Peak/Off-peak when travelling on more than one ticket

[maffi209]

For commuting I have a Leagrave - Hendon season ticket. Occasionally I need to travel elsewhere in London so might extend this with a Hendon - Zone 1-6 Travelcard, as I did today. It is usually obvious whether I need to buy a peak or off-peak travelcard but when it is on the cusp of the change from peak to off-peak I am not entirely clear. For example:

09:13 Leagrave - St Pancras is a peak train from Leagrave but is off-peak were one to board it at St Albans (or indeed Harpenden or Luton Airport Parkway).

So, to travel on this train from Leagrave - St Pancras would I need to buy a peak or an off-peak travelcard to extend my journey beyond Hendon?

Were I to board this same service at St Albans (say, by travelling on the 08:59 from LEA) then I am sure an off-peak travelcard would be fine since I would be boarding an off-peak train at SAC. But, by travelling from LEA - STP entirely on the 09:13, would I, by virtue of it being a peak train from LEA, be required to have a peak travelcard to extend my season ticket beyond HEN?

 

[alistairlees]

For commuting I have a Leagrave - Hendon season ticket. Occasionally I need to travel elsewhere in London so might extend this with a Hendon - Zone 1-6 Travelcard, as I did today. It is usually obvious whether I need to buy a peak or off-peak travelcard but when it is on the cusp of the change from peak to off-peak I am not entirely clear. For example:

09:13 Leagrave - St Pancras is a peak train from Leagrave but is off-peak were one to board it at St Albans (or indeed Harpenden or Luton Airport Parkway).

So, to travel on this train from Leagrave - St Pancras would I need to buy a peak or an off-peak travelcard to extend my journey beyond Hendon?

Were I to board this same service at St Albans (say, by travelling on the 08:59 from LEA) then I am sure an off-peak travelcard would be fine since I would be boarding an off-peak train at SAC. But, by travelling from LEA - STP entirely on the 09:13, would I, by virtue of it being a peak train from LEA, be required to have a peak travelcard to extend my season ticket beyond HEN?

It's not trains that are "peak" or "off-peak", but tickets.

In your case you want to buy a Hendon to Zones 1-6 Travelcard. This has restriction code B1, meaning that it s valid on any train from Hendon after 09.29 (so from 09.30 onwards). There's an 09.31 Thameslink train to London, so you can get on that.

From Leagrave to Hendon you are, by virtue of your season ticket, valid to travel on any train of course.

As for the 09.13 departure from Leagrave, I would say you are fine on that, as it is scheduled to leave St Albans at 09.33, which is after the validity of your off-peak ticket (from Hendon, where the train does not stop) starts. Others may know more than me though, and it's an interesting point.

 

[bb21]

As long as you switch to your inboundary Travelcard after 0930, you are fine.

As one is a season ticket, you can switch at any of the overlapping stations as your train is not required to stop at the place where you switch tickets.

Validity from St Albans is irrelevant as you do not have a St Albans ticket.

 

[alistairlees]

Validity from St Albans is irrelevant as you do not have a St Albans ticket.

I mentioned that so the OP could be confident that this was going through Hendon after 09.30, which is not in the public TT as it doesn't stop there. If the last stop had been Radlett, I'd have mentioned that instead to indicate this point. Perhaps I should have made that clearer. The main point is: how is a member of the public without access to the working timetable supposed to know if the switch happens after 09.29, if the train does not stop? It's a difficult thing to know / be confident about, surely?

 

[maffi209]

Thanks. I figured I was OK with an off-peak travelcard but couldn’t quite come up with a convincing argument to back up my instinct.

 

[bb21]

I mentioned that so the OP could be confident that this was going through Hendon after 09.30, which is not in the public TT as it doesn't stop there. If the last stop had been Radlett, I'd have mentioned that instead to indicate this point. Perhaps I should have made that clearer. The main point is: how is a member of the public without access to the working timetable supposed to know if the switch happens after 09.29, if the train does not stop? It's a difficult thing to know / be confident about, surely?

That wasn't aimed at you actually. I only mentioned it as the OP said something about boarding at St Albans.

 

[yorkie]

I agree with the other respondents; the combination is unquestionably valid on the 0913.

 

[maffi209]

So, in the example, the thing that is key in working out validity is the time the train passes Hendon and whether that is before/after 0930.

I mentioned St Albans only to note that it was more intuitively obvious that boarding there would be fine since I would be boarding a service upon which off-peak tickets are definitely valid, not because it was particularly relevant.

Anyway, thanks again all for providing clarity of explanation.