break the journey??

[446276442]

I'd like to buy a super off-peak return from London Kings cross to Edinburgh. Can I break the journey at York, Leeds and Cambridge on the return journey with this ticket?

BTW, how can I find the ticket code on the ticket and where is it exactly?

THX a lot

 

[najaB]

You can break your journey on the return leg of a Super Off-Peak. York and Leeds seem reasonable, but is Cambridge on any permitted route from Edinburgh to London?

Answered my own question - it's on map AA so it should be okay.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Where the restriction code is printed on the ticket, it will appear at the bottom right of the ticket, under the 'Price' and preceeded by the word 'Validity'. The coded can be checked against the National Rail website' 'Ticket and Validity Finder'.

Oddly on East Coast tickets, the code GC is derived historically from the GNER franchise and means East Coast trains only, whereas the same letters in the 'Route' field would refer to Grand Central.

 

[yorkie]

You now get passengers with printed itinerary showing operator "GR" and a restriction code "GC". Such tickets are not valid on Grand Central.

Fortunately with a Super Off Peak Return (SSR) from Edinburgh to London you can relax in the knowledge you can use any operator along a permitted route. And yea, BOJ and via Cambridge are fine

 

[John @ home]

I'd like to buy a super off-peak return from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh. Can I break the journey at York, Leeds and Cambridge on the return journey with this ticket?

Yes. The £131.00 Super Off-Peak Return London Terminals - Edinburgh route Any Permitted (£86.45 with a national Railcard) is valid by any permitted route and break(s) of outward and/or return legs of the journey are allowed.

As najaB indicates, York, Leeds and Cambridge are all on a permitted Edinburgh - London route shown on map AA here.

how can I find the ticket code on the ticket and where is it exactly?

Where the restriction code is printed on the ticket, it will appear at the bottom right of the ticket, under the 'Price' and preceeded by the word 'Validity'. The coded can be checked against the National Rail website' 'Ticket and Validity Finder'.

Agreed. The Ticket and Validity Finder is a useful tool if you already know the restriction code. If not, I suggest using brfares.com to find out the code and specific restrictions.

Oddly on East Coast tickets, the code GC is derived historically from the GNER franchise and means East Coast trains only

Not quite. Code GC is used for London - Edinburgh Advance tickets routed "EC & Connections". The £131.00 Super Off-Peak Return London Terminals - Edinburgh route Any Permitted has code 9F.

the same letters in the 'Route' field would refer to Grand Central.

Agreed.

 

[446276442]

You can break your journey on the return leg of a Super Off-Peak. York and Leeds seem reasonable, but is Cambridge on any permitted route from Edinburgh to London?

Answered my own question - it's on map AA so it should be okay.

What I mean is not the validity code. I use the "Ticket and Validity Finder" to search "off-peak return", and there are 6 same results named "off-peak return". I find the difference is their ticket code(3 characters,such as BVR, QSV, SVR etc). But I cannot find any 3-characters-code on the tickets to find out which result exactly is applied on my ticket.

You can break your journey on the return leg of a Super Off-Peak. York and Leeds seem reasonable, but is Cambridge on any permitted route from Edinburgh to London?

Answered my own question - it's on map AA so it should be okay.

Is that mean that I can go any stops on the mapAA on the return leg with this ticket even York-Scarborough-York?

 

[446276442]

THX mate. The link of mapAA is really useful.

So with that website I can check the so call "any permitted route" for breaks in any other journeys. And those automatic gates would not swallow the ticket since I still need it. Am I correct?

BTW what I meant is not the validity code but a 3-character ticket code such as SSR.

 

[446276442]

Should I show the ticket to the inspectors on each broken sub-journeys?
And will the automatic gates swallow the ticket in any routeing point?

 

[John @ home]

there are 6 same results named "off-peak return". I find the difference is their ticket code(3 characters,such as BVR, QSV, SVR etc). But I cannot find any 3-characters-code on the tickets to find out which result exactly is applied on my ticket.

The unofficial site brfares.com shows here that the Super Off-Peak Return London Terminals - Edinburgh is ticket type SSR and provides a link to the full details of the restriction code.

Is that mean that I can go any stops on the mapAA on the return leg with this ticket even York-Scarborough-York?

No. Doubling back, that is passing through a station more than once on either the outward or the return leg of a journey, is not normally allowed.

with that website I can check the so call "any permitted route" for breaks in any other journeys. ... Am I correct?

It's not as simple as that. You can't start with the maps.

You can use the National Routeing Guide to determine whether a particular route is permitted for a journey. Start by reading the Instructions.

those automatic gates would not swallow the ticket since I still need it. Am I correct?

The behaviour of automatic ticket gates does not indicate anything about the validity of a ticket. Often, gates have not been programmed to accept some valid ticket and holders of such a ticket need to show it to a member of staff to be let through the gates. Sometimes, the gates have been programmed in such a way that they accept some invalid tickets.

It is rare for a ticket to be retained by the ticket gates at any station other than the destination printed on the ticket. If this does happen, ask a member of staff to retrieve the ticket for you.

 

[najaB]

Is that mean that I can go any stops on the mapAA on the return leg with this ticket even York-Scarborough-York?

As John has said, that's not the way the permitted route maps work. Though it's not 100% accurate, the easiest way to think of them is to start at the routing point (green circle/square) closest to your departure station. If you have a choice of route (red line) then you have to take one that takes you closer to your destination.

You repeat this process at each routing point until you get to the routing point closest to your destination station.

If a link takes you closer to your starting point, or takes you through a routing point you've already visited, then it's not allowed.

The details are a lot more complicated than that, especially when your starting and destination stations aren't on the same map. That's why there's a whole section of the forum dedicated to route and fare questions!

Edited to add: Unless your starting, break and destination points are all on the same map, you're best to ask either in the forum or at a train station - the penalty for getting it wrong can be as severe as a criminal record!

 

[island]

I appreciate you've said:

The details are a lot more complicated than that

but neither

If you have a choice of route (red line) then you have to take one that takes you closer to your destination.

nor

If a link takes you closer to your starting point ... then it's not allowed

is true.

 

[najaB]

In the general case they are - I appreciate that both easements and anomalies exist. But if you stick to those (very loose) rules it is unlikely that you'll end up with an invalid route. Equally, they will rule out some routes that are valid.

And, as I did add, if you're in any doubt it's best to ask.

 

[yorkie]

I disagree; a simple any traceable route without doubling back instruction would suffice.

Island is right to say those two statements are not true.

(With the exceptions applying in some cases to be able doubling back for interchange)

 

[446276442]

I appreciate your very detailed answer

I do know the UK's complex ticket system. And figuring out the complex National Routeing Guide is really hard for me, a non-English speaker.

Do you mean that if the starting, break and destination points are all on the same map, then I can follow the map(find 2 or 3 relatively straight routine scenarios), just do not doubling back and do not go further from the destination?

Do you mean that on the same map, I can make BOJ at any routine points as long as I am not go too much further away from the destination and without doubling back?

 

[clagmonster]

York is clearly fine, as it is on the shortest route. Leeds is fine also.
Cambridge you need to be more careful with. Due to the requirement to check itineraries on the National Rail website, from Cambridge you should travel into Liverpool St via Broxbourne rather than into Kings X.