Acceptable wait between "'connection" and "booked train" on advances

[bussnapperwm]

Hi all.

Quick question.

What's the acceptable "wait" between coming off a non reserved "connection" local train and a "booked train" on an advance.

Would anyone object at the station if I was to arrive at the connecting station a hour and a bit early (say for example New Street) and partook of the station shops/upstairs restaurants in the station complex? Or would I have to religiously abide by what my itinerary when buying the tickets?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I very much doubt anyone will care about you doing that.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Hi all.

Quick question.

What's the acceptable "wait" between coming off a non reserved "connection" local train and a "booked train" on an advance.

Would anyone object at the station if I was to arrive at the connecting station a hour and a bit early (say for example New Street) and partook of the station shops/upstairs restaurants in the station complex? Or would I have to religiously abide by what my itinerary when buying the tickets?

For any portion of your journey where you have a fixed train reservation - i.e. you have a ticket which mentions a specific departure time - you must take this train, even if no seats are specified (e.g. Coach *** Seat **). For all other portions of your journey you are free to make the journey at any reasonable time on the day your ticket is valid. E.g. if you had a reservation for a 06:00 train from Euston to New Street, arriving at say 08:00, it would be fair game to take an onward connection at 09:00 or 09:30 (even if this is not the first connection), but not to take one at 18:00.

 

[class17]

I think it is worth repeating this post from Yorkie posted quite recently.

"You can get additional interchange option using some websites, e.g. Trainsplit allows this. Click "Advanced Options" and then tick 'Change at', specify your station, and enter the additional interchange time."

It is what I use when wishing to have a slightly longer connection time than what is the default one given. It just takes the stress out of possible delays.

 

[embers25]

trainscanbecheaper.info allows you to specify the exact connecting time you want (up to 99 minutes) and at which station and for up to 3 stations and is by far the best booking engine for that. It is a bit slow and cumbersome to use at times but worth the wait for issues like yours.