Trainsplit: Mandatory Reservations

[class387]

Hello,

Just something that I've had on my mind for a while. A couple of times I have booked Advance Singles on Trainsplit - without splitting but because it was the cheapest place to buy the through ticket. They were all routed 'booked LNER trains and required connections' (or equivalent), but when I printed the tickets, there would also be mandatory reservations printed for the connecting leg (for local GTR, Northern services and the like). The first time this happened I was caught out, as I booked a much later connecting service than I intended to use... Does anyone know why this is the case, and would I actually be allowed to use a different connecting service to that booked?

 

[yorkie]

Hello,

Just something that I've had on my mind for a while. A couple of times I have booked Advance Singles on Trainsplit - without splitting but because it was the cheapest place to buy the through ticket. They were all routed 'booked LNER trains and required connections' (or equivalent), but when I printed the tickets, there would also be mandatory reservations printed for the connecting leg (for local GTR, Northern services and the like). The first time this happened I was caught out, as I booked a much later connecting service than I intended to use... Does anyone know why this is the case, and would I actually be allowed to use a different connecting service to that booked?

I suggest that you ensure you are happy with the itinerary before you book; Trainsplit has various advanced options to enable you to do this.

If the reservation is "mandatory" then officially, you have to take it.

There are some exceptions, e.g. GTR have an official policy of allowing an appropriate alternative connecting service to be used.

I don't think Northern have any such official policy, however many of their Guards - but not all - would take a pragmatic approach.

 

[class387]

I suggest that you ensure you are happy with the itinerary before you book; Trainsplit has various advanced options to enable you to do this.

If the reservation is "mandatory" then officially, you have to take it.

There are some exceptions, e.g. GTR have an official policy of allowing an appropriate alternative connecting service to be used.

I don't think Northern have any such official policy, however many of their Guards - but not all - would take a pragmatic approach.

Alright thank you! Is there anywhere I cans find a full list of TOCs that allow an alternative service?

 

[jfollows]

GTR guidance from https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-greater-anglia-validity.289076/#post-7368172:

• Where a passenger has a through Advance Ticket and reservations for a journey which involves using a Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and / or Thameslink train, as a connection to or from a different operator’s train service.

For example, Advance Tickets routed "AP SLOUGH", “AWC &CONNECTIONS” or "LNER & CONNECTNS".

They can use any Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern or Thameslink train to complete their journey even if they have a reservation for a particular Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and / or Thameslink train.

I am not aware of anything similar from other operators, at least formally stated like this.