Season Ticket Question

[Halfway Boy]

Morning All,

I have a question regarding season tickets.

I did ask at my local station but unfortunately I was told “no idea mate sorry”. Not their fault, since the ticket office has closed I imagine most of the new staff aren’t quite familiar with ticketing rules.

My question is essentially this:

I am planning to leave London and move out to the country, and I would be getting a season ticket from Chippenham to London.

Now this does me the vast majority of the time, but occasionally - 3 days in every 8 weeks - I will need to be in London earlier than the first train from Chippenham arrives.

Now I can drive to Reading and get a train from there, which is on the same line as my season ticket and my Chippenham train normally stops at.

But as the train commences at reading, is my season ticket valid for travel as the train starts before my station?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jfollows]

Yes, your season ticket is valid for all trains at all times along its permitted routes.

Which include via Westbury and then Bath (in the direction from London), as well as the more obvious route via Swindon. Also Salisbury to Waterloo & Reading-Waterloo. And, of course, Reading to Paddington. On any train.

Your local station should have known, it’s a basic and fundamental fact about season tickets, but there you have it.

 

[Watershed]

Season tickets allow unlimited travel between all stations on the route in question.

This includes starting or finishing at intermediate stations, as in your example. It doesn't matter whether the train you take starts or finishes, just that you're on a valid route.

So what you're proposing is absolutely fine and I'm somewhat surprised that a member of ticket office staff wouldn't know the answer to such a (relatively) straightforward query. Then again, the training provided nowadays is often dire.

 

[Halfway Boy]

Season tickets allow unlimited travel between all stations on the route in question.

This includes starting or finishing at intermediate stations, as in your example. It doesn't matter whether the train you take starts or finishes, just that you're on a valid route.

So what you're proposing is absolutely fine and I'm somewhat surprised that a member of ticket office staff wouldn't know the answer to such a (relatively) straightforward query. Then again, the training provided nowadays is often dire.

Perfect thank you.

To clarify they were station staff not ticket office, my ticket office has closed, hence the lack of ticketing knowledge/training.

 

[Watershed]

Perfect thank you.

To clarify they were station staff not ticket office, my ticket office has closed, hence the lack of ticketing knowledge/training.

Ah, I see - that makes a bit more sense although it's still a very basic rule to be honest.

 

[skyhigh]

Ah, I see - that makes a bit more sense although it's still a very basic rule to be honest.

To be fair to them, if they have no training at all on ticketing it's better that they say they don't know rather than making things up (as we have seen elsewhere....)

 

[jfollows]

Perfect thank you.

To clarify they were station staff not ticket office, my ticket office has closed, hence the lack of ticketing knowledge/training.

You can also acquaint yourself with the (many) alternative routes over which this ticket is also valid - Waterloo to Richmond or Waterloo to Basingstoke, to name but two. If you have a reason to use these routes then you’re already covered by your season ticket.