Ticketing Glasgow/Edinburgh

[87016]

Dear all ticket gurus,

I have purchased a Preston to Glasgow off peak day return for this Saturday (£38.60), if I wish to come back via Edinburgh am I valid to do this?

If not how do I go about getting an excess from Edinburgh and how much will it cost/where/whom do I buy from?

Thanks in advance for my incompetence.

 

[bb21]

Preston - Glasgow is not permitted via Edinburgh, however Preston - Edinburgh is permitted via Glasgow.

You can try get an over-riding excess to Edinburgh for your ticket, however because the Edinburgh ticket is cheaper (£38.00), there is nothing to pay. Some staff may not like issuing zero-excess fares so you may have to shop around.

In reality I suspect that the ticket would be accepted via Edinburgh, as many tickets are valid that way, but officially it is not permitted.

 

[87016]

Thank you for your swift reply,

I didn't realise Preston - Edinburgh was valid via Glasgow!

As you seem to know about these kind of issues, can I pick your brains a little further?

1. If I was to go Preston - Edinburgh via Glasgow wouldn't the conductor query the route I was taking?

2. Are you restricted to the route you take to get to Edinburgh, in other words do you have to go from Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk or can you go from Glasgow Queen St. LL via Bathgate?

3. Is there a time restriction when I must make the final leg of the journey to Edinburgh or can I stay in Glasgow say an hour or two before completing my leg to Edinburgh?

It would be most appreciated if you could answer this post.

 

[yorkie]

Thank you for your swift reply,

I didn't realise Preston - Edinburgh was valid via Glasgow!

As you seem to know about these kind of issues, can I pick your brains a little further?

1. If I was to go Preston - Edinburgh via Glasgow wouldn't the conductor query the route I was taking?

They might be concerned that you're on the wrong train and causing unnecessary delay to your journey.

2. Are you restricted to the route you take to get to Edinburgh, in other words do you have to go from Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk or can you go from Glasgow Queen St. LL via Bathgate?

In addition to through trains or the shortest route, permitted routes are shown in the National Routeing Guide, which lists permitted routes between Edinburgh & Preston as being on the following maps:

• EG+GP
• GP
• YA+NP

The maps can be found here: http://data.atoc.org/routeing-maps

3. Is there a time restriction when I must make the final leg of the journey to Edinburgh or can I stay in Glasgow say an hour or two before completing my leg to Edinburgh?

It would be most appreciated if you could answer this post.

The time restrictions on a Preston - Edinburgh CDR can be found on BRFares.com:

Restriction Code: B1
OUTWARD TRAVEL
By any train except those timed to depart Mondays to Fridays before 0930

RETURN TRAVEL
By any train

​

When do you make the journey? Allow plenty of time to shop around, because some staff really don't like issuing zero fare excesses. Some staff will refuse to issue the excess fare once travel has commenced. Once travel is completed, a ticket is considered expired and cannot (officially) be excessed.

 

[87016]

Perhaps I ought to come clean while I am interested in taking this route.

You see I'm a Class 350 haulage/mileage/route basher.

1S32 Preston - Glasgow 1 x 350
1M99 Edinburgh - Preston 2 x 350

A decent move for a sad crank like me!!

 

[yorkie]

Perhaps I ought to come clean while I am interested in taking this route.

You don't need to justify it to us

Most Guards, when presented with a ticket for a valid journey going a long way round, are more likely to be concerned that you're not unexpectedly going a long way round.

It is unlikely that you'd be incorrectly told it's not a permitted route and given hassle. If you are told that, a conversation could go like this:

Is my ticket governed by the National Rail Conditions of Carriage?
Likely answer: yes. If no, refer to back of ticket.

OK, does the National Rail Conditions of Carriage say I can take a route shown in the routeing guide?
Likely answer: yes. If not, refer to NRCoC 13

OK, I believe Preston - Edinburgh is valid by maps <Insert maps you're using here>?
If they agree, consult the maps. If they disagree, consult the yellow pages.

​

If they insist you pay an excess fare, pay it, and claim a refund from Customer Relations.

However this is very rare. (Even EC's most notorious Guard has gone a while now without any reports of him refusing to accept tickets that are valid in the Routeing Guide but not his idea of what the Routeing Guide should be )

 

[87016]

Reading your reply I now realise what a very complicated subject ticketing/fares/routes is, that's probably why I was never a guard, I used to drive trains in the 1980's and 90's but can't get my head around ticketing!!