Manchester Nottingham off peak return

[dggar]

I've bought an off peak day return for travel from Manchester to Nottingham on 17th Feb.(£13.65 with a railcard) I intend to return from Nottingham between 17.30 and 19.30. ( I had planned to travel out after 09.30)

I have just been offerred a lift from Manchester to Nottingham but would still need to return by train.

Am I correct in thinking that there would be no problem in using the return part of the ticket?

 

[calc7]

Of course - there is no requirement to use the outward (and/or return) portion of a 2-part return.

 

[WillPS]

Aside from any rules, they've no way of telling.

 

[SS4]

I can't remember if you have to at least partially use the outbound before the return becomes valid but I could well be wrong. It will be very hard to prove of course but I'd still suggest keeping the outward portion in a different pocket to the return.

 

[MikeWh]

The only thing you are not allowed to do is to use any part of the outward portion after any part of the return portion has been used. The outward portion is technically only valid if you have the unused return portion. In practice you will not usually be asked to show the return unless you are using the outward on a day following the first day of validity.

 

[island]

Some TOCs claim that you can't use the return portion if it is physically impossible for you to have used the outbound portion given the print time and date of the ticket. This may or may not have arisen from someone trying to save £65.80 on a single from London Terminals to Manchester Stns in the evening peak.

 

[yorkie]

The ticket held is not going to be an Off Peak Return at the price quoted! It will surely be a Super Off Peak Day Return - a much more restrictive product at a much cheaper price.

Some TOCs claim that you can't use the return portion if it is physically impossible for you to have used the outbound portion given the print time and date of the ticket. This may or may not have arisen from someone trying to save £65.80 on a single from London Terminals to Manchester Stns in the evening peak.

This is not in the public domain, does not form any part of the Contract and is hidden away in The Manual.

There is nothing whatsoever to say the outward journey has to be started, or completed, before the return journey can commence. The outward ticket can be simply thrown away. (However if using an outward portion, a completely unused return portion must be held).

 

[Paul Kelly]

I do wonder about restriction codes that say something like this though:

OUTWARD TRAVEL
By any train except those
timed to depart Mondays to
Fridays before 0930

RETURN TRAVEL
By any train

If you weren't expected to have used the outward portion before using the return, that theoretically means there is no time restriction on the return portion and you could use it as a cheap anytime day single in the other direction.