Fare help- Darlington to Exeter St Davids

[DJCC]

Hi all,

I find some of these fares a bit confusing so any help appreciated. I need to make a trip to Exeter in late March from Darlington. My journey out is pretty fixed (Mon 19) but could be going back anytime Wednesday evening. An off-peak return would seem to be cheapest but I just wanted to double check if these trains would count as 'off-peak' or whether the afternoon rush our counts. My preferred route would be an off-peak return with reservations on the following:

Mon 19th March
DAR 1411
EXE 1942

Weds

Either EXE 1625
DAR 2215 (change at Birmingham NS)

or EXE 1723
DAR 0008 (change at Leeds)

All trains are CrossCounty- is this allowed for an off-peak return?

 

[sonic2009]

Yes all trains you have listed are Off Peak Trains with the tickets you wish to use.

 

[DJCC]

Great- when is peak time for Crosscountry then out of interest?

 

[sonic2009]

Edit. Wrong Thread.

 

[DJCC]

Yes, Young Person's.

 

[LexyBoy]

Great- when is peak time for Crosscountry then out of interest?

There is no such thing as peak time for a particular operator or for a particular station. The restrictions apply to the ticket; for your ticket, the restriction is 2V which bars trains departing before 0930 only. This restriction is used for most XC journeys, and is one of the reasons why splitting or buying long is often very useful on routes priced by XC.

 

[DJCC]

Wonderful- thank you very much!

 

[LexyBoy]

Have you looked at travelling via London? If you can commit to specific trains, you can get Advance singles totalling around £50 for the dates and rough times you mention.

Search for Darlington-London and London-Exeter seperately; book through eastcoast.co.uk to get 10% off the Darlington<>London leg. Make sure to leave at least the minimum transfer time between Kings Cross and Paddington (around 45 mins IIRC).

 

[DJCC]

Interesting, will have a look- thanks!

 

[bb21]

There is no uniform set of rules dictating when you can and cannot travel. Time restrictions are ticket-specific and the restriction code and relevant texts define when the passenger may and may not travel when holding that particular ticket.

The words "Off-Peak" on its own without the associated full restriction text is meaningless.

Selected walk-on fares available for this through journey are:

Darlington - Exeter St Davids
Route Not via London
Off-Peak Return
£150.60
Restriction 2V

Exeter St Davids - Darlington
Route +Any Permitted
Super Off-Peak Return
£184.60
Restriction 1L

(All fares quoted are full adult fares and not railcard-discounted.)