Questions surrounding Dumbarton stations

I have 2 questions surrounding the 3 stations in Dumbarton - Dumbarton East, Dumbarton Central, and Dalreoch. (I will refer to the first 2 stations as Central and East, for conciseness).

1. Which of these 3 stations does the “Dumbarton (Any)” fare option include? Bizarrely, only East and Central seem to be included, despite Dalreoch being closer to Central than East is. Also, fares from Dalreoch generally cost the same as from Central (e.g. £6.70 for a return to Glasgow), whereas the cost from East is slightly different.

2. Given that fares from Dalreoch and Central are the same, how would delay repay work, for example, for a Glasgow to Dalreoch ticket, where the train terminated short at Central (or, the train runs non stop from Dumbarton Central to Helensburgh Central)? This happens quite frequently to me . I don’t bother with delay repay when this happens, because it’s relatively easy for me to walk home from Dumbarton Central - just curious!

amahy said:

I have 2 questions surrounding the 3 stations in Dumbarton - Dumbarton East, Dumbarton Central, and Dalreoch. (I will refer to the first 2 stations as Central and East, for conciseness).

1. Which of these 3 stations does the “Dumbarton (Any)” fare option include? Bizarrely, only East and Central seem to be included, despite Dalreoch being closer to Central than East is. Also, fares from Dalreoch generally cost the same as from Central (e.g. £6.70 for a return to Glasgow), whereas the cost from East is slightly different.

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None of them. There is no "Dumbarton Stations" fares group. Tickets are priced to/from specific stations.

"Dumbarton (Any)" is something Trainline (and potentially other providers) have made up.

amahy said:

1. Which of these 3 stations does the “Dumbarton (Any)” fare option include? Bizarrely, only East and Central seem to be included, despite Dalreoch being closer to Central than East is. Also, fares from Dalreoch generally cost the same as from Central (e.g. £6.70 for a return to Glasgow), whereas the cost from East is slightly different.

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To add to what @CyrusWuff said about the lack of a group, the fare for one journey relative to another generally has no impact on the validity. The validity of train tickets works on the principle of permitted routes rather than what's reasonable; often the two are not the same!

Only in a very small number of cases would it make a difference (when a potential Routeing Point fails the fares check), and even then it would be the fares back in September 1996 that would be compared rather than present ones.

amahy said:

2. Given that fares from Dalreoch and Central are the same, how would delay repay work, for example, for a Glasgow to Dalreoch ticket, where the train terminated short at Central (or, the train runs non stop from Dumbarton Central to Helensburgh Central)? This happens quite frequently to me . I don’t bother with delay repay when this happens, because it’s relatively easy for me to walk home from Dumbarton Central - just curious!

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When claiming Delay Repay, the duration of the delay - which determines the percentage applied when calculating compensation - is worked out based on the journey you say you have made.

If you say that you travelled to Dumbarton Central it will look at how late you got there, or a hypothetical traveller would have done. If you say that you travelled to Dalreoch then it will do it based on the available trains to there.

The ticket you buy is not necessarily the same as the journey you are claiming for. You're entitled to break your journey at Dumbarton Central on most tickets (except Advances) for example. But the cost of a ticket to Dumbarton Central wouldn't determine the compensation you get - it will still be calculated as the applicable percentage of the price you actually paid.

If you're in the Dumbarton West (that's Dalreoch btw) area, make sure you pop along to The Waverley (Drew Busby's old pub) for a post prandial libation.