Stopping short (Ashley Down)

[contrex]

Went to from Stapleton Road to Cheltenham Spa on Sunday, off-peak return, came back today. The usual route I have been using is GWR Stapleton Road-Bristol TM, XC Bristol TM-Cheltenham Spa. Handy because XC is quite quick (misses out everything from Bristol Parkway to Cheltenham). On arrival back at Bristol TM, I had the choice of a GWR Severn Beach service or 8 minutes later, a Filton Abbey Wood one. I was curious about trying out Ashley Down but was not sure if my ticket was valid for that extra stop. I asked a member of staff and they said 'No, Ashley Down is on a different line' (it isn't). Then I had an idea and said 'suppose I had alighted from XC at Parkway and gone to Filton Abbey Wood, and then changed again to Ashley Down? That would be stopping short, wouldn't it, which is allowed with this type of ticket'. Staff member said 'You're not allowed to do that, you have to go to the station you started from'. A nearby staff member who had been listening piped up and said 'What you want to do is completely fine, and as you said, you are really stopping short'. Who was right? If I was in the right, but that other staff member hadn't been around, I might have got totally the wrong impression.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@contrex. Wouldn't you need a £2.40 single from Stapleton Road to Ashley Down to then legitimately travel the extra stop further beyond your origin station? Assume you were travelling on the return portion of the Stapleton Road->Cheltenham Spa Off Peak Return (and not an equivalent Ashley Down->Cheltenham Spa ticket).

 

[Watershed]

You can double back via Bristol TM if you want, or you can change at Bristol Parkway - but what you can't do is to double back via TM and then go beyond Stapleton Road. This is for the simple reason that your ticket expires when your train from TM calls at Stapleton Road.

Coming from the other direction (changing at Parkway), stopping off at Ashley Down would be fine as you would not yet have reached Stapleton Road.

 

[contrex]

@contrex. Wouldn't you need a £2.40 single from Stapleton Road to Ashley Down to then legitimately travel the extra stop further beyond your origin station? Assume you were travelling on the return portion of the Stapleton Road->Cheltenham Spa Off Peak Return (and not an equivalent Ashley Down->Cheltenham Spa ticket).

That is what I was wondering. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. The layout of the stations, geographically north to south, is Cheltenham Spa --- Bristol Parkway -- Filton Abbey Wood --- Ashley Down --- Stapleton Road --- Bristol Temple Meads. However, with tickets from Stapleton Road one has a choice of going forward and changing at Filton and Parkway, or going 'backwards' into Temple Meads and boarding a faster service that goes up the fasts/skips some or all of the intermediate stops (e.g. Cross-Country versus GWR). This works for trips to Gloucester, Cardiff, etc. So Ashley Down is near to Cheltenham than Stapleton Road, and if I had chosen the slow way back, with multiple changes, I would have stopped at Ashley Down 3 minutes before Stapleton Road. I know that with advance tickets one can face starting/stopping short restrictions, but this wasn't one of those (restriction was W5).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Oct 2024 ==

You can double back via Bristol TM if you want, or you can change at Bristol Parkway - but what you can't do is to double back via TM and then go beyond Stapleton Road. This is for the simple reason that your ticket expires when your train from TM calls at Stapleton Road.

Coming from the other direction (changing at Parkway), stopping off at Ashley Down would be fine as you would not yet have reached Stapleton Road.

Thanks, I'm convinced! What confused me a bit was that I often go from Stapleton Road to Cardiff Central, and on the way back in the evening, wish to go to a curry place in Montpelier, one stop more than Stapleton Road in the Severn Beach direction. I have asked for the return ticket to be issued as if from Montpelier when buying on board or at the booth at Temple Meads, they are usually happy to do it, and sometimes the ticket seller says 'it doesn't really matter, the fare's the same, but I'll do it if you want'. Stapleton Road is the only station (I think) in the Bristol area that does not have a ticket machine and is not a penalty fare station. I'm the sort of person who worries if things aren't exactly according to the rules.

 

[father_jack]

I may recall incorrectly but up to only a few years ago I believe Stapleton Road to Cheltenham Spa used only be valid in the northbound direction with no double back- as in up to Bristol Parkway and then north. Same as Bristol Parkway down to say Redland wasn't a valid route via Bristol Temple Meads, you had to change at Stapleton Road or Lawrence Hill or buy separate tickets. However they withdraw the BRI-LWH-SRD-FIT-BPW train to make capacity for the shortlived Bristol TM to London Paddington with only stop at Bristol Parkway "superfasts" that only ran briefly and I think the routing guide was changed to allow changing at Bristol Temple Meads.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@contrex. Just to clarify, on your return journey from Cheltenham Spa, assuming you've just alighted/changed trains at Filton Abbey Wood, is your intended next (final?) leg on a train that runs fast to Stapleton Road, or one that's stopping intermediately at Ashley Down?

 

[contrex]

@contrex. Just to clarify, on your return journey from Cheltenham Spa, assuming you've just alighted/changed trains at Filton Abbey Wood, is your intended next (final?) leg on a train that runs fast to Stapleton Road, or one that's stopping intermediately at Ashley Down?

I am now(see above) under the impression that doubling back beyond Stapleton Road is not allowed, so if I were at Filton Abbey Wood, and I wished to alight at Ashley Down, I would only board a train that called at the latter station. To further clarify, my actual trip was Cheltenham Spa - Bristol Parkway - Bristol TM by XC, then back to Stapleton Road by GWR.