Combination of season + other ticket

[guilbert]

I have a Hitchin to London Terminals season ticket so it's fairly clear that I could, for instance, buy an appropriate Hitchin to Peterborough single then take an EC train from King's Cross which is first stop Peterborough.

But do I actually have to travel through Hitchin, or does the combination of season + single become equivalent to a ticket for the whole journey via any permitted route?

For instance, if I buy a Hitchin to Cambridge single I could obviously get a non stop train from King's Cross but could I travel from Liverpool Street instead? Or if I buy a London Terminals to Birmingham ticket would I be able to travel from Hitchin to Birmingham via Peterborough?

 

[bb21]

Yes, no, and no is my understanding of the rules, but I am aware that some forum members think that what you are proposing is permitted based on an alternative reading of Condition 19.

 

[RJ]

Yes, no, and no is my understanding of the rules, but I am aware that some forum members think that what you are proposing is permitted based on an alternative reading of Condition 19.

I'd propose that those people are categorically wrong. As far as I'm aware, the concept of permitted routes applies to each ticket. Unless there is something unambiguous that states that permitted routes do not apply to each ticket when a combination of tickets is used, I'm quite happy not to accept this alternative reading.

 

[maniacmartin]

My interpretation is also that you would have to travel via Hitchen in this case

 

[guilbert]

Thanks for the replies - I suspected it might be a no, although it's not completely clear.

Condition 19 makes it clear that I don't need to use a train which calls at Hitchin and in general there's no way for a passenger to know whether or not a train will go through a particular station (without stopping) or not (although for the examples I gave it's fairly obvious).

On the other hand, if the combinations I suggested were acceptable it would open all sorts of revenue allocation problems and it's unlikely the barriers would accept the tickets.

I'm not hearing that anyone has successfully used it though so probably best avoided!

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Condition 19 says that, together, the tickets must cover the entire journey being made, it does not say they should be treated as one ticket.

 

[sheff1]

On the other hand, if the combinations I suggested were acceptable it would open all sorts of revenue allocation problems and it's unlikely the barriers would accept the tickets.

Revenue allocation and barriers accepting tickets play no part in deciding whether a ticket (or combinations of tickets) are valid via a particular route.

As said, there are different interpretations of Condition 19, but I would not try to use the 2nd & 3rd pair of tickets as you describe.