Watford Junction to Lancaster 23/01/16

[Morris Dancer]

Just a quick question. I'm travelling to Lancaster tomorrow on an advance single. On booking I saw that there was one change involved and assumed, without checking, that it would be somewhere north like Milton Keynes or Crewe. No so, the one change is at Euston, on a London Midland service. My question is the LM service stops at Bushey which is a far more convenient stop for me. Would I have any problems using my ticket from here or would it be wise to go to Watford?
Many thanks.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Officially this isn't allowed. Practically there is a fair chance you'd get away with it, particularly if you bought a single to WFJ to go with it (but just omitted to go to WFJ and back), though it's a bit risky as invalidating your Advance ticket at the hands of a picky inspector would be quite expensive.

 

[Morris Dancer]

It's as I thought then. I'll just roll up to Watford then.
Cheers for the advice.

 

[Starmill]

If you use another ticket to gain entry at Bushey, it's almost impossible for this to be detected. It remains officially not permitted, but it doesn't appear there are any cheaper fares available by doing what you've done than buying a ticket from Bushey. I'd be perfectly happy with this, but of course you're able to make your own decision. As I say the sticking point may be that it's unlikely to open the gate.

 

[PermitToTravel]

What I would do (note: this is illegal, but I don't think it is immoral (see last paragraph) or that it is likely to be detected):

If the gates are open at Bushey, go through and board the train shown in the itinerary.
If the gates are closed at Bushey but there is a member of staff stood beside them, show them the ticket and ask to be let through.
If they refuse, or there is no member of staff nearby, touch in with an Oyster card and touch out at Euston. Resume use of the advance ticket at that stage.

For next time: a ticket from Bushey to Lancaster is the same price as a ticket from Watford Junction to Lancaster via London. However, there are some cheaper tickets from Watford Junction to Lancaster that do not involve going via London, so do check for the availability of these before booking from Bushey. Such a ticket would only be valid on Virgin Trains and using it from Bushey, as well as being illegal and more likely to be objected to, would involve going via London without paying the premium for doing so. Due to the broken way fares are set on the British railway, there are no cheaper tickets from Bushey to Lancaster avoiding London.