Hi
I don't really want to go into the specific route and train company but I am taking a journey from Y to Z on a rail route which looks like this:
X -> Y -> Z
W-> ^
My train from Y will have passed through either W or X, but will always follow the same route to Z
There are Advanced Purchase discounts from W -> Z but never any from Y -> Z. After much reading I now totally get it that I can't buy an AP from W -> Z and "start late" at Y.
Ok so here comes the weird bit.
I go on the rail company's website, and look at booking a train from Y -> Z. I get the option of direct trains which all cost £21 OR trains via W which cost £9-£12 depending on which train you book. You change at W for a train that comes straight back down the same line, although it might not stop at Y. Both the direct and doubling back trains have the ticket type "Anytime Day Single". Always.
Yes, really the train company's own website gives you the option to save money by going to W and doubling back. That is, they let you ride two of their trains for and over more total distance for half the price of riding one with no difference in ticket type.
The website terms and conditions for the ticket state "outward break of journey allowed" on the double-back route and directs me to National Rail for full terms and conditions of Anytime Day Single. Contained in there is the statement
"You may start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station along the route of
travel" (emphasis mine)
So from what I can see, it is perfectly OK to buy one of these Y->W->Y->Z tickets, and start at Y and ride to Z without ever travelling up and back to W, since Y is an intermediate station on the total route and I will hold an Anytime Day Single which permits "starting" for Z here.
I have bought one of these and will pick it up from a ticket machine.
Some questions
1) Am I right? Can I skip the pointless ride up to W and back? I don't mean can I lie about it having done it and get away with it. I mean if the conductor questions it, can I be totally upfront say "I have the right to do this, look at the print out from National Rail"
2) Will the ticket have anything printed on it in plain English to prove its an Anytime Day Single or will it be some arcane code?
3) Can I get on a train at Y which hasn't stopped at W? ie it skipped W or started from X? (from Y onwards the route is identical for both X and W trains, so therefore Y is an intermediate stop on the route I paid for)
4) Will the ticket even have anything printed on it to indicate it was via W? Or will it just say "From: Y To: Z"?
5) How can there be different prices on Anytime Day Singles for different trains on the same day? Surely people would just buy the cheapest and not care about the time of the train they bought it for as they can then go on whatever train they liked that day as it is valid for any train at any time on the route?
6) How do you Brits cope with this kind of insanity?
I don't really want to go into the specific route and train company but I am taking a journey from Y to Z on a rail route which looks like this:
X -> Y -> Z
W-> ^
My train from Y will have passed through either W or X, but will always follow the same route to Z
There are Advanced Purchase discounts from W -> Z but never any from Y -> Z. After much reading I now totally get it that I can't buy an AP from W -> Z and "start late" at Y.
Ok so here comes the weird bit.
I go on the rail company's website, and look at booking a train from Y -> Z. I get the option of direct trains which all cost £21 OR trains via W which cost £9-£12 depending on which train you book. You change at W for a train that comes straight back down the same line, although it might not stop at Y. Both the direct and doubling back trains have the ticket type "Anytime Day Single". Always.
Yes, really the train company's own website gives you the option to save money by going to W and doubling back. That is, they let you ride two of their trains for and over more total distance for half the price of riding one with no difference in ticket type.
The website terms and conditions for the ticket state "outward break of journey allowed" on the double-back route and directs me to National Rail for full terms and conditions of Anytime Day Single. Contained in there is the statement
"You may start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station along the route of
travel" (emphasis mine)
So from what I can see, it is perfectly OK to buy one of these Y->W->Y->Z tickets, and start at Y and ride to Z without ever travelling up and back to W, since Y is an intermediate station on the total route and I will hold an Anytime Day Single which permits "starting" for Z here.
I have bought one of these and will pick it up from a ticket machine.
Some questions
1) Am I right? Can I skip the pointless ride up to W and back? I don't mean can I lie about it having done it and get away with it. I mean if the conductor questions it, can I be totally upfront say "I have the right to do this, look at the print out from National Rail"
2) Will the ticket have anything printed on it in plain English to prove its an Anytime Day Single or will it be some arcane code?
3) Can I get on a train at Y which hasn't stopped at W? ie it skipped W or started from X? (from Y onwards the route is identical for both X and W trains, so therefore Y is an intermediate stop on the route I paid for)
4) Will the ticket even have anything printed on it to indicate it was via W? Or will it just say "From: Y To: Z"?
5) How can there be different prices on Anytime Day Singles for different trains on the same day? Surely people would just buy the cheapest and not care about the time of the train they bought it for as they can then go on whatever train they liked that day as it is valid for any train at any time on the route?
6) How do you Brits cope with this kind of insanity?
