Booked train journey: boarding at a later station.

duncan303

Hi everyone,

I have a booked and paid for return journey from London to Glasgow with seat reservations. The outward journey from London to Glasgow is fine, however I may not be able to get to Glasgow in time to claim my booked seat for the return journey. I will be able to board the same train when it stops at the next station which is Edinburgh.

Is my ticket and booking still valid for the remainder of the journey even though I did not manage to board train at Glasgow.

Thanks for any replies.

cheers

dzug1

It depends what sort of ticket you have bought.

If you have bought advance singles in each direction, then they are only valid on the actual trains booked for the actual journey, not getting on or off short of destination. So you would not be able to do what you propose.

Having said that in reality you would probably get away with it. Depending on how seat reservations work on those trains you MIGHT lose the reservation though. If it's a paper slip on the seat it might get removed.

If you have bought a 'proper' return ticket (it will say on it 'anytime' or '(super)offpeak', not 'advance' ) then what you want to do is perfectly valid. Indeed you could travel on any other train, as long as you observe off peak restrictions. if it's an off peak ticket

duncan303

Thanks for reply,

So if I try to disembark at an earlier station than my ticket permits then I am liable to pay the whole fare to that destination at the most expensive price tarrif.

Will they not let me off the platform until I have paid or is there a possibility of me being arrested by the transport police for not having a valid ticket for that location.


seems a bit harsh........


..

dzug1

duncan303 wrote: »

Thanks for reply,

So if I try to disembark at an earlier station than my ticket permits then I am liable to pay the whole fare to that destination at the most expensive price tarrif.

Will they not let me off the platform until I have paid or is there a possibility of me being arrested by the transport police for not having a valid ticket for that location.


seems a bit harsh........


..

Depends on the station - if it's got no barriers/they are not in operation and there is no ticket check - no problem.

If you haven't got the money they can't detain you indefinitely - I'm sure they will do so until they have established your identity though.

Harsh? Not sure. If your plans are uncertain you should expect to pay for a ticket that allows flexibility.

Livingthedream

duncan303 wrote: »

seems a bit harsh..........

There's always a way to beat the system if travelling short, do a bit of home work and find out the cheapest single for the station that you want to travel short to ie;

Glasgow to Rhyl Advance Single but I want travel short to Chester, I know there are barriers at Chester so would buy Bache to Chester single (£1) and put that into the barrier to get out of the station.

dzug1

Livingthedream wrote: »

There's always a way to beat the system if travelling short, do a bit of home work and find out the cheapest single for the station that you want to travel short to ie;

Glasgow to Rhyl Advance Single but I want travel short to Chester, I know there are barriers at Chester so would buy Bache to Chester single (£1) and put that into the barrier to get out of the station.

Having first checked of course that there is no Glasgow - Chester advance single available......

Livingthedream

dzug1 wrote: »

Having first checked of course that there is no Glasgow - Chester advance single available......

True in most cases, but if you wanted to travel on the day of your orginal advance ticket but need to disembark at an earlier station it saves you the expense of get a new advance ticket which in the case of Glasgow to Chester advance single it would be a lot more expensive than a £1