LNER ticketing oddity?

[ejstubbs]

Pal of mine is heading back from Edinburgh to London on Monday 28th November after spending the weekend with us. He advised that he's booked on the 11:10 departure from Haymarket, which surprised me at first, but it turns out that he was originally planning to stay with some other friends on the Sunday night, and Haymarket is the closer station to them. So he's booked on the LNER service originating from Inverness, which also stops at Waverley, departing there at 11:30.

As it happens Waverley is more conveniently located from us (though there's not a whole lot in it) so he's considering joining the train there. AIUI this isn't normally an issue, with Haymarket and Waverley being treated more or less as one, at least as alighting stations. But in this case NRE is showing the fare from Haymarket at 11:10 as being nearly £20 cheaper than the fare from Waverley at 11:30. Which strikes me as being a bit odd, as it's the same train.

My question though is: given the significant fare difference, is he at all likely to be challenged if he boards this particular train at Waverley rather Haymarket, and what sanctions might be applied if so?

 

[miklcct]

What kind of ticket is it?

 

[Haywain]

But in this case NRE is showing the fare from Haymarket at 11:10 as being nearly £20 cheaper than the fare from Waverley at 11:30. Which strikes me as being a bit odd, as it's the same train

He has, presumably, bought a ticket before looking at fares from Edinburgh? If so, it is far from unlikely that this could happen - tickets prices can go up as they are set at different levels and when a cheaper one sells out, a higher price becomes visible. As for using the ticket from Waverley, it is difficult to foresee any difficulty with that as there are not likely to be any ticket inspections between the two stations.

 

[ejstubbs]

What kind of ticket is it?

Advance single: £59.70 from Haymarket, £79.00 from Waverley; both on the 07:55 from Inverness to King's Cross LNER service.

 

[miklcct]

Advance single: £59.70 from Haymarket, £79.00 from Waverley; both on the 07:55 from Inverness to King's Cross LNER service.

In this case, you can't legally board the train from a later station. You should check if there are any later stations on your train with exceptionally cheap fare and buy a combination of tickets for your journey.

 

[m00036]

Whilst it may be true that he's unlikely to have his ticket inspected, it would still be a breach of the ticket conditions (assuming it is, as we suspect, an Advance ticket). In theory that could lead to a penalty fare or worse (see the Disputes and Prosecutions thread where 'worse' has been the outcome in similarly minor situations).

 

[Haywain]

Advance single: £59.70 from Haymarket, £79.00 from Waverley; both on the 07:55 from Inverness to King's Cross LNER service.

And the date of booking/enquiry?

 

[30907]

A Penalty fare, no. A demand for the walk-up fare (fortunately only £82.20) possible, or an excess to same.

Looking at EDB fares, LNER are clearly trying to steer people away from the 1130 Chieftain; they obviously can't do that from HYM.

Are the through platforms at Waverley now barriered? If so, I would stick with HYM; if not, it's still risky as it could be seen as an attempt to undercut the fare.

 

[m00036]

A Penalty fare, no. A demand for the walk-up fare (fortunately only £82.20) possible, or an excess to same.

Looking at EDB fares, LNER are clearly trying to steer people away from the 1130 Chieftain; they obviously can't do that from HYM.

Are the through platforms at Waverley now barriered? If so, I would stick with HYM; if not, it's still risky as it could be seen as an attempt to undercut the fare.

Thanks for the correction Prosecution is still a possible outcome though all the same, but only playing devil's advocate.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Luckily with a through train it won't be one of the new gated platforms.

 

[zero]

And the date of booking/enquiry?

It's in the OP...

Thanks for the correction Prosecution is still a possible outcome though all the same, but only playing devil's advocate.

Even when boarding in Scotland?

 

[ejstubbs]

And the date of booking/enquiry?

I'm not sure when he booked his ticket, but the travel date is 28th November. The prices I've quoted were being shown on the NRE web site on 7th October.

 

[XAM2175]

I'm not sure when he booked his ticket, but the travel date is 28th November. The prices I've quoted were being shown on the NRE web site on 7th October.

It's entirely possible for an Advance ticket for a longer journey to be lower than one for a shorter journey on the same train, because they're being sold out of different quotas - so if there's more demand on that train for Waverly to London than there is Haymarket to London (which is almost certainly the case), the quotas at lower fares for Waverley to London will have sold out faster.

This is one of the reasons it's officially not permitted to start- or stop-short on an Advance ticket.

 

[Haywain]

It's in the OP...

No, it isn’t.

 

[Watershed]

Whilst it may be true that he's unlikely to have his ticket inspected, it would still be a breach of the ticket conditions (assuming it is, as we suspect, an Advance ticket). In theory that could lead to a penalty fare or worse (see the Disputes and Prosecutions thread where 'worse' has been the outcome in similarly minor situations).

The worst possible outcome, though this simply won't happen in reality, would be for the OP to have to pay the excess to the cheapest valid walk-up fare that permits break of journey. A ticket doesn't become invalid if an impermissible break of journey is undertaken, there is simply an excess to pay.

Haymarket and Edinburgh tickets are generally treated as interchangeable anyway.