Advance fare train limitations

[eAi]

Hi,

I've often been somewhat confused by advanced fares that use more than one train.

An example I saw last week was Victoria to Hove, via Brighton.

Only the Brighton to Hove part was covered by a reservation, so can you take any train to get to Brighton?

Also, I only wanted to go to Brighton - can I leave the station there without going to hove and coming back again?

I ended up buying a ticket from Hove to Brighton and then just using that to go through the Brighton barriers, even though I hadn't been to Hove (but had a ticket to there). It still worked out far cheaper then just buying a Victoria to Brighton ticket, but seems rather silly!

 

[ainsworth74]

Only the Brighton to Hove part was covered by a reservation, so can you take any train to get to Brighton?

This is an often hotly debated topic on here but in my view yes if you don't hold a reservation for one leg then you can use any train for that leg as long as it wouldn't cause you to miss an onward reserved connection.

Also, I only wanted to go to Brighton - can I leave the station there without going to hove and coming back again?

No stopping shot (as in leaving at Brighton without traveling to Hove) is not permitted and would render your ticket invalid and you would be liable to purchase a new Victoria to Brighton ticket.

 

[dzug2]

I'm surprised there were reservations at all - Southern generally have advance purchase tickets for particular trains, but don't have reserved seats. Not quite sure why this should be any different

 

[WelshBluebird]

No stopping shot (as in leaving at Brighton without traveling to Hove) is not permitted and would render your ticket invalid and you would be liable to purchase a new Victoria to Brighton ticket.

How can that be strictly enforced though?

Many stations have facilities (shops, food places, toilets etc) that are passed the barriers. I doubt the station staff would not allow you to access these facilities, and once you have passed the barriers, you can just wander on out in most cases

(of course, this only applies where you have to change trains at a station).

 

[yorkie]

This crops up every so often.

This has been discussed in various topics including:

• AP EMT + Connections: Do time restrictions apply to SWT portion too?
• EMT +cnnectns Leeds - Sheffield
• Tickets 'with Connections'
• Hayle to Paddington
• Advance Tickets: Question on Restrictions

I have nothing to add that I have not already said, but I will answer the question below, which again crops up regularly....

How can that be strictly enforced though?

Many stations have facilities (shops, food places, toilets etc) that are passed the barriers. I doubt the station staff would not allow you to access these facilities, and once you have passed the barriers, you can just wander on out in most cases

(of course, this only applies where you have to change trains at a station).

The rule is that you cannot break your journey. The definition of break of journey is in the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

Using station facilities does not constitute a break of journey.

 

[ainsworth74]

How can that be strictly enforced though?

As Yorkie says you can use station facilities that are past barriers as doing that does not constitute a break of journey. For instance if I was travelling on an advance and I had a change at Leeds which included a wait of say an hour I could go through the barriers and use the Wetherspoons pub at Leeds and that would not constitute a break of journey.

 

[northwichcat]

if I was travelling on an advance and I had a change at Leeds which included a wait of say an hour I could go through the barriers and use the Wetherspoons pub at Leeds and that would not constitute a break of journey.

Advance fares aren't available for many journeys with long breaks. In fact if there's a 16:00 departure with a 10 minute connection between journeys and the next is a 18:02 departure with a 68 minute connection I find that the 18:02 usually has no Advance tickets available, even if the 16:00 does.

 

[yorkie]

Advance fares aren't available for many journeys with long breaks. In fact if there's a 16:00 departure with a 10 minute connection between journeys and the next is a 18:02 departure with a 68 minute connection I find that the 18:02 usually has no Advance tickets available, even if the 16:00 does.

What is the example journey? Booking engines will try to minimise time to change trains (within the constraint of allowing the minimum time, of course) but a booking office could give you an itinerary to allow for extra time (like the National Rail site does - shame you can't book on it!)

 

[northwichcat]

What is the example journey? Booking engines will try to minimise time to change trains (within the constraint of allowing the minimum time, of course) but a booking office could give you an itinerary to allow for extra time (like the National Rail site does - shame you can't book on it!)

I don't have a recent example but I experienced it on evening services from Edinburgh that required a change at York. As the TPE service began to reduce in frequency there were more journey options without Advances.

 

[ainsworth74]

Advance fares aren't available for many journeys with long breaks.

Really didn't know that but I was simply trying to illustrate the point through a bit of an exaggerated example. Apologies if that caused some confusion for other posters.

 

[Southern]

I'm surprised there were reservations at all - Southern generally have advance purchase tickets for particular trains, but don't have reserved seats. Not quite sure why this should be any different

I think he probably meant a reservation on the train itself and not one that guarantees an actual seat.