Cross Country and connections

[jp4712]

I have a ticket with restriction XV, on an advance single Manchester Piccadilly to Lichfield Trent Valley this afternoon. I’m running very early, so at Piccadilly I plan to ask the Train Manager for permission to board their train an hour earlier than my itinerary.

If they say yes, then given that the ticket is ‘XC and connections’, will I have to ask the LNR Train Manager at Stafford to board an hour earlier than the itinerary states; or does ‘and connections’ enable me to catch any LNR from Staffordshire to Lichfield TV?

 

[Dirty_Mac]

The train from Stafford to LTV is the hourly Crewe to Euston semi-fast. It has reservations, so your ticket would only be valid on the booked train. Of course, you can always ask.

In the future, any trains on RTT that say "reservations available" or recommended or compulsory would mean your advance ticket includes a reservation on the train shown on your itinerary.

 

[jp4712]

Oh, I wasn’t aware that the Trent Valley semi-fasts have reservations - I’ve never had a ticket showing an allocated seat, and today’s MAN - LTV ticket shows a seat reservation for the XC Manchester to Stafford leg, but not the connection from there to Lichfield.

 

[Tester]

Oh, I wasn’t aware that the Trent Valley semi-fasts have reservations - I’ve never had a ticket showing an allocated seat, and today’s MAN - LTV ticket shows a seat reservation for the XC Manchester to Stafford leg, but not the connection from there to Lichfield.

Sadly it's complicated.

The lack of an allocated seat does not prove that there are no reservations, even though common sense would conclude that.

There are what are called 'counted place' reservations. This is likely what you have, and unfortunately means that 'any train' doesn't apply here.

You absolutely can ask.

 

[Starmill]

The Condition is that if you can see the reservation, the use of that train is mandatory. That applies whether or not you have a seat, or if it shows 'no specific seat' or placeholder characters such as 0s or *s where the coach and seat would usually be.

In practice it is unlikely to make any difference to the outcome.

Greater Anglia, Transport for Wales, CrossCountry services to Cardiff Central and indeed nearly all LNR services still have advance tickets available, even though none of them offers allocated seating any more.

 

[jfollows]

Advance tickets mean that you have to use your booked services, although there is some flexibility in the case of disruption or delays. If you want to hop on a different service you buy a more expensive flexible ticket. Or you get permission on each train to do otherwise.
Doing otherwise sounds like having your cake and eating it. The railway offers many options, and you can choose between them, but you can’t choose the cheapest option and then expect to get the service offered by the most expensive option.

 

[Dirty_Mac]

you have to use your booked services

Except when a train is not reservable. For example, taking LNER to Edinburgh, then hopping onto a local ScotRail service. If I happen to catch an earlier train, there's no problem getting on it even though it's technically not on the original itinerary.