One season ticket, two homes?

[bmiG]

Dear All

Advice please for someone new, if you'd be so kind.

A friend normally commutes from Didcot Parkway to London (with an Oxford to London annual season ticket).

It would be helpful for them to be able to travel from High Wycombe some of the time...

Is there a destination (e.g. Bicester perhaps) from where a season ticket would be valid either via Didcot or via High Wycombe? If so, would it be allowed to have such a ticket but only to get on/off at Didcot or High Wycombe (i.e. would it open the barriers!?).

I hope I have explained the question clearly enough - thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Oxford to London should be valid via Bicester and High Wycombe.

 

[telstarbox]

Season tickets are either issued from Bicester North or Bicester Town rather than 'Bicester Stations'.

With a season ticket you can board or alight anywhere along valid routes. It might not open the barrier at intermediate stations but it is valid.

 

[bmiG]

Oxford to London should be valid via Bicester and High Wycombe.

Thanks Arctic Troll.

So: the fact that the Oxford - London Gold Card doesn't open the barriers at High Wycombe doesn't mean it is invalid?

I'm easily confused!

 

[Tibbs]

Thanks Arctic Troll.

So: the fact that the Oxford - London Gold Card doesn't open the barriers at High Wycombe doesn't mean it is invalid?

I'm easily confused!

Not at all.

Gates can be programmed in various ways to accept or reject tickets. Some tickets are rejected en masse (season tickets often fall into this group) so they can be manually checked.

A ticket opening (or not opening) a gate is no indication of whether the ticket is actually valid at that station.

 

[MichaelAMW]

Oxford to London should be valid via Bicester and High Wycombe.

Not quite sure where your "should" comes from. One or other or both of these routeing guide "easements" might make this more difficult:

000042: Journeys from or via London to Bicester North may not go via Bicester Town and journeys from or via London to Bicester Town may not go via Bicester North. This prohibition applies in both directions.

030132: Journeys to Bicester North may not go via Oxford and Bicester Town. Journeys to Bicester Town must go via Oxford. These easements apply in both directions.

Edit. Plus this one that bb21 found that I missed (just to have them all in one place.)

700301: Customers travelling from London Marylebone to Bicester Town, Islip or Oxford in possession of tickets routed "Any Permitted" may not travel via Bicester North. This easement applies in both directions.

 

[bb21]

Oxford to London should be valid via Bicester and High Wycombe.

Not according to Easement 700301.

Customers travelling from London Marylebone to Bicester Town, Islip or Oxford in possession of tickets routed "Any Permitted" may not travel via Bicester North. This easement applies in both directions.

Yes, I know it is poorly worded and really should read "London" or "London Terminals", but "London Marylebone" is not wrong.

The shortest route between Oxford and London is via Reading into Paddington. Via Bicester is longer so subject to any applicable negative easement.

Banbury to London Terminals will be valid both via Didcot and High Wycombe, but obviously costs more.

 

[telstarbox]

How about a ticket from Kings Sutton to London?

 

[bb21]

How about a ticket from Kings Sutton to London?

Same price as Banbury so might as well buy from Banbury.

 

[bmiG]

Not according to Easement 700301.



Yes, I know it is poorly worded and really should read "London" or "London Terminals", but "London Marylebone" is not wrong.

The shortest route between Oxford and London is via Reading into Paddington. Via Bicester is longer so subject to any applicable negative easement.

Banbury to London Terminals will be valid both via Didcot and High Wycombe, but obviously costs more.

Thanks All. That feels like a definitive answer. I'd never heard of easements!

Thanks again.

 

[bb21]

Permitted routes are defined by the NRCoC (Condition 13 in particular) and the National Routeing Guide (easements contained in Section E). There is a section in our Fares & Ticketing Guide explaining how everything works. It might seem quite complicated at the beginning but if you are interested, you might find that it will work to your advantage in the future.

 

[MichaelAMW]

Same price as Banbury so might as well buy from Banbury.

That sounds like the answer to me - the 10%ish extra cost buys you the flexibility.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Not according to Easement 700301.

Yes, I know it is poorly worded and really should read "London" or "London Terminals", but "London Marylebone" is not wrong.

The shortest route between Oxford and London is via Reading into Paddington. Via Bicester is longer so subject to any applicable negative easement.

Banbury to London Terminals will be valid both via Didcot and High Wycombe, but obviously costs more.

Odd. I actually checked NRE- I was assuming that Banbury would be valid but wondered about Oxford due to the new line opening soon- and it showed it as valid on one ticket. And we all know NRE is the fountain of all knowledge

 

[bb21]

Odd. I actually checked NRE- I was assuming that Banbury would be valid but wondered about Oxford due to the new line opening soon- and it showed it as valid on one ticket. And we all know NRE is the fountain of all knowledge

I did suspect that it may be the source of your claim, and that it may be down to the discrepancies in the mileages used by electronic sources and manual references.

I am going to leave it to the OP to decide whether it would be worth potential hassle and having to carry this piece of evidence around with him every time he travels via the Chiltern Mainline.

 

[CyrusWuff]

NRE may well say that it's valid, but I can't get WebTIS, Trainline or Raileasy to offer a ticket for Oxford - Bicester Town - (walk) - Bicester North - Marylebone, and I suspect the same is true of other Ticket Issuing Systems.