Big saving by alighting/joining at intermediate station - Can I do this?

wealdroam

And I can imagine an even more animated 'discussion' when you want to re-enter Reading station for the return leg with a ticket from Theale to Westbury.

Make sure you have a printed itinerary from the appropriate journey planner with you to help with your explanation.

martindow

wealdroam wrote: »

And I can imagine an even more animated 'discussion' when you want to re-enter Reading station for the return leg with a ticket from Theale to Westbury.

Make sure you have a printed itinerary from the appropriate journey planner with you to help with your explanation.

Can the OP break the journey in either direction with this ticket? If not the journey planner would be of no help.

Cornucopia

martindow wrote: »

Can the OP break the journey in either direction with this ticket? If not the journey planner would be of no help.

It is an Off Peak Return ticket, which the guidance says can usually be used for a break of journey in either direction, subject to specified limitations. Which is somewhat unhelpful.

cubegame

I think I'll go for it and see what happens. I'm pretty sure on my train times so will reserve seats on the Westbury to Reading service and back.

That should help any arguments at the station.

martindow

cubegame wrote: »

I think I'll go for it and see what happens. I'm pretty sure on my train times so will reserve seats on the Westbury to Reading service and back.

That should help any arguments at the station.

Let us know how you get on.

yorkie2

cubegame wrote: »

Just wondered if anyone could offer advice on whether this fits within the Rail Conditions of Travel?

I want to travel from Westbury (Wilts) to Reading. An off-peak return is in the region of £45.

But, one can buy a ticket for the station before Reading (Theale) for £18 return.

The valid route from Westbury to Theale is to take the intercity train east to Reading and then change to a regional train west to Theale.

The £18 ticket is an Off-peak, valid on any permitted route ticket.

Big saving, but can it be done?

Westbury to Theale is NOT valid via Reading. I expect GWR would issue you with a Penalty Fare or report you for prosecution if you tried it.

yorkie2

cubegame wrote: »

I am seeing a routing via Reading for the £18 ticket on the GWR website though.....


eg.


Depart Westbury 11:03 Arrive Reading 11:49
Depart Reading 12:10 Arrive Theale 12:18


To return


Depart Theale 19:11 Arrive Reading 19:20
Depart Reading 19:31 Arrive Westbury 20:25


So I should be able to leave and join at Reading with this ticket?

In that case you have found a bug in the Worldline/Atos WebTIS which is used by GWR.


If you actually tried to exit at Reading, then the gateline staff will investigate the issue. The investigation will likely result in the bug being fixed. Whether or not you would be allowed to exit at Reading without paying an additional fare is unclear. They would have to allow you to travel to Theale (as per the contract) for no additional cost. But it is not entirely clear whether they would be obligated to allow you to make the journey to Reading without paying the difference in fares.


Set aside half an hour for a 'discussion' at the gateline and a couple of hours for later email correspondence, and have your solicitor on standby in case they prosecute you!

wealdroam wrote: »

And I can imagine an even more animated 'discussion' when you want to re-enter Reading station for the return leg with a ticket from Theale to Westbury.

Make sure you have a printed itinerary from the appropriate journey planner with you to help with your explanation.

If it was me, I'd be travelling to/from Reading West station (no ticket gates there!)


This is for two reasons:
1) to avoid a time consuming dispute;
2) to avoid GWR realising the error and fixing it, and thus allowing me to save money on future journeys.


I've wasted hours of my time in disputes with GWR before; it is very draining dealing with them, so I try to avoid it where I can.

cubegame

yorkie2 wrote: »

Westbury to Theale is NOT valid via Reading. I expect GWR would issue you with a Penalty Fare or report you for prosecution if you tried it.

Nah. It worked.

The ticket collector on the train didn't bat an eyelid. "Thanks Sir, change at Reading".

Ticket refused in gate at Reading but an inspector let me through. Ticket worked in gate on the way back.

No drama.