Can i pay for one stop peak time then cheap day return on same train?

gentlepurr

Hi all,

Many times i've split ticketed on trains, but i'm wondering whether you can split ticket on the same train to pay for one stop at peak rate, and then the remainder of the journey on the same train at cheap day return? I would be boarding the train at 8.58am, paying peak, and then paying again at the next stop 9.07am for the rest of the journey? Its the difference between £30 and just under £11 if i can, even allowing for the overpriced one stop!

Many thanks for your thoughts,

gp xx

scones

Yes, that would be completely in the rules provided that:

1. The train calls at the station where you swap between tickets
2. The off peak ticket from the intermediate station is valid at that time

If you can detail the specific stations involved people will be able to give you more definite advice (off peak times vary a lot depending on the route, journey and ticket type).

gentlepurr

Thats great, thanks scones, ive been doing abit of researching in teh meantime and i'm ok with the rest if the criteria, it was just whether i drove to the next station, or got the train anyway and paid peak for the one stop, thanks for your confirmation

gp xx

stragglebod

Remember that on some tickets what constitutes 'peak' is the arrival time, so be careful. Do you know the restriction code of the tickets you'll be using?

Hannes2019

yes for my understanding

Kernel_Sanders

The train manager might not be available in those first 9 minutes, so should you always buy the ticket for the second leg beforehand? Even if he was, is he actually obliged to sell you a ticket for what would actually be a future journey?

stragglebod wrote: »

Remember that on some tickets what constitutes 'peak' is the arrival time, so be careful. Do you know the restriction code of the tickets you'll be using?

Isn't that just for journeys ending near the start of the evening rush hour?

scones

Restrictions based on arrival time are very common on routes into London.

Restriction code UV used on off peak returns from Bournemouth and other locations is a good example - https://www.nre.co.uk/UV

Quite a sensible way to define a peak period on longer distance routes with a heavy commuter flow to London - the peak demand is for trains that arrive in London in a relatively narrow morning period so it's simpler to define that than set different departure time restrictions all down the line. (A blanket 'not before 9.30' would be ludicrous in Weymouth, for example, as the most popular business trains timed to arrive in London by 9.30 would all have departed by 7am).

yorkie2

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

The train manager might not be available in those first 9 minutes, so should you always buy the ticket for the second leg beforehand? Even if he was, is he actually obliged to sell you a ticket for what would actually be a future journey?

Isn't that just for journeys ending near the start of the evening rush hour?

If there is no facility at the origin station to purchase the required tickets, then you are entitled to buy the tickets on the train.


The National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT), specifically Condition 14, entitle customers to buy two or more tickets for one journey.


So purchasing two or more tickets does not mean that you are necessarily making more than one journey.


Providing the combination of tickets is valid for the journey being made, then these should be sold.


For example if a passenger travels at around 8am from Starbeck to Chesterfield and is unable to buy their ticket at Starbeck (I believe there is a ticket machine there now, but there wasn't until recently; it may or may not accept cash and it certainly won't take Rail Travel Vouchers) does not have to ask for a Starbeck to Chesterfield Anytime ticket. They are perfectly entitled to ask the Guard to sell them a combination of Starbeck to Sheffield Anytime, and Sheffield to Chesterfield off peak.


Don't forget that it's not just a case of people wanting to buy two or more tickers for their journey for money saving reasons! A customer may find there is no through fare for their journey, so the customer will have to be sold a combination of tickets.


For example, I'm not sure what ticket issuing facilities there are at South Milford; probably none, or very limited (certainly no ticket office), so a passenger may legitimately board a train heading towards the Yorkshire coastal town of Bridlington and yet they would not be able to buy a single or return ticket from South Milford to Bridlington as this fare simply does not exist. The rail industry forces some passengers to buy a combination of fares.


Other examples exist, where a through fare does exist but is unsuitable, for example a train company may offer first class accommodation but there may not be a through first class fare for the journey the customer wishes to make, or the customer may wish to travel via a faster route than permitted by any through fare (e.g. Yarm in Teesside to Langwathby in Cumbria; the rail industry wants through ticket holders to change at Thornaby, Newcastle and Carlisle, compared to the much faster route changing once at Leeds)