Idiot with an advance ticket.

[squirty_bertie]

Hi guys,

I'm not a regular rail user however I have had to make a couple of journeys through London Victoria over the past 2-3 years. I bought advance tickets each time and for some reason they never work in the ticket barriers. (I am aware that mobile phones and metal things can muck up the magnetic strip and so have avoided this).

Which part of advance ticket needs to go through the barrier out of the two coupons issued? (Obviously I have discounted the receipt.) Do the inspectors require both parts?

Also, do they have tickets barriers at Manchester Piccadilly and Euston? And how quickly could I get from Euston to Victoria on a Sunday?

 

[Max]

Some barriers will simply reject advance tickets full stop, it depends what the barriers are set to accept.

 

[island]

The part that goes into the barrier is the one that says "STD ADVANCE" or "1ST ADVANCE" in the top left corner.

Inspectors may ask to see both parts to verify you're on the right train.

No idea about the presence of ticket gates.

 

[SS4]

Marylebone has never worked with an advance ticket for me. As for the barrier only the ticket part would go through, not the reservation. I suspect some reject it because of timing, it wouldn't know if you had a 4pm tickets and tried to get through at 3pm for example. The inspector would still require both parts though.

Euston has barriers on the London Midland platforms only although they do sometimes do manual checks on Virgin just before you get onto the platform. Never been to Manchester so cannot say.

To get from Euston to Victoria take a Southbound Victoria line train direct. Bear in mind there is some engineering work at Victoria Tube Station (does it apply on Sundays?) If this is the case it may be easier to walk to Euston Square and get a clockwise circle line (if engineering works haven't closed it of course)

 

[EM2]

I've never had an Advance ticket that worked the barriers at VIC, so I assume they are set to reject them, as Mojo advises.

 

[andyfrommk]

I think the machine rejects your advance ticket so have to go to the gate staff who will ask to see your reservation coupon as well.

If you do not have your reservation coupon with you it counts as not having a valid ticket at all If I remember correctly.

An advance ticket will never let me through the automatic ticket barriers at Milton Keynes.

Looking at tfl.gov.uk, it takes 8 minutes on the underground from Euston to Victoria although there are engineering works going on

 

[ChrisTheRef]

No ticket gates at Manchester Piccadilly and only the London Midland platforms are barriered at Euston.

Silly question, are you trying to use the advance ticket in the tube barriers? If your ticket says London Terminals, it's not valid for travel on LuL

 

[ainsworth74]

If you do not have your reservation coupon with you it counts as not having a valid ticket at all If I remember correctly.

You remember correctly indeed as the ticket will say "VALID ONLY WITH RESERVATIONS" whilst the reservation will say "VALID ONLY WITH TICKET XXXXX".

Without both parts the advance is worthless. So ticket barriers will reject the ticket to ensure that the gate line staff can check your reservation is correct.

 

[Dai.]

I've never had an advance ticket fail on me (now it will probably!), they have always opened the gates for me

 

[squirty_bertie]

Thanks guys.
No I'm not the train ticket on tube barriers, I just never knew what the reason was for the barriers at the terminals stopping from getting through. It just seems silly to put barriers in place and to then have to use the manned barrier.

 

[SS4]

For the commuters I suppose that use season tickets and other non-advance tickets. A machine is quicker to read than a human, at Bham New St there can be a small queue to pass the ticket inspectors

 

[bb21]

Like someone's said, i've never had Advances that work Victoria barriers before either, however they do seem to open Waterloo's.

Regarding the transfer, the clockwise Circle takes a good 40 mins, so unless you're trying to up your mileage, if the Victoria's unavailable and the transfer's not already included, i'd personally take the 73 bus.

 

[SS4]

Like someone's said, i've never had Advances that work Victoria barriers before either, however they do seem to open Waterloo's.

Regarding the transfer, the clockwise Circle takes a good 40 mins, so unless you're trying to up your mileage, if the Victoria's unavailable and the transfer's not already included, i'd personally take the 73 bus.

Does it? That's something I didn't know (I've only ever gone anticlockwise on it and then ended up halfway to hammersmith since my tube map was out of date)

 

[bb21]

I did clockwise from King's X recently on one Sat morning. I did it as i had a long connection. Took about 35 minutes. Shocking!

Stupid now that Circle is not a real circle any more.

 

[Crossover]

No ticket barriers at Manchester Piccadilly, however there are sometimes manual checks. These are usually on pl 13/14 (over on Oxford Road) and the Northern/TP platforms (usually 2/3)

However, I have recently also seen VT staff checking tickets for the long distance services at the end of the platform, abeit not regularly

 

[moonrakerz]

however they do seem to open Waterloo's.

I've never had a problem there ............

 

[martinsh]

Although Man Picc doesn't have barriers, there are frequently manual checks, particularly on platforms 13/14

The quickest I have ever done Euston - Victoria is 13 mins (top of escalator to platform), but I would allow half an hour

 

[SS4]

Although Man Picc doesn't have barriers, there are frequently manual checks, particularly on platforms 13/14

The quickest I have ever done Euston - Victoria is 13 mins (top of escalator to platform), but I would allow half an hour

I agree, Euston tube station is a logistic nightmare. Going down the escalator gives the impression that you're half way there already!

 

[Dewedin]

Leeds barriers open for Advances.