Travelcard routing from Reading

[reddragon]

I have looked at BRfares and asked at the ticket office but there doesn't seem to be a clear answer on Travelcard routing.

I would like to know which routes are allowed on a travelcard from Reading to London.

I know that direct Reading to Paddington or Waterloo are allowed.
BRfares seems to indicate that via Windsor is allowed.

What about via Farnborough North & Main or via Basingstoke?

The Basingstoke 1 day travelcard is slightly more expensive but limits the route to via Woking only whereas Reading ticket just says any permitted route, but not what routes are permitted!

Does anyone know the answer to this as I'd like to travel other ways sometimes.

 

[redreni]

BRFares doesn't give any indication which routes are allowed.

 

[JonathanH]

BRFares doesn't give any indication which routes are allowed.

Other than identifying where a ticket has a route restriction.

 

[jfollows]

“Any permitted” routes Reading to London, then obviously once you’ve reached Zone 6 you can use the Travelcard as a zonal ticket.
Maps RG & WX at https://rgpp.iblocks.co.uk/maps
Not Basingstoke.
Not Farnborough.
http://iblocks-rg-publication.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/nrg_instructions.pdf says

A NOTE ABOUT ROUTEING WITH OUTBOUNDARY TRAVELCARDS
(TRAVELCARDS VALID FROM STATIONS OUTSIDE THE LONDON ZONAL FARE AREA TO ZONES WITHIN IT)
The route you take between your origin station and the point at which you first cross into the London zonal area (Zones 1-9) should be the route valid for a journey to ‘London Terminals’, regardless of the zone(s) to which the ticket is actually valid or the combination of London Travelcards being used. This does not affect validity within the London zonal area, where you are permitted to use any eligible National Rail service within the zone(s) for which your Travelcard is valid.’

 

[JonathanH]

“Any permitted” routes Reading to London, then obviously once you’ve reached Zone 6 you can use the Travelcard as a zonal ticket.
Maps RG & WX at https://rgpp.iblocks.co.uk/maps
Not Basingstoke.
Not Farnborough.

The forum's booking engine will sell a travelcard as a valid ticket from Reading to Surbiton via Basingstoke (and Reading to Coulsdon South via Redhill), but I wouldn't necessarily expect such use to pass on board inspection easily.

While it is in no way a determinant of a valid route, I note that Basingstoke is ten miles further from Waterloo than Reading is from Paddington, and it is 15 miles from Reading to Basingstoke.

 

[reddragon]

The forum's booking engine will sell a travelcard as a valid ticket from Reading to Surbiton via Basingstoke (and Reading to Coulsdon South via Redhill), but I wouldn't necessarily expect such use to pass on board inspection easily.

While it is in no way a determinant of a valid route, I note that Basingstoke is ten miles further from Waterloo than Reading is from Paddington.

As code RU?

 

[jfollows]

Reading to Surbiton, for example, is valid on map RU, but Reading to London isn’t. So it looks like differing interpretations of the routeing guide by booking engines.

 

[JonathanH]

So it looks like differing interpretations of the routeing guide by booking engines.

Yes, this is the "appropriate routeing to first station in Zone 6" approach, rather than the "appropriate routeing to London Terminal" approach.

 

[Vexed]

So it looks like differing interpretations of the routeing guide by booking engines.

Yes, the RSPS5047 specification they use just states the following:

9.2.2.5 Journeys where the origin is outside the zonal system
9.2.2.5.1 For journeys which commence outside the zonal system, where the fare destination is zonal, the Rail part of the journey should be validated, up to the first relevant station inside the zonal system.
The first station pass/stop event which is in one of the zones covered by the zonal fare is the relevant station. The part of the journey from the journey origin to this station should be validated using NRG rules. All other pass/stop events in the journey must be included in the zones covered by the zonal fare destination.

No mention of the route needing to valid all the way to London Terminals.

Of course this can't be relied upon without a valid itineary, though it's a moot point now the NRCoT's only way to validate journeys is with valid itinearies and not the routeing guide any more.

 

[jfollows]

Interesting stuff.

In the past, the routeing guide was authoritative, so the quote I gave above could have been definitive.

Now it’s the interpretation of the routeing guide that’s become authoritative, and when rules in the specification are used the result can be different. The information is still public, in a way, but harder to find.

I think it’s a bit of a mess; the routeing guide was hardly public-friendly but at least it tried to be logical and consistent.

In this particular case, it looks like “via Basingstoke” is allowed as long as you use a booking engine which generates an itinerary this way.

But it’s also likely that a Travelcard to Surbiton from Reading won’t show as valid to return from Paddington, if an itinerary is required.