Off Peak trains - is it the time or the train itself which defines 'Off-Peak'

jonesen

I arrived at Euston station at 6.50pm last night and saw that the 6.40 Virgin train to manchester (the last peak service) was delayed and wasn't due to leave until 7pm....I had an off-peak ticket so checked the Virgin rail site on my phone and it stated that off peak is 'any departure after 6.45pm...so I boarded the train, to then be told by the train manager that I'd have to either buy a peak ticket or get off....as it was still 'Classified as a peak train'. But the definition of Peak and off peak is the time of departure....not the designation of the train...... What are the real rules on this?

katejo

jonesen wrote: »

I arrived at Euston station at 6.50pm last night and saw that the 6.40 Virgin train to manchester (the last peak service) was delayed and wasn't due to leave until 7pm....I had an off-peak ticket so checked the Virgin rail site on my phone and it stated that off peak is 'any departure after 6.45pm...so I boarded the train, to then be told by the train manager that I'd have to either buy a peak ticket or get off....as it was still 'Classified as a peak train'. But the definition of Peak and off peak is the time of departure....not the designation of the train...... What are the real rules on this?

It must be the time when the train was scheduled to leave. Otherwise the other passengers on the train would be pretty unhappy as they will have paid the peak fare.

maniacmartin

There is no such thing as a peak train or an off-peak train. Peak times are determined by ticket's origin, destination, type (Anytime, off-peak, super off-peak etc) and route. This is often misunderstood by many staff and passsengers

Each ticket has a restriction code (e.g. 2A) which is sometimes printed in small print on the bottom right of the ticket, the details of which can be looked up by staff on their Ticket issuing system, or by you on National Rail Enquries or more easily on another site which I am not permitted to link to.

Some restriction codes refer to when the train is scheduled to leave and some refer to when the train leaves.

Whether your ticket was valid depends on the exact details of the ticket held. If you can supply more information on the ticket, we can look it up