jnjkerbin
Member
In the last few years, I have several times traveled from Sevenoaks to Strood using an Off-Peak Day Return routed 'Not Via London'. In each case I normally catch a service to Tonbridge and then pick up the direct service via the Medway Valley to Strood. I don't think I've ever actually put this journey through a journey planner and had always assumed this was a permitted route.
However, I wanted to check if there were any changes after the new timetable comes in and was surprised to find that no website would offer that as an itinerary, instead sending you via Swanley and Rochester. Having now taken a look at the routing guide it appears that the Medway Valley route is actually not a permitted route (at least I think it isn't - if someone with more experience could confirm I would appreciate it). The journey time via Tonbridge is 1h 6m compared to 1h 10m via Swanley heading outbound and 1h 8m compared to 1h 26m on the return.
Could someone please confirm whether my reading of the routing guide is correct, and if so whether there are any other cases where the quickest route between two stations is not a permitted route (there are no alternative tickets that have a different routing that allow travel via Tonbridge). If this is the case, is this worth taking up with Southeastern?
However, I wanted to check if there were any changes after the new timetable comes in and was surprised to find that no website would offer that as an itinerary, instead sending you via Swanley and Rochester. Having now taken a look at the routing guide it appears that the Medway Valley route is actually not a permitted route (at least I think it isn't - if someone with more experience could confirm I would appreciate it). The journey time via Tonbridge is 1h 6m compared to 1h 10m via Swanley heading outbound and 1h 8m compared to 1h 26m on the return.
Could someone please confirm whether my reading of the routing guide is correct, and if so whether there are any other cases where the quickest route between two stations is not a permitted route (there are no alternative tickets that have a different routing that allow travel via Tonbridge). If this is the case, is this worth taking up with Southeastern?