Northern Rail Complimentary Travel Pass

[Birkonian]

I have Northern Rail travel pass which I received after suffering a delay. I'm travelling from Cark to Liverpool Lime Street tomorrow via two Northern trains. Is the pass valid for the whole journey (it states valid for one journey) or just one leg - i.e Cark to Preston?

 

[Bungle965]

The whole journey.
Your journey from Cark and Cartmel to Preston is simply one leg of the journey.
Sam

 

[Merseysider]

Agreed. It's good for the whole trip.

Just put Cark in the 'from' box and Liverpool in the 'to' box.

 

[Birkonian]

Thank You both.

 

[paddington]

I have two of these from over 18 months ago, but as I live in London I haven't been able to plan a sufficiently expensive journey that would be a good use of them, all my Northern trips have been on rovers and the occasional advance under £10.

Can I confirm the design hasn't changed? They look like this pic I found on another thread. There doesn't seem to be any expiry date - are they valid indefinitely (or perhaps until the franchise ends / is taken away)?

 

[Hadders]

That's still the same version they're giving out.

 

[Robin Brown]

I have one of these passes too and was going to use it tomorrow. Can anyone advise how I can plan a route that only uses Northern trains? I want to get from Liverpool and Hartlepool and back this week but can't find a way of planning a Northern-only route (or the best way of getting the most value out of the complimentary pass if Northern-only is unviable). Any help gratefully appreciated.

 

[Hadders]

Use fastjp.com and adjust the operator restrictions to show Northern services only.

 

[Robin Brown]

Use fastjp.com and adjust the operator restrictions to show Northern services only.

Cheers, appreciated.

 

[SteveM70]

I have one of these passes too and was going to use it tomorrow. Can anyone advise how I can plan a route that only uses Northern trains? I want to get from Liverpool and Hartlepool and back this week but can't find a way of planning a Northern-only route (or the best way of getting the most value out of the complimentary pass if Northern-only is unviable). Any help gratefully appreciated.

Liverpool to Preston, Preston to Lancaster or Barrow, Lancaster or Barrow to Carlisle round the coast, Carlisle to Newcastle, Newcastle to Hartlepool.

I’m pretty sure it’s the only Northern only way as there’s a gap between York and Darlington if you go across the Pennines to Leeds

 

[Meole]

I have one of these passes too and was going to use it tomorrow. Can anyone advise how I can plan a route that only uses Northern trains? I want to get from Liverpool and Hartlepool and back this week but can't find a way of planning a Northern-only route (or the best way of getting the most value out of the complimentary pass if Northern-only is unviable). Any help gratefully appreciated.

Long way round but can be done via Carlisle.

 

[tony_mac]

Bradford/Leeds to Carlisle is the other reasonable possibility.
I have also done it by getting the Scarborough-Whitby bus, or paying for York - Darlington / Eaglescliffe. (With a rover ticket; presumably they won't make a fuss about the route on a complimentary ticket).

 

[BlueFox]

Preston to Lancaster or Barrow,

The problem with this is that there aren't many Northern services from Preston to Lancaster. Hourly for much of the day, but there are some two hour gaps. Annoyingly during some of those two hour gaps a service to Windermere goes non stop Preston to Oxenholme.

It's very frustrating when you're trying to plan a trip using Northern only tickets. A couple of weeks ago on a Northern day ticket I wanted to get to Oxenholme from Lancaster. I had to go South to Preston to get the non-stop train North, passing through Lancaster again 75 minutes after I left.

 

[yorkie]

Use fastjp.com and adjust the operator restrictions to show Northern services only.

Yes that's the advice Northern gave me too.

Bradford/Leeds to Carlisle is the other reasonable possibility.
I have also done it by getting the Scarborough-Whitby bus, or paying for York - Darlington / Eaglescliffe. (With a rover ticket; presumably they won't make a fuss about the route on a complimentary ticket).

No-one has ever batted an eyelid when I've done journeys that cannot easily be done on Northern e.g. I put Cramlington to Cottingham in as a return journey once, which requires travel via Carlisle.

I think it's equally legit to use a shorter route and pay for the relevant operator for the part that cannot be done on Northern.

They used to give out maps and the wording that accompanied it made it very clear that there were no route restrictions, providing travel was on the Northern network.

 

[CompactDstrxion]

I did Newcastle to Sheffield via the Cumbrian Coast at the weekend on one of these with no issues. Best to reassure the TM that you know you're on a long route.

 

[Birkonian]

Footnote to my original question. Not only was my Northern Complimentary pass valid for the whole journey as the replies confirmed, but due to the mayhem caused by the cancelleations on the northern section of the West Coast Mainline I also used it on a Virgin service between Lancaster and Wigan without any problem.

 

[SteveM70]

Footnote to my original question. Not only was my Northern Complimentary pass valid for the whole journey as the replies confirmed, but due to the mayhem caused by the cancelleations on the northern section of the West Coast Mainline I also used it on a Virgin service between Lancaster and Wigan without any problem.

And if you were late you can do a delay repay claim and get another voucher

 

[Birkonian]

I didn't realise that and threw it away!

 

[paddington]

Can I use a voucher issued to somebody else? On the vouchers I have received, my name was not filled in by the person issuing the voucher, however my friend has one which does have his name filled in.

I look nothing like a person who would have his name, which is the only reason this issue crosses my mind, I don't imagine anyone would be asking for ID if it was a more typical name for someone with my appearance.

 

[Djgr]

Can I use a voucher issued to somebody else? On the vouchers I have received, my name was not filled in by the person issuing the voucher, however my friend has one which does have his name filled in.

I look nothing like a person who would have his name, which is the only reason this issue crosses my mind, I don't imagine anyone would be asking for ID if it was a more typical name for someone with my appearance.

Nobody will know and nobody will care. This is Northern after all. Take something back from the continual pain they inflict on the North and enjoy.

 

[GoneSouth]

I’ve never received a travel pass / voucher for a delay before, is this Northern’s interpretation of delay repay? Don’t they offer refund / cash compensation like other TOCs? Tight sods

 

[tony_mac]

I’ve never received a travel pass / voucher for a delay before, is this Northern’s interpretation of delay repay? Don’t they offer refund / cash compensation like other TOCs? Tight sods

You get to choose which you prefer.
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/corporate/compensation-information
If you have a 2 hour delay on a £5 ticket, then it's not a difficult decision...

 

[GoneSouth]

Thanks, didn’t realise they now had 15 minute delay repay. My goodness, that’s going to be a lot of admin costs to process a lot of relatively low value delay compensation claims!

To be fair, I’d never checked what their delay compensation scheme was as the value of tickets I’ve used wouldn’t have been worth the hassle for me. The travel voucher to use on any journey might be worthwhile though.

 

[Djgr]

Thanks, didn’t realise they now had 15 minute delay repay. My goodness, that’s going to be a lot of admin costs to process a lot of relatively low value delay compensation claims!

To be fair, I’d never checked what their delay compensation scheme was as the value of tickets I’ve used wouldn’t have been worth the hassle for me. The travel voucher to use on any journey might be worthwhile though.

I don't think the day voucher is an option for a 15 minute delay repay. Of course Northern could save on a lot of admin costs through meeting their legal obligations or walking away.

 

[_toommm_]

I don't think the day voucher is an option for a 15 minute delay repay. Of course Northern could save on a lot of admin costs through meeting their legal obligations or walking away.

Half an hour delay gets you a free single, an hours delay gets you a free return, a two hour delay gets you two free returns IIRC.

 

[Djgr]

Half an hour delay gets you a free single, an hours delay gets you a free return, a two hour delay gets you two free returns IIRC.

15 mins does get you something though.

To be honest I feel Northern were forced to introduce the 15 min rule as an attempt to deflect from their innumerable list of failings.

 

[xotGD]

15 minute delay repay is quite lucrative when you've just come back from London on an anytime ticket!

 

[Kite159]

15 mins does get you something though.

To be honest I feel Northern were forced to introduce the 15 min rule as an attempt to deflect from their innumerable list of failings.

They join the other operators in paying out after 15 minutes which is what the DFT want.

----

As for the vouchers, I'm surprised Northern haven't redrawn then by now, but useful when you get a 30 minute delay on a low priced ticket. Shame it's a return ticket for 60-120 minutes now rather than 2 singles (double the chance of an admin error with the person forgetting to tick the boxes)

 

[SteveM70]

I work in central Manchester and probably half the people I work with use Northern for the commute. The level of anger with them has got to the stage that everyone claims delay repay even though the typical payout on a season ticket is under a quid, and general approach is:

- 30+ mins delay get the free tickets

- under 30 mins choose rail travel vouchers rather than BACS because it forces them to pay for a letter, an envelope, and postage

It’s pathetic in some ways, but it’s a tangible example of just how hacked off their customers are now

 

[Djgr]

I work in central Manchester and probably half the people I work with use Northern for the commute. The level of anger with them has got to the stage that everyone claims delay repay even though the typical payout on a season ticket is under a quid, and general approach is:

- 30+ mins delay get the free tickets

- under 30 mins choose rail travel vouchers rather than BACS because it forces them to pay for a letter, an envelope, and postage

It’s pathetic in some ways, but it’s a tangible example of just how hacked off their customers are now

Of course you can also request the payment by cheque!