National Rail Enquires - multiple tickets

[RJ]

For some journeys, National Rail Enquiries will tell you that more than one ticket is required. Examples include;

Vauxhall to Clapham Junction via Twickenham

Denton to Reddish North

London to Southampton via Salisbury - which was a reasonable and permitted route not so long ago.

NRE provides a price for each ticket, so there are clearly specific tickets the system identifies that in conjunction can be used for the journey. I've deliberately chosen a range of journeys, including a journey with no through fare and a journey with multiple changes.

For that matter, I'd like to know which ticket it is offering for this Stratford to Tilbury journey.

How do I get NRE to tell me at least the origin and destination shown on the tickets it is suggesting?

 

[csilke]

For that matter, I'd like to know which ticket it is offering for this Stratford to Tilbury journey.

U3456 - Tilbury Stations

 

[greatkingrat]

I don't think it is possible to see the ticket details, the only way is to try and guess based on the prices.

The Stratford - Tilbury ticket appears to be an SDS Zone U3456 - Tilbury Stations.

 

[RJ]

That's the ticket! Cheers for that, interesting routing validity it has too.

It's a pity it doesn't appear to be possible to get the origin/destination to show - it even shows the description of the route restriction on all tickets it suggests!

 

[kieron]

The way I know to check the tickets is to select "Buy Now". It will open two tabs/windows. If you're lucky, one will be http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/results1?stage=1, which will tell you what the first ticket is, in each direction where applicable. If it opens two error pages instead, opening that URL yourself will tell you what the first ticket is. If you change the 1 at the end to another number you can find the other tickets needed.

It doesn't work for the Tilbury one, I think because NRE expects that to be a single ticket, and expects the retailers to offer the ticket it lists.

 

[RJ]

The way I know to check the tickets is to select "Buy Now". It will open two tabs/windows. If you're lucky, one will be http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/results1?stage=1, which will tell you what the first ticket is, in each direction where applicable. If it opens two error pages instead, opening that URL yourself will tell you what the first ticket is. If you change the 1 at the end to another number you can find the other tickets needed.

It doesn't work for the Tilbury one, I think because NRE expects that to be a single ticket, and expects the retailers to offer the ticket it lists.

That is a very useful workaround, thank you for sharing that.

 

[maniacmartin]

The Android app unhelpfully doesn't tell you if you need 2 tickets

 

[jkdd77]

Curiously, NRE shows a Bramley to Gunnersbury SDS/CDS as being valid via Basingstoke for travel Bramley- Basingstoke- Clapham Junction- Richmond- Gunnersbury, but does not show a Gunnersbury to Bramley SDS/CDS as being valid via the very same route. Online booking engines will give tickets and reservations for singles from Bramley, but not for singles from Gunnersbury, nor for day returns.

If a SDR or CDR is requested, with "not Reading" in the via field, NRE says that "you need to buy multiple tickets for this journey", and directs the purchaser to buy one ticket for the outward leg and two for the return leg.

Travelling via Basingstoke and Clapham Junction is sometimes the fastest route, and appears to pass the 'fares check rule', in both directions, using Basingstoke and Richmond as routeing points, comparing the SDS fares 'rte Not London' (there being no Basingstoke- Richmond CDS), and using map LE between the two routeing points, which shows a mapped route via Basingstoke and Clapham Junction.

Can anyone explain this anomaly? It seems bizarre for a ticket to be valid via a certain route in one direction only, when there is a regular service and the stopping patterns are identical in both directions, especially when the route is, in my view, perfectly reasonable.

As an aside, I'm still not entirely convinced that the requirement to validate routes using NRE is binding, but, in any case, it is probably prudent to act as if it is.

 

[OwlMan]

I can get it to show a Gunnersby - Bramley via Clapham Junction

 

[yorkie]

As an aside, I'm still not entirely convinced that the requirement to validate routes using NRE is binding, but, in any case, it is probably prudent to act as if it is.

It isn't binding; that's a myth.

It is not mentioned in the NRCoC, and it is only a "recommendation" on the National Rail website.

Passenger Focus would have to be consulted for such a change to be made, they were not consulted and are challenging any proposals for such a change to be introduced.