Boundary Station tickets on LNER

[MrColours]

Hi all,

I plan to make a journey from Kings Cross to Nottingham via Cambridge. I also will be taking LNER between Kings X and Stevenage. I have a 16-25 railcard so the journey is £27.15.

I also have a Zones 1-4 Travelcard. LNER do not price any boundary zone tickets, but I was wondering could I buy a ticket from Oakleigh Park to Nottingham (£25.30)? For the sake of £2, I am not going to bother today (as if it was valid I would probably get grief from a ticket check on LNER; surprisingly common in my travels to Stevenage), but would be interested to know in the future.

 

[yorkie]

Yes, you can.

If LNER staff claim it's not valid, I suggest you put in a complaint. Please also let us know too.

Feel free to tweet LNER if it happens and we can back you up too.

 

[Haywain]

LNER do not price any boundary zone tickets,

Historically, there was no gain as all fares from Hadley Wood (and stations in between) were the same as those from King's Cross, allowing travel via London. There is now be a slight change, as you suggest, probably as a result of single leg pricing.

I was wondering could I buy a ticket from Oakleigh Park to Nottingham (£25.30)?

Yes, that would be valid.

 

[MrColours]

Thanks for the quick responses yorkie and Haywain! I haven’t bought the ticket yet so I’ll buy the Oakleigh Park ticket and report back if there is a trouble outside of a small talk of itinerary.

 

[Haywain]

report back if there is a trouble outside of a small talk of itinerary.

No itinerary is necessary - just a ticket that covers the bit between King's Cross and Oakleigh Park, in the form of your Zone 1-4 Travelcard. I'd be surprised if there is any problem at all.

 

[island]

I also don't expect a problem. The (small) risk is you run into a staff member who, having once upon a time been briefed (correctly) that Boundary Zone tickets to Peterborough are not valid on LNER, extrapolates incorrectly from that to your scenario.

 

[Haywain]

The (small) risk is you run into a staff member who, having once upon a time been briefed (correctly) that Boundary Zone tickets to Peterborough are not valid on LNER,

As far as I can recall the only reason for a Boundary Zone ticket not being valid on LNER would be because they were issued to accompany a Freedom Pass with the latter not being valid on LNER. It's possible that some Boundary Zone tickets weren't valid on LNER in the days when there were differential prices for those with Day and Period Travelcards, but I can't be certain of that.

Edit: some BZ tickets may not be valid because of a route/TOC restriction, but that's slightly different.

 

[MrColours]

In the end the ticket check didn't reach me in time before Stevenage, so any confrontation was abated. Thanks all for the advice and I will take note for the East Coast in the future!

 

[Hadders]

As far as I can recall the only reason for a Boundary Zone ticket not being valid on LNER would be because they were issued to accompany a Freedom Pass with the latter not being valid on LNER. It's possible that some Boundary Zone tickets weren't valid on LNER in the days when there were differential prices for those with Day and Period Travelcards, but I can't be certain of that.

Edit: some BZ tickets may not be valid because of a route/TOC restriction, but that's slightly different.

Boundary Zone 6 to Peterborough is routed 'Great Northern & Thameslink only', there is no Any Permitted ticket allowing travel on LNER.

 

[Haywain]

Boundary Zone 6 to Peterborough is routed 'Great Northern & Thameslink only', there is no Any Permitted ticket allowing travel on LNER.

Indeed, so not allowed because of route restriction rather than because of being a boundary zone ticket, as indicated in my previous post.