[benk1342]

Is there any textual basis for the oft-cited 3-mile rule other than the bottom of page F9 of Section F (Detail) of the Routeing Guide?

That passage states:

Journeys on direct trains or taking the route of shortest distance or a distance longer by no more than 3 miles are always following a permitted route. Journeys following a route given by the Routeing Guide are following a permitted route.

While that is very clear, what is odd is that the reference is merely in the context of setting up an explanation of when easements apply. The reader is left with the impression that the 3-mile rule, like the other permitted-route bases listed (shortest route and direct train), must be discussed in its own right elsewhere in the guide or in the National Rail Conditions of Carriage. But it is not.

For clarity, I am not talking about the general 3-mile rule's less elusive sister, the Common Routeing Point Rule. Per the Routeing Guide Glossary:

Common Routeing Point Rule[:] When a journey is between stations that have one or more common routeing points, the permitted journey takes the route of shortest distance or any route no more than 3 miles longer, whether or not they pass through the common routeing point. Also permitted are journeys that use direct trains to and from the common routeing point.

The Common Routeing Point Rule is expounded upon at Routeing Guide Section F page F7. But again, the more general 3-mile rule does not seem to be mentioned anywhere in the Routeing Guide except a single reference, in passing, when setting up the discussion of easements.

Am I missing something?

[John @ home]

Originally Posted by benk1342

what is odd is that the reference is merely in the context of setting up an explanation of when easements apply.

It does not seem to me that the positioning of the paragraph is odd.

The National Routeing Guide in Detail amplifies and explains the rules and instructions in the rest of the National Routeing Guide. There are difficulties with The NRG in Detail, mainly because it is out of date. The current version of the document is stated on the web site to be from 24 February 2010, but examination of its pdf properties shows that the document was actually created and last modified on 17 January 2003.

The structure of The NRG in Detail is made clear in the first sentence: "The National Routeing Guide has 6 sections, A, B, C, D, E and F". That was true in 2003. Since then,

• Section A, How to Use the National Routeing Guide, has become Instructions.
• Section B, Index of National Rail Stations, has become the Routeing Point Identifier.
• Section C, Routes between main Routeing Points, has become the Permitted Route Identifier.
• Section D remains the Maps.
• Section E remains the list of Easements.
• Section F remains The NRG in Detail.
• Additional Sections have been added containing a Glossary, a Routeing Points Table and a list of Group Stations.

Each part A - E of The NRG in Detail starts with a brief summary of the purpose of that Section. For Section E, Easements, that summary is:

Journeys on direct trains or taking the route of shortest distance or a distance longer by no more than 3 miles are always following a permitted route. Journeys following a route given by the Routeing Guide are following a permitted route.
A journey not obeying these rules is not taking a permitted route unless an easement allows it.

By doing so, The NRG in Detail amplifies the rules on the first page of the Instructions:

WHEN TO USE THE NATIONAL ROUTEING GUIDE
Most customers wish to make journeys by through trains or by the shortest route. In both cases they will be travelling on a permitted route, provided the correct fare has been paid to reflect any routeing indicated by the fares manual. You only need refer to the Routeing Guide when a customer is not using an advertised through train or the shortest route.

It seems to me that the summary provides sensible and relevant clarification. The alternative, that a journey not more than 3 miles longer than the shortest route was a permitted route for shorter journeys but not necessarily permitted for longer journeys with no Routeing Point in common would, in my opinion, have created far more anomalies than it removed.