Kidderminster to London Terminals Return Routing

[PhilipRdNGauge]

Hi

I'm planning to travel to Kidderminster (KID) outward from London Paddington (PAD) via the Cotwolds Line on an off-peak or super off-peak return. I've found a fare of either £92.50 off-peak return (restriction 4P) or £68.80 super off-peak return (restriction 5R) using a combination of GWR.com's booking engine & BRFares. On the way back I'd like to change at Reading (RDG) and come back via Virginia Water (VIR) finishing my journey at Staines (SNS). I'm afraid that whilst I can just about understand BRFares.com & it's numerous time restriction code, the Routing Guide is way beyond my poor little brain.

Would this deviation & stopping short on the return journey be valid, if the ticket is issued to London Terminals & not an Advance. Would GWR.com issue it as London Terminals, or do I need to buy it from a ticket office to ensure it's coded correctly.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jfollows]

Kidderminster to London via Worcester is allowed on routes shown by maps in the routeing guide:
HB+EB
LG
LH
LH+GC
WR
WR+WX
I don't believe that any of these include Reading-Waterloo via Staines.
I do not believe, therefore, that Kidderminster-Staines via Reading is a valid route on any "any permitted" Kidderminster-London ticket.
I'm not convinced that anyone on the day would object to your taking this routeing, but that's a different matter.

 

[Watershed]

Yes, this is permitted under map combination WX+WR in the Routeing Guide. You can obtain an itinerary from any booking engine to back this up.

Generally, travelling via Virginia Water is permitted on most tickets that are valid between Reading and Paddington.

 

[jfollows]

Yes, this is permitted under map combination WX+WR in the Routeing Guide. You can obtain an itinerary from any booking engine to back this up.

Generally, travelling via Virginia Water is permitted on most tickets that are valid between Reading and Paddington.

WX+WR doesn't allow travel via Oxford, though, does it? Obviously nobody checking a ticket on a Reading-Waterloo service is going to know whether or not you've previously travelled via Oxford or Swindon, so this looks like a technicality to me.

 

[Watershed]

WX+WR doesn't allow travel via Oxford, though, does it?

True, but the OP did not mention that they intended to travel via Oxford. Obviously that is the route of most through services from Worcester to Reading, but there are also a couple that run via Cheltenham and Swindon.

In any event, it seems extraordinarily unlikely that anyone would know or care that the OP travelled via Oxford rather than via Swindon to get to Reading. It seems more like an oversight than anything else for there not to be a mapped route via Oxford and Staines.

Travelling via Oxford and Staines is also permitted by virtue of being the shortest route to Waterloo that goes via Worcester.

 

[jfollows]

I agree, of course, I took via the Cotwolds Line to mean via Oxford but even so I would be happy returning via Virgina Water and Staines as PhilipRdNGauge suggests, nobody is going to know or care that this might technically be invalid, and I hadn't thought about the "shortest route" rule either.

 

[PhilipRdNGauge]

True, but the OP did not mention that they intended to travel via Oxford. Obviously that is the route of most through services from Worcester to Reading, but there are also a couple that run via Cheltenham and Swindon.

In any event, it seems extraordinarily unlikely that anyone would know or care that the OP travelled via Oxford rather than via Swindon to get to Reading. It seems more like an oversight than anything else for there not to be a mapped route via Oxford and Staines.

Travelling via Oxford and Staines is also permitted by virtue of being the shortest route to Waterloo that goes via Worcester.

I think the last time I did this trip, from Staines it was listed as "via Evesham", rather than "via Worcester", but that was before Covid, so maybe the routing points have changed. On this journey I'm only starting from London because I'm staying in Covent Garden the night before. Looking at the "via Worcester" fares from Staines to Kidderminster these are more expensive at £101.20 off-peak & £76.40 super off-peak so going further on the outward I would be saving money, although that's not my motivation. National Rail Enquiries offers me various itineraries at £92.50 off-peak & £68.80 super off-peak if I request London to Kidderminster via Staines & Worcester with Waterloo showing as origin. I suppose if I take a print-out of the return itinerary with me, that would satisfy an Inspector on the SWR part of the journey.

Thirty years ago I often did a return trip from Twickenham to Banbury both ways. The ticket office at Twickenham would assume I was going via London & give me a "Maltese Cross" ticket. Then a quick run up to Waterloo on a 4VEP, Bakerloo to Marylebone, first generation DMU wheezing & rattling for 2 hours to Banbury (bonus if the driver left his blind up), another slow DMU back to Oxford, change & wait for a 50 with a rake of Mk 1s the quick dash to Reading & then back to Twickers on another 4VEP. A great day out & never had an issue with ticket inspectors or routing guides. I imagine I'd need a series of singles to do it today, such is progress.

 

[Haywain]

Thirty years ago I often did a return trip from Twickenham to Banbury both ways. The ticket office at Twickenham would assume I was going via London & give me a "Maltese Cross" ticket. Then a quick run up to Waterloo on a 4VEP, Bakerloo to Marylebone, first generation DMU wheezing & rattling for 2 hours to Banbury (bonus if the driver left his blind up), another slow DMU back to Oxford, change & wait for a 50 with a rake of Mk 1s the quick dash to Reading & then back to Twickers on another 4VEP. A great day out & never had an issue with ticket inspectors or routing guides. I imagine I'd need a series of singles to do it today, such is progress.

No, you'd need a return ticket from Twickenham to Banbury, or a selection of (split) returns if you found that to be cheaper.

 

[PhilipRdNGauge]

No, you'd need a return ticket from Twickenham to Banbury, or a selection of (split) returns if you found that to be cheaper.

I'd assumed those kind of either way routings had been lost with privatisation, but when I chose the Marylebone route for the outward, NRE gave me either for the return, with very similar timings.