each time it gets delayed, nor can i uber in. and please don't say "get a job in birmingham" - that's hard enough as it is and i'm going back to worcester in september anyways.

 

[Dewedin]

Easements 700473 and 700474 would not apply because your journey is to Worcester, not via Worcester.
It doesn't appear valid to me to travel via Worcestershire Parkway on a Longbridge to Worcester fare.
Your intended journey might require two tickets, or a season ticket valid between the extremities of your journey. If you can inform us what trains you are intending to catch then we might be able to assist with finding valid options.
Otherwise if the service is proving unreliable to get you to your place of work then you might need to complain to the operator and your MP about the poor performance, and in the meantime travel on any earlier available services.

 

[keyy729]

Longbridge to University/Birmingham New Street (WMR)
University/Birmingham New Street to Worcestershire Parkway (XC)
Worcestershire Parkway to Worcester Foregate Street (GWR)

would it work on a great malvern ticket? if it's an anytime ticket, then my journey can surely be broken at worcester foregate street, right?

 

[Watershed]

Easements 700473 and 700474 would not apply because your journey is to Worcester, not via Worcester.

That's not how it is encoded for journey planners to apply. The handy eNRG browser tool decodes it as follows:

When…

• using tickets routed { 00000 ANY PERMITTED }

---

If all of the below apply to the journey:

• starts at { Droitwich Spa [DTW] Worcester Foregate Street [WOF] Worcester Shrub Hill [WOS] }
• ends at { Barnt Green [BTG] Longbridge [LOB] }
• passes through at least one of { Bournville [BRV]Five Ways [FWY]Kings Norton [KNN]Longbridge [LOB]Northfield [NFD]Selly Oak [SLY]University (Birmingham) [UNI] }
• passes through all of { Birmingham New Street [BHM] }

then the journey may double-back through { Bournville [BRV]Five Ways [FWY]Kings Norton [KNN]Longbridge [LOB]Northfield [NFD]Selly Oak [SLY]University (Birmingham) [UNI] }

It doesn't appear valid to me to travel via Worcestershire Parkway on a Longbridge to Worcester fare.

It is a mapped route you can trace on map BI without doubling back through any station, so I don't see why you suggest it would be invalid.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jul 2026 ==

Longbridge to University/Birmingham New Street (WMR)
University/Birmingham New Street to Worcestershire Parkway (XC)
Worcestershire Parkway to Worcester Foregate Street (GWR)

would it work on a great malvern ticket? if it's an anytime ticket, then my journey can surely be broken at worcester foregate street, right?

That would be one option but as above, there is no need to buy a ticket to Great Malvern and indeed the easement, as encoded and used by journey planners, would not apply to a Great Malvern ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jul 2026 ==

2. if not, what can i do? i've asked multiple station staff from GWR, XC, WMR AND National Rail, and not a single one of them can give me a cohesive answer about these easements. i've had "yes" "no" and "what the hell is a railway easement" (but god forbid i didn't know this information, i'd get fined)

Asking frontline staff is a recipe for getting misinformation; none of them will have a clue what you are on about. In general terms, they will judge your ticket by whether it 'feels' reasonable, if they even inspect it in detail at all.

 

[Kite159]

It is a mapped route you can trace on map BI without doubling back through any station, so I don't see why you suggest it would be invalid.

Because you can't get from Longbridge to Worcestershire Parkway without doubling back via University due to the lack of trains which call at both Bromsgrove & Worcestershire Parkway?

 

[Watershed]

Because you can't get from Longbridge to Worcestershire Parkway without doubling back via University due to the lack of trains which call at both Bromsgrove & Worcestershire Parkway?

The above easements allows you to double back via University or New Street.

 

[Swedenorer]

I wouldn't investigate any further since the journey times given by the forum site for the three stages you mentioned are either 1h 47 m or 2h 8m outward with a wait at Parkway of 50 minutes in each case. There is a service departing at 07.12 that only takes 70 minutes but seemingly this journey via the planners has to be done as a split. As far as I can see in a best case scenario ignoring that one service the best return journey time is 3h 15m. For places only 20 miles apart this seems extreme. The best alternative I can find on a standard ticket is via Droitwich at 1h 13m change Bromsgrove but they all depend on the Longbridge departures being right time.

Incidentally I only did this search after a terrible experience twenty years ago when I had to do jobs on Bromsgrove, Redditch and Worcester on the same day travelling from Cheltenham and had to wait what seemed like hours at Bromsgrove station which appeared to be doing its best not to actually be in Bromsgrove at all. Nothing seemed to connect sensibly. Another one involving Stratford on Avon via The Lakes and I never took any work in that area again.

 

[keyy729]

i mean, i don't care about the time it takes to get there. what i care about is that i can actually get there. i completely agree that bromsgrove tries so hard to not be in bromsgrove and actually does an amazing job as such, making bus connections to worcester if the trains are cancelled completely impossible.

i've been struggling to find a cohesive answer about these two easements, yet i'm struggling, and national rail have basically summarised their email to "ask national rail" - as if that's what i was doing the entire time

 

[Watershed]

i mean, i don't care about the time it takes to get there. what i care about is that i can actually get there. i completely agree that bromsgrove tries so hard to not be in bromsgrove and actually does an amazing job as such, making bus connections to worcester if the trains are cancelled completely impossible.

i've been struggling to find a cohesive answer about these two easements, yet i'm struggling, and national rail have basically summarised their email to "ask national rail" - as if that's what i was doing the entire time

As mentioned, you're not going to get an accurate answer from any frontline member of staff. They simply don't have the training! The Routeing Guide is complex enough for those of us who have to understand it for our work - it's not something you can just guess at.

 

[Swedenorer]

Is the fact that BI only shows Worcester Group which does not include Parkway cause the problem with these easements?

 

[Watershed]

Is the fact that BI only shows Worcester Group which does not include Parkway cause the problem with these easements?

There is no issue with the easements as far as I can tell. Worcestershire Parkway is not a member of the Worcester Routeing Point Group, it is just 'associated' with it (along with other Routeing Points). So it is a station you can pass through whilst tracing a mapped route, without it needing to be shown on the map.

 

[Egg Centric]

if i can't use the easements, what can i do? i can't keep asking for my shift to be pushed back each time it gets delayed, nor can i uber in. and please don't say "get a job in birmingham" - that's hard enough as it is and i'm going back to worcester in september anyways.

Reading between the lines I'm guessing that you're pretty young and this is a temp job you're not hugely bothered about one way or the other*

Ignoring the rail bit for the moment which others are answering - from a "life perspective" can you aim to get in signficantly (say an hour) earlier, and if you're on time either clock on early or if that's not possible fill your time with something productive or at least stimulating.

*I don't recommend such a laxadasical approach to first jobs personally but I'm not your parent and also I'm being a total hypocrite

 

[Swedenorer]

There is no issue with the easements as far as I can tell. Worcestershire Parkway is not a member of the Worcester Routeing Point Group, it is just 'associated' with it (along with other Routeing Points). So it is a station you can pass through whilst tracing a mapped route, without it needing to be shown on the map.

I agree but the fact remains I cannot get any journey planner to sell me a ticket via New Street or Parkway without splitting at Northfield. The OP seems sanguine about the journey times but it seems in all cases he's still at the mercy of the WMR Longbridge service. Even just doubling back from New Street the best journey is 77 minutes which works out at 18 mph for the actual trip required.

 

[keyy729]

Reading between the lines I'm guessing that you're pretty young and this is a temp job you're not hugely bothered about one way or the other*

Ignoring the rail bit for the moment which others are answering - from a "life perspective" can you aim to get in signficantly (say an hour) earlier, and if you're on time either clock on early or if that's not possible fill your time with something productive or at least stimulating.

*I don't recommend such a laxadasical approach to first jobs personally but I'm not your parent and also I'm being a total hypocrite

i'm 19 but this isn't a temp job, nor is it my first.

i want to see the other options of getting there purely because i want to keep the job - i'm not best thrilled knowing that my manager is happy with my performance but (agreeingly) upset about the trains. i keep in contact with him outside of work and let him know what's happening as soon as i know. it stops being a problem in september when i move back to worcester but, obviously for now, i need different ways to get to work in case something does happen on the trains, as i do love my job.

the reason i asked about worcestershire parkway is because it means i only have to leave my house 20 minutes earlier instead of a whole hour, still gets me there on time, and if it's cancelled, i can still have the option of the hereford service, if it decides to turn up. i also wouldn't mind trying to get in an hour earlier, however, everything in worcester is closed at this point of the day so i'd be sat on a bench.

i don't want to sound like a prick, purely because at the end of the day i am asking for help, and i know it's complicated, which is why i'm just reading and not putting my two cents in (i don't know what's what about easements - i thought it would be valid but some station staff said no and then i had to make sure i wasn't going to get fined) - it's just been a bit of a stressful situation knowing my job could come down to the trains, and national rail's emails have purely been "ask national rail"

thank you guys for your help in the meantime though - as long as i'm making sure that i can travel through worcestershire parkway on a £7.60 ticket, that actually gets me home 10 minutes faster than the birmingham new street service too

 

[Swedenorer]

The plain fact is that I cannot get any journey planner to validate this with an itinerary and issue a ticket. The forum site will do it with splits at £11.20. National Tail will do it as splits at £15.20.

In my view you try it with the £7.60 at your own risk

 

[Shrewbly]

There seems to be something broken somewhere with Worcestershire Parkway fares which may be affecting this.

I recently found myself near Worcestershire Parkway needing to get to Northfield. OK, I thought, I should just be able to double-back at University, but the site's ticketing seemed to show that the any permitted single is not valid to double-back at University, but it is valid via New Street, even though using University would obviously be the quicker and shorter route. I couldn't work out why, but as I ended up getting a lift I didn't investigate further.

 

[keyy729]

i mean i found this for this saturday, but it’s only the 8:12 train, the rest don’t show up

 

[Fawkes Cat]

it stops being a problem in september when i move back to worcester but, obviously for now, i need different ways to get to work in case something does happen on the trains, as i do love my job.

It's not quick, but have you considered the bus instead? Rome2Rio seems to suggest that taking an X20 to Bromsgrove then a 144 to Worcester would do the journey in around 2 hours (source: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Longbr...?route=Bus-line-144-bus&accom_comparison=true). But I have no idea how the reliability of buses compares to that of the trains.

 

[michaelh]

It's not quick, but have you considered the bus instead? Rome2Rio seems to suggest that taking an X20 to Bromsgrove then a 144 to Worcester would do the journey in around 2 hours (source: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Longbr...?route=Bus-line-144-bus&accom_comparison=true). But I have no idea how the reliability of buses compares to that of the trains.

The 144 service has been reduced to half hourly - pre Covid it ran every 15 minutes. It has been pretty reliable recently.

If the OP wanted to go via Parkway, the X50 Evesham - Worcester bus calls there every 30 minutes.

 

[Watershed]

The 144 service has been reduced to half hourly - pre Covid it ran every 15 minutes. It has been pretty reliable recently.

If the OP wanted to go via Parkway, the X50 Evesham - Worcester bus calls there every 30 minutes.

Worth noting that a weekly FirstBus Worcestershire season ticket costs £30 (i.e. £6 a day if used 5 days a week) and a monthly is £90 (average of £4.14 per day, varying depending on the number of working days in the month).

For the train, an Anytime Day Return fare with a Railcard (valid during July and August) is £6.05. From September onwards, the undiscounted fare would be £9.20.

So the bus is cheaper if the OP travels 5 days a week and can commit to a monthly season ticket, but pretty much the same cost during July and August if they only want to buy weekly seasons.

 

[Andrew1395]

A journey via University and Worcestershire Parkway fails the fares check as the origin fare (Longbridge) is lower than the University fare. So the double back through Longbridge invalidates the itinerary. The OP could ask WMT to sponsor another easement to resolve this. Easements 700473 and 700474 predate Worcestershire Parkway, and if the performance issues are temporary, the new easement could be dated to end at say the start of the next timetable.

 

[yorkie]

It would need a Routeing Point easement for Birmingham.

The current easement is not even considered because BHM fails the fares check, and there is no easement specifically for that.

Yes WMT could request such an easement, but I doubt they would.

Ideally there should be a Not via Birmingham at the current price, and a more expensive Any Permitted, with the additional easement to allow it.

 

[Watershed]

A journey via University and Worcestershire Parkway fails the fares check as the origin fare (Longbridge) is lower than the University fare. So the double back through Longbridge invalidates the itinerary. The OP could ask WMT to sponsor another easement to resolve this. Easements 700473 and 700474 predate Worcestershire Parkway, and if the performance issues are temporary, the new easement could be dated to end at say the start of the next timetable.

The easement is labeled as a "doubleback" easement and so by any reasonable reading of the text, explicitly allows doubling back via Birmingham.

Turning to how journey planners interpret the easement, it looks like most of them treat Longbridge to Birmingham as the 'local' journey to a Routeing Point and thus treat the route as invalid, because Birmingham fails the fares check. They would need it to be a Routeing Point easement to validate the route via Birmingham.

However, in my view this treatment is incorrect. The 'local' journey to the Routeing Point is Longbridge to Bromsgrove. It just so happens that this involves going via Birmingham, but this is permitted by the doubleback easement.

There is nothing in the Routeing Guide which says that local journeys cannot pass through another Routeing Point on the way to a Routeing Point which passes the fares check. There is a provision which says that when tracing mapped routes you cannot pass through Routeing Points which fail the fares check - if that provision was intended to apply to local journeys too, it would have to say so.

As a counterfactual, let's imagine that Longbridge was a Routeing Point in its own right. In that case the fares check would never come into it, and the doubleback easement would allow journey planners to validate the journey via Birmingham. I don't see why passengers should be penalised for the fact that Longbridge isn't a Routeing Point; quite clearly, the intention is for the doubleback to be permitted.

 

[greaterangrier]

The e-Routeing Guide (which journey planners use) states that the first encountered routeing point is the (starting) routeing point.

 

[keyy729]

is this the same for condition 28.2 of the NR conditions of travel?

eg: train tomorrow to work, and back, has been cancelled. getting to worcestershire parkway tomorrow morning is impossible as the XC train there is cancelled from university, but on the way back, would it be valid for the 60+ minutes delay?

i'd use the bus tomorrow morning, however, adding NX fare to Bromsgrove and First Fare becomes more expensive than the train, which would be unviable to buy until september

 

[Watershed]

is this the same for condition 28.2 of the NR conditions of travel?

eg: train tomorrow to work, and back, has been cancelled. getting to worcestershire parkway tomorrow morning is impossible as the XC train there is cancelled from university, but on the way back, would it be valid for the 60+ minutes delay?

i'd use the bus tomorrow morning, however, adding NX fare to Bromsgrove and First Fare becomes more expensive than the train, which would be unviable to buy until september

Condition 28.2 obliges any operator to assist you in a situation where you would otherwise be completely stranded. It generally isn't understood as applying where there are still alternative trains available, even if they are multiple hours later.

If the delay is anticipated to be more than 60 minutes you still have the right to re-routing under the PRO, but the important distinction between that and condition 28.2 is that PRO rights can only be exercised against the operator 'at fault', i.e. WMT in this case. Whilst condition 28.2 applies to any operator that could assist you.

So in other words, since there are still later trains, you need to take it up with WMT for them to arrange any ticket acceptance necessary to take the quickest available alternative (though as above, I remain of the view that going via Birmingham is quite intentionally valid).

 

[keyy729]

That's not how it is encoded for journey planners to apply. The handy eNRG browser tool decodes it as follows:




It is a mapped route you can trace on map BI without doubling back through any station, so I don't see why you suggest it would be invalid.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jul 2026 ==


That would be one option but as above, there is no need to buy a ticket to Great Malvern and indeed the easement, as encoded and used by journey planners, would not apply to a Great Malvern ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jul 2026 ==


Asking frontline staff is a recipe for getting misinformation; none of them will have a clue what you are on about. In general terms, they will judge your ticket by whether it 'feels' reasonable, if they even inspect it in detail at all.

i had a quick look at the browser, and via worcestershire parkway tickets all boxes for 701169 and 701171

- travels through all: birmingham new street
- travels through at least one: university, longbridge etc
- starts/ends at worcester foregate street, worcester shrub hill, or droitwich spa
- starts/ends at longbridge or barnt green

obviously the snow hill lines would be out of the run as they’re north of new street and therefore invalid, but nothing here says anything worcestershire parkway, nor are there any negative easements for this route.

what’s interesting to me is that it’s a crosscountry easement. i thought easements were made by national rail, national rail told me this one was made by WMR, so i’m kinda flabbergasted at that. surely that’s a point in the favour of WOP as crosscountry stop there, and that’s the only XC way to get to worcester foregate street. the ticket obviously passes all checks, so it’s now only if it doesn’t go through the scanner on an XC train (gwr won’t scan between worcestershire parkway and worcester foregate street)

 

[Swedenorer]

You can't have selective reading. The criteria you mention cannot override the fact that Parkway is not mentioned in the permitted doubleback routes at all. I don't see how you can get past that. This easement is clearly intended to give pax from and to Worcester FS and SH some flexibility in reaching some intermediate stations.

 

[Haywain]

the fact that Parkway is not mentioned in the permitted doubleback routes at all.

But there is no doubleback in travelling via Worcestershire Parkway.

 

[Swedenorer]

Only if you travel via Worcester - same fare - which in this case would be pointless as the destination is Foregate Street. There is no direct service southbound that stops at any relevant station. To travel via northbound you have to double back via University to XC but that doubleback easement does not mention Parkway. There may be historical reasons for that but that's the way it is.