Split ticket advice please

[nlt]

For the first time I have used the forum's ticketing service and have what I consider to be a very good deal. I have a couple of questions though. Apologies if they have been answered before.
1. My first ticket is a GWR Promo 1st Advance for the 12.19 from Reading to MVL next Tuesday. I am planning to start this trip from West London on the Elizabeth Line using a TFL Freedom Pass to reach Reading. I am aiming to get to Reading in very good time to join the 12.19. However can you please advise me of my rights if for any reason the Elizabeth Line goes into meltdown on the day and I miss the connection?
2. The second journey is the following day from MVL to WDS. Am attaching the itinerary. It involves three trains. 12.15 MVL to Birmingham New Street 13.09. Then Cross Country 13.28 to Sheffield at 14.28. Then Northern 15.02 to WDS at 16.12. Can you please advise me of my rights (ie in explanations to ticket inspectors) if any of the three trains are late and I miss the booked connections?

 

[jfollows]

Will you please explain MVL and WDS?

In general, as long as you allow at least the minimum connection time between trains at stations, for any missed connections involving advance tickets you are able to use later trains by the same operator.

 

[yorkie]

For the first time I have used the forum's ticketing service and have what I consider to be a very good deal. I have a couple of questions though. Apologies if they have been answered before.
1. My first ticket is a GWR Promo 1st Advance for the 12.19 from Reading to MVL next Tuesday. I am planning to start this trip from West London on the Elizabeth Line using a TFL Freedom Pass to reach Reading. I am aiming to get to Reading in very good time to join the 12.19. However can you please advise me of my rights if for any reason the Elizabeth Line goes into meltdown on the day and I miss the connection?

I can figure out that MVL is Malvern Link, without looking it up, but please do define all station codes at first use, as not everyone can do this

You are entitled to make the journey using this combination of pass/tickets, however my advice would be to allow plenty of time, perhaps at The Three Guineas, within the station.

TfL are very stingy when it comes to delay compensation, and you'd also lose any seat reservations, so it's probably a connection you want to try not to miss, but you are entitled to onward travel.

Presumably you chose that you had a Freedom Pass when you booked, and have an itinerary from your origin station, which would help in the event of any dispute (if you had any problems generating this, feel free to send me a direct message with your search link, and I'll get someone to have a look into it).

If you do not have a through itinerary, your rights are not in any way reduced, but you might have to do battle with some staff, who don't always understand the rules as well as some of the experts on here.

2. The second journey is the following day from MVL to WDS. Am attaching the itinerary. It involves three trains. 12.15 MVL to Birmingham New Street 13.09. Then Cross Country 13.28 to Sheffield at 14.28. Then Northern 15.02 to WDS at 16.12. Can you please advise me of my rights (ie in explanations to ticket inspectors) if any of the three trains are late and I miss the booked connections?

You are absolutely entitled to onward transport, and Delay Repay compensation for the whole journey. The fact you have a through itinerary is excellent evidence of a contract for the entire journey, which no sane person could dispute. So I would expect that you would have no issues whatsoever in the event of delays. Of course, we can't guarantee that you won't encounter a member of staff who makes up their own rules, but the fact you hold an itinerary makes it easier to argue your case, if you encounter any resistance.

 

[Belperpete]

Presumably you chose that you had a Freedom Pass when you booked, and have an itinerary from your origin station, which would help in the event of any dispute

That is not how I interpreted it. I read it as the OP intends to use his Freedom Pass on the day to get to Reading.

As you say, if the OP had specified his actual start station, the site should have generated an itinerary from that station, showing the latest train he could catch from there to have a valid connection at Reading (although advisable to catch an earlier train). And if he had specified that he had a Freedom Pass, that should have been taken into account when calculating the fare. Would the site have generated a ticket for the journey from his start station?

As you say, having an itinerary for the complete journey should put the OP in a strong position. Having a ticket and an itinerary specifying his start station would be even better.

 

[yorkie]

That is not how I interpreted it. I read it as the OP intends to use his Freedom Pass on the day to get to Reading.

Yes, that is indeed what I interpreted. You can specify that you have a Freedom Pass when booking.

As you say, if the OP had specified his actual start station, the site should have generated an itinerary from that station, showing the latest train he could catch from there to have a valid connection at Reading (although advisable to catch an earlier train). And if he had specified that he had a Freedom Pass, that should have been taken into account when calculating the fare.

Indeed

Would the site have generated a ticket for the journey from his start station?

Try it and find out; in general it would be a Boundary Zone 6 ticket, though it may be from a named station, if the train calls there*

(* Yes I know the train doesn't have to call, but there are concerns that some staff may not honour this)

As you say, having an itinerary for the complete journey should put the OP in a strong position. Having a ticket and an itinerary specifying his start station would be even better.

Agreed.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Try it and find out; in general it would be a Boundary Zone 6 ticket, though it may be from a named station, if the train calls there*

Is the OP taking advantage of the feature, I think, of the TfL Freedom pass that it's valid outside of Zone 6 to Reading, provided he uses the Elizabeth Line and not GWR?

 

[yorkie]

Is the OP taking advantage of the feature, I think, of the TfL Freedom pass that it's valid outside of Zone 6 to Reading, provided he uses the Elizabeth Line and not GWR?

Yes, although it would generally be a Boundary Zone 6 station, in the case of the Elizabeth Line via Reading, it would be a ticket from Reading.

For example, Abbey Wood to Didcot:


The slower itinerary offers a Reading to Didcot ticket, and the faster itinerary offers a BZ6 to Didcot ticket.

Feel free to try it for any other journeys, and if anyone ever thinks it's wrong, feel free to send me a direct message (with search link) and I'll ask the relevant people to look into it.

I would highly recommend anyone holding an existing Travelcard or equivalent/similar pass books a through itinerary for their whole journey wherever possible, as this can reduce hassle in the event of cancellations, delays etc, especially if encoutinering unknowledgeable staff (which the Paddington gateline is rife with)

 

[nlt]

Re codes it's Malvern Link to Woodlesford. Re the Elizabeth Line bit I didn't realise I could have entered my start station as Hayes and Harlington and the fact that I have a Freedom Pass when I booked. I just started from Reading as I knew I cld get there for nothing. Thanks for the advice.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Dec 2025 ==

I've experimented with the same journey on 14 January. GWR gives me an Advance 1st single from Reading to Malvern Link on the 1219 for £10.30 BUT I can't replicate that by starting from Hayes and Harlington and putting in my Freedom Pass. It gives me an error message :

Oops! Something went wrong performing your search.​

Please check your search parameters and try again.

Leg origin/destination could not be located within train record

Error token: 0HNHO3F92338R:0000162D

 

[yorkie]

Re codes it's Malvern Link to Woodlesford. Re the Elizabeth Line bit I didn't realise I could have entered my start station as Hayes and Harlington and the fact that I have a Freedom Pass when I booked. I just started from Reading as I knew I cld get there for nothing. Thanks for the advice.

No worries in future, I recommend doing this, as it can help in the event of a delay/cancellation/dispute.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Dec 2025 ==

I've experimented with the same journey on 14 January. GWR gives me an Advance 1st single from Reading to Malvern Link on the 1219 for £10.30 BUT I can't replicate that by starting from Hayes and Harlington and putting in my Freedom Pass. It gives me an error message :

Oops! Something went wrong performing your search.​

Please check your search parameters and try again.

Leg origin/destination could not be located within train record

Error token: 0HNHO3F92338R:0000162D

Can you copy and paste the search link please?

When you say "GWR gives me..." if you mean the GWR website, they do not offer this feature. Our ticketing site is more advanced than GWR's.

 

[nlt]

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