Bridgwater to Accrington - Open Off Peak Return

[SoftPops]

Hi: Can anyone assist me here? My niece is staying with us and she has an open off peak return ticket to go from Bridgwater to Accrington. I have sorted out train times (weekday) but cannot work out which of these will (or won't) be off-peak. The first train leaves Bridgwater at 06:14, then they are roughly hourly till 14:23. Also, when she travelled to us, she had a reserved seat on the Leeds to Bristol section. How do I get a reserved seat for the return journey?

Thanks in advance for any help given.

 

[323235]

Bridgwater to Accrington or Accrington to Bridgwater
Off Peak Return

Restriction : 2T
Outward Travel
By any train except those
timed to depart
Mondays-Fridays before 0415.

Return Travel
By any train except those
timed to depart
Mondays-Fridays before 0415.

So your neice can take any train from bridgwater.

To get a Seat Reservation all you need to do is go to a staffed railway station with the tickets and they will do it for you.

Bridgwater station should be open Mon-Sat 0630-1430

 

[SoftPops]

Thank-you 323235, Keeps my life simple as I can now let her choose which train she wants to get.

Cheers.

 

[323235]

for early morning trains you need to reserve by 1600 the previous day, for anything else its 2 hours before.

Most trains between Bridgwater - Bristol and all trains between Leeds - Accrington are non-reservable.

So it'll just be the Bristol - Leeds Leg

Although I don't think an Accrington - Bridgwater ticket is valid via Leeds.

 

[transportphoto]

for early morning trains you need to reserve by 1600 the previous day, for anything else its 2 hours before.

2hrs before it is timed to leave its origin... not 2hrs before its due at your boarding station.

Just to let you know.

 

[John @ home]

I don't think an Accrington - Bridgwater ticket is valid via Leeds.

It's not easy to work out whether the ticket is valid via Leeds or not.

Those train companies which use thetrainline for ticket selling allow travel and reservations via Leeds. Those companies which use WebTis do not.

Which is right? It depends on how the Routeing Guide is interpreted.

For an Accrington - Bridgwater journey, the only appropriate Routeing Point for Bridgwater is Bristol Group. Accrington has 3 Routeing Points: Blackburn, Halifax Group and Manchester Group. Blackburn and Manchester Group are appropriate Routeing Points for this journey, but there is no permitted route via Leeds if using either of these Routeing Points.

If Halifax is an appropriate Routeing Points for this journey, then travel via Leeds is a permitted route. It is an appropriate Routeing Point if the single fare Halifax - Bridgwater is the same or lower than the fare for Accrington - Bridgwater. But there are no fares of the same type by the same route that we can campare.

Accrington - Bridgwater
Standard Anytime Single (SOS) route Bristol £78.00
First Class Anytime Single (FOS) route Bristol £147.50

Halifax - Bridgwater
Standard Off-Peak Single (SVS) route Not London £92.20
Standard Anytime Single (SOS) route Not London £93.50
First Class Anytime Single (FOS) route Not London £205.50
Standard Anytime Single (SOS) route + Any Permitted £182.50
First Class Anytime Single (FOS) route + Any Permitted £273.00

In the absence of any fares of the same type by the same route, one booking engine assumes the fares check is passed; the other that it fails.

 

[SoftPops]

Hi Folks. Thanks for your replies.

The off peak return ticket my niece has says Bridgwater to Accrington, route Bristol on it. My niece says she came via Leeds because it is one less change than other routes (she is only 13 and is travelling alone). I have noticed that via Leeds makes the journey one hour longer than changing at Birmingham New Street and Preston.

When I search for available trains for Bridgwater to Accrington a lot of them say to get a first train from Bridgwater to Taunton then change to another to Leeds or Birmingham rather than the initial change being at Bristol Temple Meads. Does anyone know the validity of travelling one station in the wrong direction to make a connection?

Once I know which train time she wants to catch I will go to Bridgwater station (probably Saturday) to sort out any seating reservations / confirmations she will need for Monday. Hopefully they will be able to clarify the ability to travel via Leeds or not.

 

[Zoe]

Does anyone know the validity of travelling one station in the wrong direction to make a connection?

This is known as doubling back and is not allowed unless there is a specific easement which in this case there is not.

 

[yorkie]

If you book online and get an itinerary involving going via Taunton and/or Leeds, get reservations, and use those reservations, then that forms a legally binding contract.

 

[SoftPops]

Once again, thanks for all the replies. The original receipt stated Leeds as a change so I have visited Bridgwater station and have now got the return journey sorted.

Cheers.