Livingston North to London Terminals

[Mcr Warrior]

:-? Have the return portion of a Super Offpeak return ticket from Livingston North to London Terminals to use on Saturday 30th October 2010. Fare paid was £108.30. However, it will be more convenient to be dropped off on the 30th at Falkirk High or Shotts for onward travel to into Edinburgh and the South than to travel from Livingston North. Question is:- Is it possible to get an "Overdistance" ticket for the above itinerary, or would it be simpler to just buy a single from Falkirk High (or from Shotts) to Edinburgh Haymarket?

 

[John @ home]

Is it possible to get an "Overdistance" ticket for the above itinerary, or would it be simpler to just buy a single from Falkirk High (or from Shotts) to Edinburgh Haymarket?

A London Terminals - Livingston North ticket is permitted by map AS. Permitted routes by that map include:

• Livingston North - Haymarket - Falkirk High - Glasgow Queen Street - Glasgow Central - Carlisle - London
• Livingston North - Haymarket - Shotts - Motherwell - Carlisle - London.

If you are able to take (part of) one of these routes, your ticket is valid without additional payment.

Once the Drumgelloch - Bathgate link opens on 12 December, additional Permitted Routes will open up. These are already in the journey planners for the appropriate dates, but the Routeing Guide to match the planner has not yet been published. No use on 30 October, but in future you are likely to be allowed to travel:

• Livingston North - Airdrie - Glasgow Queen Street - Falkirk High - Haymarket - Newcastle - London
• Livingston North - Airdrie - Glasgow Queen Street - Glasgow Central - Shotts - Haymarket - Newcastle - London.

On this occasion, however, if you go via Haymarket and Newcastle you will be travelling off-route and I think you will need an additional ticket. The ticket office at Shotts station is scheduled to be open 0630 - 1230 on Saturday 30 October. If travelling outside these times you may need to buy your ticket on the train. In these circumstances, it would be worth asking the guard if it was OK to buy a £3.50 single to Livingston South and use your London ticket from there. That would save you a massive £2.10 on the price of a single to Haymarket!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Interesting response. However, I'm travelling on Saturday 30th October, which is sometime before when the Airdrie-Bathgate link is due to (re)open in December.

What I don't quite follow with John @ Home's response is why do I have to travel via Glasgow/Motherwell unless it's just to avoid the small supplement? And isn't travel back to London also permitted via the East Coast line (to Kings Cross) or via the West Coast line from Haymarket, then straight down to Carlisle (via Slateford) and then London Euston?

 

[transportphoto]

Hi mate, I have had a quick look, Livingston North to London Terminals & Falkirk High to London Terminals are both £108.30, the price you have paid for the journey.
If travelling from Falkirk High then, in my opinion, the easiest thing to do would be to 'zero excess' the outward part to Falkirk High, some may claim it can't be done, but it can, I have done so in the past.

However, looking at Shotts to London Terminals, that ticket is £108.40 so if you excess this then the cost would be half the difference between the price of your LSN -> 1072 ticket and this ticket, £0.05.

 

[clagmonster]

Mcr Voyager, if you wish to travel down the East Coast, or West Coast via Haymarket , then you will need an additional ticket to cover you for either Shotts-Haymarket or Falkirk High-Edinburgh Park (or Haymarket if your chosen train from Falkirk does not call at Edinburgh Park).

Transport Photo, in this case an over-distance excess would not be appropriate as Mcr Warrier wishes to deviate from the route of his ticket at an intermediate point, ie he wouldn't travel through Livingstone North on his way from Shotts/Falkirk to Edinburgh.

 

[John @ home]

What I don't quite follow with John @ Home's response is why do I have to travel via Glasgow/Motherwell unless it's just to avoid the small supplement?

Exactly that. If you start your return journey at Falkirk High or Shotts with the Livingston North - London ticket, you are deemed to have travelled from Livingston North. That means you are deemed to have already passed through Haymarket, so you are not allowed to return there as doubling back is not allowed.

This problem is overcome by buying a single to Haymarket (or perhaps Livingston South).