Is National Rail's journey planner definitive?

[RochdalePioneers]

Quick question regarding an interesting routeing spotted on NR. AS I understand it the NR planner is supposed to be the arbiter of the vastly complex routeing guide which seems to have thousands of easements these days.

If I have an itinery from NR showing the trains I am travelling on and the ticket I have purchased, is that the route validated? ATOC's opening page on the guide suggests this is the case. Is it in practice...?

 

[bb21]

Two ways to look at this.

One is that NRE is the definitive source of information so routes offered by it in connection with a particular ticket should be taken as gospel and honoured under any circumstance.

The other one is that if the route is obviously wrong (eg. London to Reading via Carlisle), then there is an argument to say that taking advantage of such an error solely in order to benefit financially could fall under the definition of "fraud". You will also likely have plenty of hassle.

If you are not sure how reasonable the proposed routing is, you are welcome to send a PM and I am sure a few people will be happy to offer you their opinions.

In most cases, if the route is remotely reasonable, and you can produce evidence to show that it was the recommended route, you should experience little trouble.

 

[First class]

It is technically definitive - yes. An itinerary produced in conjunction with a valid ticket for that journey means that your itinerary will normally be honoured.

However, on the ground, it will depend on how reasonable it is. If we are talking London - Penzance via Glasgow, you're going to find your tickets withdrawn, and name & address taken for further investigation. Whilst you would of course, not face any unfavourable action once the investigation had been completed, you would, of course, have had to take the time to assist with their enquiries.

If it is a particularly stupid route, if customer service departments have common sense at least, they will forward such details to the Commercial/Pricing Manager responsible for "rectification", if necessary.

 

[RochdalePioneers]

Whilst I'm consulting BB21 via PM with the details, it's a Transpennine Express journey and their Twitter team have confirmed that I can upgrade that ticket on that route to weekend 1st for a tenner to cover both legs....
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To close this thread out, I used my *cough* to *ahem* via Manchester ticket without problems or question today. So yes, apparently the NR planner is The Law.