Split ticketing and zones 1-6 season tickets

[NaZzAtAzEr]

Hi, I have some confusion with buying tickets with the season ticket I have.

I understand that split tickets, the train you are on has to call at the station the split occurs.

But not too sure about when buying tickets to go further than zone 6.

One example is I live on the Redhill line, and sometimes work at three bridges. I may be working at Clapham or blackfriars at the beginning or end of the day. Am I entitled to get a fast train skipping my local station, providing I have the season ticket and a ticket from local station- three bridges.


Additionally, how does this work elsewhere on intercity trains. Could I buy a ticket from a station within a zone to a city not in London, or does it need to be from the terminus or other station within London zones that the train calls at

 

[Taunton]

Given there are tickets from "Boundary Zone 6" etc, where any train clearly does not call, to stations beyond, this restriction surely does not apply. As I understand it such tickets were not initially available, but introduced after a legal challenge.

 

[bcarmicle]

NRCOT 14.3 means that the rule that the train has to call at the changeover station does not apply if one of the tickets is a season ticket or a zonal ticket.

 

[NaZzAtAzEr]

Thank you very much

 

[Watershed]

NRCOT 14.3 means that the rule that the train has to call at the changeover station does not apply if one of the tickets is a season ticket or a zonal ticket.

Indeed, meaning non-stop splits are permitted with season tickets and Travelcards (whether season or daily). Worth noting that you still need to pass through the split location - for example if you had a Redhill to London Terminals season ticket and are going from Horsham to London, you could just buy a Horsham to Redhill ticket. But you couldn't then travel via Epsom as you wouldn't be going through Redhill.

 

[Haywain]

Could I buy a ticket from a station within a zone to a city not in London, or does it need to be from the terminus or other station within London zones that the train calls at

In some cases there may be no savings to be made in buying from another station within 'the zones' rather than the terminal station.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It is worth noting that a ticket issued from Boundary Zone N combined with a Travelcard is not a split ticket, it is in effect a form of excess. The NRCoT provisions on splitting do not apply to these, they are treated as through tickets. In effect, for example, a 1-6 Travelcard plus a BZ6-Bletchley return is in a practical sense exactly the same thing as a Bletchley-R1256 Travelcard except that it's used the other way round starting and finishing in London and is on 3 pieces of card rather than one.

Of course the NRCoT provisions enable using a normal point to point ticket together with a season or Travelcard for a non-stop split (plus a few other combinations) but in that case you need to pass through the changeover station.

 

[redreni]

It is worth noting that a ticket issued from Boundary Zone N combined with a Travelcard is not a split ticket, it is in effect a form of excess.

I wish!

An Off-peak Outboundary Travelcard from Maidenhead with a Network Railcard costs £17.

If you want to start in London and make a day trip to Maidenhead, you may well want to buy an Off-peak Inboundary Travelcard plus an off-peak day return from Boundary Zone 6 to Maidenhead. At the weekend that would cost £16.45 (£11 for the Travelcard and £5.45 for the Boundary Zone ticket), but in the week the £13 minimum fare means it costs £21.20.

It would be really nice if the Boundary Zone ticket were regarded as an excess, so that if you paid the fare for the Travelcard and the excess in the same transaction, the Railcard discount and minimum fare could be applied to the total cost of the ticket and the excess. That's not how it works, though.

I suppose a ticket office could disapply the minimum fare on a Travelcard plus Boundary Zone combination if they wanted, on the basis that the overall undiscounted fare is over £19.50 and therefore the 1/3 discount does not bring the overall fare below £13, but it is my understanding they'd be breaking the rules if they did this on a weekday.

Which seems harsh in the case of a passenger from London making a day trip to Maidenhead, who is disadvantaged compared to a passenger from Maidenhead making a day trip to London, simply due to the non-availability of an Outboundary Travelcard that can be used 'that way round', so to speak.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wish!

I don't think those fare/Railcard related quirks make what I said any less the case, though. It might cost more, but in effect the validity is the same, just reversed.