NRE vs The Routeing Guide

[beeza1]

As a passenger I use NRE to plan my rail journeys believing the information supplied is correct, it does state on the website "all the routes shown are valid", there have been quite a few posts on here recently that appear to question the accuracy of NRE especially when it comes to "doubling back", a quick check on NRE shows lots of routes which involve "doubling back", something that, according to posts quoting The Routing Guide is not allowed. So which information is correct, NRE or The Routing Guide?
I would have thought that you are not regarded as "doubling back" unless the train actually stops at your origin station, after all on some routes if you are travelling late evening you would have to wait until the next day to travel, a situation which would be unacceptable.
Has anyone ever been "nobbled" or worse prosecuted for sticking to the information supplied by NRE?

 

[pinguini]

A lot of routes on NRE require you to "buy 2 or more tickets for your journey".

I once nearly got caught out by a suggestion on NRE to travel from Worcester to Coventry via Sandwell & Dudley!!

 

[yorkie]

NRE uses the secret Routeing Guide, which is not available to members of the public!

Printing an itinerary on NRE, that clearly shows the journey is valid on one ticket, should get your ticket accepted.

As for doubling back, there isn't a blanket rule prohibiting it, you need to read the wording carefully. It's also permitted to double back within station groups for interchange purposes, in accordance with the Group Stations rule.

So Hull-York is fine to double-back within Leeds Group, York-Hull via Doncaster & Selby doesn't involve any doubling back (there are no stations between Temple Hirst & Doncaster), a through train may involve doubling back but is permitted, and a journey such as Peartree to Tamworth is fine to double-back to Derby Group as the shortest route by scheduled services is via Derby.

 

[dvboy]

A lot of routes on NRE require you to "buy 2 or more tickets for your journey".

I once nearly got caught out by a suggestion on NRE to travel from Worcester to Coventry via Sandwell & Dudley!!

I think from memory there is (or used to be) an easement which allows someone changing at Smethwick GB to travel northbound to Sandwell & Dudley or Wolverhampton to then change onto a southbound service going beyond Birmingham NS, as it may be (or used to be) quicker sometimes to do this than waiting for a southbound service at SGB, but don't quote me on it.

 

[pinguini]

I think from memory there is (or used to be) an easement which allows someone changing at Smethwick GB to travel northbound to Sandwell & Dudley or Wolverhampton to then change onto a southbound service going beyond Birmingham NS, as it may be (or used to be) quicker sometimes to do this than waiting for a southbound service at SGB, but don't quote me on it.

That does sound logical, although when I looked into it in greater detail, it did require me to buy 2 tickets for that journey

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....there have been quite a few posts on here recently that appear to question the accuracy of NRE especially when it comes to "doubling back", a quick check on NRE shows lots of routes which involve "doubling back", something that, according to posts quoting The Routing Guide is not allowed. So which information is correct, NRE or The Routing Guide?....

The NRCoC is your contract for your journey (well, okay, it is the terms of your contract, but that is splitting hairs really). The NRCoC does contain a condition about the route(s) you can take. That condition does mention the Routeing Guide. It does not mention NRES or any other website.

That said, as Yorkie mentions, the NRES website is supposed to work from a version of the Routeing Guide and so it should be accurate.

However, the sheer number of 'easements' that are clearly bug-fixes for journey planners suggests that sites like (but certainly not limited to) NRES are not fool proof (far from it infact).

Then again, if you had a print out or copy of the itinerary that genuinely shows the route as valid, or if it is a 'reasonable' route, you'll probably be allowed to travel by that route (if you already have the ticket).

There may also be issues with 'timing points' on some routes. Some stations may not appear as timing points on some services, causing some journey planners to believe those services do not pass through those stations, when they actually do, giving routes which double-back when they shouldn't.

Equally, as also mentioned by Yorkie, there are times when double-backs are allowed.

Basically, journey planners are only as good as their programming and the Routeing Guide is only as good as the person reading it (or not as the case may be).

....Has anyone ever been "nobbled" or worse prosecuted for sticking to the information supplied by NRE?

Not experienced it myself, but I have had to tell people that the route shown on NRES is not a valid route for the ticket they want to buy (often because they have taken "...tickets from £3.70..." as "...tickets are £3.70..." (for example) :roll: ).

 

[transmanche]

Has anyone ever been "nobbled" or worse prosecuted for sticking to the information supplied by NRE?

I seem to recall a discussion which didn't involve the NRE website, but the FCC website. The website journey planner said it was valid to travel via Hatfield on a Brookmans Park to London ticket, when in fact a higher fare should be paid. A passenger was prosecuted for doing that and it actually reached court before FCC withdrew the case.

 

[maniacmartin]

My biggest gripe with NRE's route planning is when it shows routes that are marked as requiring 2 tickets, but I don't notice that message. I think the text saying you need 2 tickets should be much more prominent,

 

[alcockell]

My biggest gripe with NRE's route planning is when it shows routes that are marked as requiring 2 tickets, but I don't notice that message. I think the text saying you need 2 tickets should be much more prominent,

if those journeys are selected, are two tickets automatically generated?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Last I heard, NRES will tell you what the tickets are (if you are interested to know) but when NRES passes you on to the seller's site, that site gets very confused about what you want and eventually settles for starting a new enquiry.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Last I heard, NRES will tell you what the tickets are (if you are interested to know) but when NRES passes you on to the seller's site, that site gets very confused about what you want and eventually settles for starting a new enquiry.

That's about the size of it, given that none of the booking engines (to my knowledge) are designed to handle two simultaneous queries like that, nor to "queue" a second query whilst processing the first.