Doubling back for Canley

[Amy Worrall]

There's an easement that lets someone with a Birmingham to Canley ticket double back at Coventry.

By the letter of the law, could someone making that journey also stop 'short' at Coventry? (That is to say, just travel Birmingham to Coventry on a Birmingham to Canley ticket.)

Also, does the doubling back easement only apply if your Birmingham to Coventry train doesn't itself stop at Canley?

Thanks,

Amy

 

[LexyBoy]

Opinions vary.

In this case, the wording of the easement is:

Customers may double back between Canley and Coventry.

which is less ambiguous than some, and I believe you should be allowed to stop short.

Other easements are worded "journeys between x and y may z", and some forum members believe this to mean that you may only make use of that easement if your journey is covered by the easement, rather than the journey defined by the ticket held.

If the doubleback is shown as a route using a single ticket on National Rail Enquiries, or a TOC booking engine, then you have a stronger case for it to be valid - NRE states that it takes permitted routes into account in its journey planner, is the definitive source for rail information and it will tell you whether break of journey is permitted.

 

[Eagle]

By the letter of the law, could someone making that journey also stop 'short' at Coventry? (That is to say, just travel Birmingham to Coventry on a Birmingham to Canley ticket.)

Yes, but there's no advantage to doing that because the fares are identical, and the same's true for pretty much every starting point other than very near places like Tile Hill and Berkswell.

 

[John @ home]

does the doubling back easement only apply if your Birmingham to Coventry train doesn't itself stop at Canley?

I think we have consensus that the validity of a Single Railway ticket (or the validity of the outward or return portion of a Return Railway ticket) expires on arrival (at least for the purpose of setting down passengers) at the destination shown on the ticket.

If that is so, then yes, the doubling back easement only applies if a Birmingham to Coventry train doesn't stop at Canley, and a Single ticket (or portion of a Return ticket) used on such a train cannot later be used between Canley and Coventry.