"Any permitted route" - how to figure out permitted routes?

[cb00]

If the price of a ticket is the same for travelling via different routes from A to B (and therefore using different TOCs), how do passengers know whether or not it's a permitted route?

Is there a website which states routes? I found a previous thread but the link to ATOC's website doesn't work. Is there an alternative?

 

[Watershed]

The link has changed (though the NRCoT hasn't been updated to reflect this, of course). It's now https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/travel-information/routeing-guide/

In fairness it makes more sense for the Routeing Guide to be hosted on the National Rail Enquiries site.

There isn't a publicly available tool that tells you all of the valid routes. It is essentially up to the passenger to work it out themselves.

Is there a particular ticket whose permitted routes you wanted to establish?

 

[CyrusWuff]

If the price of a ticket is the same for travelling via different routes from A to B (and therefore using different TOCs), how do passengers know whether or not it's a permitted route?

Is there a website which states routes? I found a previous thread but the link to ATOC's website doesn't work. Is there an alternative?

Basic rules for a ticket with route Any Permitted or ".":

• The shortest route (or a route within 3 miles of the shortest route) according to the mileages in the electronic National Rail Timetable is always permitted. Transfers between stations other than by train count as 0 miles for these calculations.
• A direct train between the origin and destination is always permitted.
• An itinerary produced by the journey planner on https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ is always permitted, providing it doesn't say that you'll need to buy more than one ticket.
• Other permitted routes are determined using the Routeing Guide.

 

[jfollows]

As @Watershed says, the simplest solution is to ask the question on this forum and you’ll get a definitive response.
If you want to work it out for youself, the follow the advice from @CyrusWuff and get to the Routeing Guide. It’s complex but not beyond comprehension!

 

[Krokodil]

Easiest way of doing it is to search for an itinerary (forcing "via" as necessary) on a journey planner and seeing what price (if any) comes up.