NCL- what to do for four hours?

[Dewedin]

EDIT- I have engineered a fare-splitting journey the following morning so I can avoid this layover. The below itinerary cost £8.60 and my new itinerary (07:55 Dewsbury-Newcastle splitting at Leeds onto an advance) then Newcastle to Edinburgh advance costs altogether £23. For me £15 + night's rest > 4 hours! I originally booked this when I didn't know how early I had to be in Edinburgh so I went as early as possible. I will now arrive at 11:32 which is about 40 minutes time to spare!


OK I knew about this break and the advance fare was just amazingly cheap which is why I went for it (obviously the cheapness is to do with the forced imprisonment!), I have to set off late anyway so I thought I might aswell do it this way, but here is the itinerary:

Journey: 1 Leeds to Edinburgh
Ticket type: NXEC Advance Valid only on your chosen service. Not refundable. Changeable prior to date of travel for a fee.
Route: Via National Express East Coast & other TOC connecting services.
Outward journey: 22 Sep 2009
departs Leeds at 23:42 travel by Train service provider TransPennine Express to station York arrives 00:09 ( seats reserved: Coach: C Seats: 28A )

departs York at 00:50 travel by Train service provider National Express East Coast to station Newcastle arrives 02:23 ( seats reserved: Coach: F Seats: 35A )

departs Newcastle at 06:25 travel by Train service provider National Express East Coast to station Edinburgh arrives 08:05 ( seats reserved: Coach: F Seats: 35A )

With the expected 4 hour break in NCL. I cannot leave station premises obviously because I am on an advance ticket. What areas will be accessible for me to spend time in? I would imagine very little, but I will have my Internet-accessible phone that also plays music if there is literally nothing else.

 

[monkey]

...why one earth did you take that itenary? theres nowt to do in the station, everythings closed... in fact I wouldn't be surprised if you were chucked out.... untill it was time for your train...

 

[Dewedin]

...why one earth did you take that itenary? theres nowt to do in the station, everythings closed... in fact I wouldn't be surprised if you were chucked out.... untill it was time for your train...

I've edited the above. I've sorted it, much nicer now.

I've lost the £8.60 obviously on the original ticket but, lessons learned and all.

 

[John @ home]

I cannot leave station premises obviously because I am on an advance ticket.

That is not my interpretation of the rules. First, the rules on break of journey are in the National Conditions of Carriage (NCoC).

C. USE OF TICKETS
16. Starting, breaking or ending a journey at intermediate stations
You may start, or break and resume, a journey (in either direction in the case of a return ticket) at any intermediate station, as long as the ticket you hold is valid for the trains you want to use. You may also end your journey (in either direction in the case of a return ticket) before the destination shown on the ticket. However, these rights may not apply to some types of tickets for which a break of journey is prohibited, in which case the relevant Train Companies will make this clear in their notices and other publications.

[2 paragraphss snipped]

For the purposes of this Condition and Condition 11, you will be treated
as breaking your journey if you leave a Train Company’s or Rail Service Company’s stations after you start your journey other than:
(i) to join a train at another station, or
(ii) to stay in overnight accommodation when you cannot reasonably complete your journey within one day, or
(iii) to follow any instructions given by a member of a Train Company’s staff.

I would interpret the first sentence of Condition 16 to mean that you are free to break your journey as long as you catch each train on which you are reserved because there can then be no doubt that the ticket you hold is valid for the trains you want to use.

Secondly, the Terms and Conditions for NXEC Advance tickets say

3. You may not start, break and resume, or end your journey at an intermediate station except to change to/from appropriate connecting trains where these are shown on your ticket(s) or other official itinerary.

This says you can't break and resume your journey unless you are changing to/from appropriate connecting trains. But that's exactly what you are doing! So the restriction does not apply in your case.

If you're still in doubt, you might like to obtain an instruction to leave the station from a member of a Train Company’s staff under NCoC Condition 16 (iii). You can usually get this by approaching any member of staff and saying "Where can I go to smoke a cigarette?"

John

 

[andylloyd]

There is not a lot in 'toon central' after hours.
You might be ok just keeping ya head down

 

[Ticket Man]

in reguards to the "not able to leave the station", think you have mis-understood the rules. besides i work gateline and if you had a 4 hour wait at my station and turned up for the right train then i sure as hell would not proceed to question you about where you had been for the past 4 hours.
providing you get the train your booked on, i wouldnt think that a bit of local sightseeing would be out of the question.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
of course the issue of wandering around newcastle at that hour is a matter of safety and entirely your judgement call

 

[HSTfan!!!]

I will add, not supposed to let people stay overnight for insurance purposes, but it's usually down to the staff discretion.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Newcastle Central always used to be closed overnight