Virgin West Coast & Connections

[sdrennan]

I have looked online and found a tiocket from Glasgow (GLC) to Ipswich (IPS). Price for Advance ticket is £61 travelling on the 5:40 from Glasgow on the 13/8.

The Does anyone know if the journet from Liverpool st to Ipswich is mandatory or can i get a later train.

Often I have a ticket which includes a local train into Glasgow which has no restrictions

Statement on site is "This ticket is only valid for travel on Virgin Trains West Coast services and connections
Non-refundable ticket, only valid for the date, time and trains specified. "

For info: Buying a ticket GLC-EUS only is over £70 on advance so i would rather not have to get 2 tickets

 

[bb21]

Have you collected your tickets? Do you have a reservation coupon for the Ipswich train?

 

[sdrennan]

I have not bought it yet as I need to know the conditions beforehand.

I would probably be able to choose reserving a seat (or not)
Question is whether the train from Liverpool st is mandatory

 

[calc7]

If you are provided with a reservation for a specific train at booking stage and so subsequently a reservation coupon for this train, then yes it will be.

If you are not, you are allowed to take any "reasonable" connecting service. Interpret that how you will. To force an unreservable train (such as the xx02 from Liverpool Street), book on a WebTIS-powered website (like East Coast, Redspottedhanky), go to Timetables Only at the bottom of the booking panel and choose Calling at: Witham (or some other station the xx02 calls at that the xx00/xx30 fasts/semi-fasts don't. This ought to put you on this unreservable train - depending on how long you take to get to Liverpool Street and indeed how you decide to sample the stations' facilities gives you a bit more flexibility. Note that you do have to get an unreservable train from Liverpool Street - typically not the xx00/xx30 Norwich departures.

 

[bb21]

Which itinerary are you looking at? Some of us can do a dummy booking with WebTIS and find out for you.

 

[stut]

You could try a workaround by specifying 'via Chelmsford'. This will show up the stopping service on the LST-IPS leg, which is unreserveable.

Would this still allow you to take one of the Norwich trains?

 

[sdrennan]

Below is the itenary I receive for the 13/8 . I would like to have 2 hours extra gap in London hence why I want to know ifI can get a later train from Liverpool st

My confusion is that it stated VWC & Connections but do I need to use the connections given

05:40 Glasgow Central 10:12 London Euston Train VIRGIN TRAINS 04h 32
10:12 London Euston 11:00 London Liverpool Street Tube n/a 00h 48
11:00 London Liverpool Street 12:07 Ipswich Station Train GREATER ANGLIA 01h 07

 

[John @ home]

do I need to use the connections given

05:40 Glasgow Central 10:12 London Euston Train VIRGIN TRAINS 04h 32
10:12 London Euston 11:00 London Liverpool Street Tube n/a 00h 48
11:00 London Liverpool Street 12:07 Ipswich Station Train GREATER ANGLIA 01h 07

In this particular instance, yes you must use exactly these trains and your ticket would not be valid by any other train. This is because both the 05:40 from Glasgow and the 11:00 from Liverpool Street are shown in the National Rail Timetable as offering seat reservations, so your ticket will come with compulsory seat reservations for these trains.

It is possible to obtain some flexibility by choosing connections with a non-reservable train for the London - Ipswich leg of the journey.

Q25. Can passengers on an advance ticket travel on earlier connecting trains?

A. Yes if it is non-reservable, no if it is reservable.

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=48377