Return from Haymarket to Edinburgh

[swaldman]

Hi,

I'm sorry if this is a duplicate - I've seen that there are a LOT of questions about Edinburgh and Haymarket, but most are the opposite way around....

I live in Edinburgh. For reasons of bus routes, it's fairly common for me to want to buy a return that departs from Haymarket, travels west, and returns to Edinburgh (the station formerly known as Waverley) - so it passes through Haymarket on the return.

Is this possible? Or, I guess, in two questions,
a) Will a return from/to Haymarket be accepted for alighting at Edinburgh, on a train that passed through Haymarket already?
b) Is there a way to buy a Edinburgh->Edinburgh return while physically standing at Haymarket? (the other threads that I've seen here suggest if I were able to do this, I would be allowed to board with it)

Thanks.

 

[Altfish]

As far as I'm aware you can buy a ticket from anywhere to anywhere at a manned station.
I've bought tickets from Stockport to Nottingham from Altrincham station.

 

[causton]

a) Generally, no.
b) Yes, you could ask at the ticket office and some machines have a "Buy from other stations" facility - not sure if the Scotrail ones at Haymarket do.

 

[Liam]

a) Will a return from/to Haymarket be accepted for alighting at Edinburgh, on a train that passed through Haymarket already?

In my experience, yes.

 

[cuccir]

The easiest option, as suggested, is to buy a ticket from the ticket office at Haymarket to/from Edinburgh, and to 'start short' at Haymarket on the first journey.

Technically, a westward ticket to/from Haymarket is not valid for travel east to Edinburgh; proper procedure would be to obtain an 'excess' (of £0!) to an Edinburgh ticket from the guard when travelling back. In practice, as Liam notes, staff are likely to just say this is OK as all tickets are the same price.

 

[swaldman]

Thanks, all. I had overlooked the "just go to the ticket office" option, though if that's not necessary I'd rather not queue.

From practical experience last night, I bought a return from Haymarket, then on the return trip I asked the guard if I could continue to Waverley - he said "yes, as it's the same price" and then - to my surprise - the barrier at Waverley accepted it, no questions asked, no need to get assistance.

So while it may not be formally permitted, it's established well enough that not only do the staff allow it, the gateline is also programmed that way