Off peak - by company?

[neonison]

i understand that different TOCs have different off-peak periods.

When attempting to check the validity of an already purchased off-peak ticket on-line, the TOC (LNER) referred me to the NR planner which was not working.

Is there a guide listing all companies and their off-peak periods?

 

[Hadders]

You ticket will have a restriction code on it in the format NRE.co.uk/xx

This will give you the restrictions. Hey are not by company but by individual ticket.

 

[Gareth Marston]

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/TicketAndValidityFinder.aspx

 

[Merseysider]

Exactly as @Hadders states.

In case you have an ‘old’ style ticket, the 2-digit code will be in the bottom right-hand area of your ticket.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Generally our tickets are simple if it's a non London flow it's 0930. London is more complicated though.

 

[neonison]

Thanks. That is the link I could not get to work but seems OK today, after the event.

To be clear I arrived at KGX earlier than anticipated at 16.45 with an off-peak single but was given wildly conflicting guidance on what was the first train I could take.

I was valid.

 

[Haywain]

i understand that different TOCs have different off-peak periods.

Much as most TOCs would like to have a black and white definition of peak and off-peak, it is actually defined by the specific restrictions of the ticket that you hold. On a train at "peak time" you could quite easily by using a Super Off-Peak ticket that is entirely valid while the person next to you requires an Anytime ticket for their journey.

To be clear I arrived at KGX earlier than anticipated at 16.45 with an off-peak single but was given wildly conflicting guidance on what was the first train I could take.

Which train you could use from Kings Cross would depend on the ticket you held - the ticket type, origin, destination and route all influence this, summed up in the restriction code.

 

[neonison]

...but it is still mightily confusing when the information desk (near Platform 9.75) tells you one thing (at or after 18.00) the guy at the gate line another (after 18.00) and I could have alighted from the train had I heeded the (after 1900) announcement after boarding that off-peak tickets were not valid on the train. The code was 1T.

 

[Haywain]

...but it is still mightily confusing when the information desk (near Platform 9.75) tells you one thing (at or after 18.00) the guy at the gate line another (after 18.00) and I could have alighted from the train had I heeded the (after 1900) announcement after boarding that off-peak tickets were not valid on the train. The code was 1T.

So two people gave you the same information, which was essentially correct. The announcement on the train would (or should) have referred to Super Off-Peak tickets and would be correct in that respect. It's hardly "wildly conflicting information".

 

[Wallsendmag]

Super Offpeak would have been 1900 not Off Peak

 

[Esker-pades]

Several trains off Paddington in the evening (long distance) are advertised as Anytime to Reading, Off-Peak to Swindon and Super Off-Peak beyond. It can get quite mad.

 

[neonison]

No. One said at or after 18.00 another after 18.00. The latter would mean I was not valid on the 18.00. There was no mention of super in the on-train announcement.

 

[neonison]

It is wildly conflicting if one gets excessed.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Several trains off Paddington in the evening (long distance) are advertised as Anytime to Reading, Off-Peak to Swindon and Super Off-Peak beyond. It can get quite mad.

They may be advertised as such but it is not correct - the trains you can take depends entirely on your ticket's restriction code. For example, passengers coming from Peterborough could entirely legitimately travel on any train to Reading if they were using a Super Off-Peak ticket.

I think it could be somewhat more acceptable if they qualified it by saying, "For passengers using tickets to/from London, trains are classified as below ...... for passengers using tickets to/from other stations, please enquire for advice."

 

[ainsworth74]

I don't think anyone can legitimately argue that the difference between Peak, Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak is confusing because it absolutely is! Even on here we will occasionally have disagreements between whether ticket X is valid on train B or someone will miss-read a restriction code or miss that for journeys via G you need to refer to restriction code 8A rather than code 3T.

However, as noted on many threads, fixing this problem is not going to be easy without either making long distance travel very much harder (and/or expensive) from/to/via London (and other places but I think London in particular struggles with this issue).

 

[Esker-pades]

They may be advertised as such but it is not correct - the trains you can take depends entirely on your ticket's restriction code. For example, passengers coming from Peterborough could entirely legitimately travel on any train to Reading if they were using a Super Off-Peak ticket.

I think it could be somewhat more acceptable if they qualified it by saying, "For passengers using tickets to/from London, trains are classified as below ...... for passengers using tickets to/from other stations, please enquire for advice."

That may be done already and I've forgotten they do that, or they don't. I can't quite remember, sorry.

 

[Mag_seven]

They may be advertised as such but it is not correct - the trains you can take depends entirely on your ticket's restriction code. For example, passengers coming from Peterborough could entirely legitimately travel on any train to Reading if they were using a Super Off-Peak ticket.

I think it could be somewhat more acceptable if they qualified it by saying, "For passengers using tickets to/from London, trains are classified as below ...... for passengers using tickets to/from other stations, please enquire for advice."

I noticed a VT poster at Euston the other day that had the usual list of "peak" trains but a note stating that "certain" off-peak tickets may still be valid on those services.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I noticed a VT poster at Euston the other day that had the usual list of "peak" trains but a note stating that "certain" off-peak tickets may still be valid on those services.

Then they're not "peak" though, are they?!

 

[cactustwirly]

Several trains off Paddington in the evening (long distance) are advertised as Anytime to Reading, Off-Peak to Swindon and Super Off-Peak beyond. It can get quite mad.

They even have a poster, detailing the trains you can and can't catch, to make it 'simple'.
All well and good, unless you have a ticket that isn't set by GWR, whereby all of that information is irrelevant.