Advance ticket query

[yvonneid]

Hello. I booked 5 tickets, advance purchase, transpennine, from Inverkeithing to Manchester and back. We have to change at Haymarket, but one of the group lives nearer Edinburgh and it would be more convenient for her to get on the train there, without having to come over to Fife on the bus and go back to Haymarket on the train. She has free bus travel, so it's not to do with cost, only convenience. Is this possible? Will her ticket allow her to enter, and on the way back exit, the ticket barriers at Haymarket? I didn't realise that this might not be possible when we booked as we have done similar journeys in the past, but changed at Waverley, where we have just met up before getting onto our "main train", but of course she didn't need her ticket to simply gain access or to exit from the "main train" departure platform. Thanks in advance for advice.

 

[yorkie]

It's not permitted to start short on an Advance ticket, as this counts as a "break of journey", but the rail industry's policy is to show discretion and allow it.

However the gateline staff at Haymarket may or may not follow that policy, and it's not easy, nor recommended, for a member of the public to tell staff they should be following a rail industry policy that they may not have heard of.

If she lives nearer Edinburgh, then a single from Edinburgh to Haymarket, and remaining on the same train, would be less likely to incur hassle. Some people would also argue that there is no "break of journey" occurring as the journey would then be Edinburgh - Manchester using a combination of tickets. However there is no consensus on this, though it's arguably moot anyway, as we know for a fact rail industry guidance would be to allow it, and the chances of hassle doing that are round about nil.

 

[yvonneid]

Thank you for that advice.