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National Routeing Guide update

kieron

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Some more changes were published this afternoon:
Changes from 24 Oct 2019 (281) to 30 Oct 2019 (282).

Permitted Route changes:
London Group (G01) to Retford (RET) gain NM+DG+JL
This journey now has mapped routes via Newark Castle.
In particular, they use the Nottingham-Newark-Lincoln section of the DG map.

Easement changes:

Removed:
700100 (Circuitous Route) Customers travelling from Brough to York and in possession of tickets routed 'DIRECT' may not travel via Doncaster. This easement applies in both directions.

700154 (Circuitous Route) Customers travelling from Crewe to Padgate, Birchwood, Glazebrook and Irlam in possession of tickets routed 'Direct' may not travel via Manchester Oxford Road and/or Manchester Piccadilly. This easement applies in both directions.
There haven't been any "DIRECT" fares on these routes for a few years, so these easements already had no effect.

Added:

700885 (Doubleback) From 15 December 2019 customers travelling from Lawrence Hill, Filton Abbeywood, Stapleton Road and via Stapleton Road to Bristol Parkway or via Bristol Parkway may doubleback at Bristol Temple Meads. This doubleback easement will apply in both directions.
The number of direct services is being reduced, with Stapleton Road (for example) having no trains to Bristol Parkway on weekdays between the morning and evening peaks.

This is a "doubleback" easement rather than a "local" one. I can't check at the moment, but I think this means that it has no effect on a journey between (say) Stapleton Road and Bristol Parkway.

Changed:

700316 (Circuitous Route) Customers travelling via Bedford to Flitwick, Harlington or Leagrave in possession of tickets routed "Not London" or "AP EMT & CONNECTIONS (00700) NOT VIA LONDON or (00486) AP EMR & CONNECT" may not travel via Luton. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions.

700368 (Routeing Point) Customers travelling from Luton Airport Parkway or Luton via Kettering in possession of tickets routed "EMT & Connections (00486) EMR & CONNECT" may travel via Bedford Midland. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions.

700564 (Routeing Point) This positive routeing point easement will override fares checking which is preventing journeys being offered via Staines on tickets routed 00486 AP EMT & Connections (00486) AP EMR & CONNECT. This easement applies in both directions

700660 (Routeing Point) For journeys to Cambridge from Moston, Mills Hill (Manchester), Castleton (Manchester), Rochdale, Smithy Bridge, Littleborough and Walsden on tickets routed (00422) PETERBOROUGH & VTEC LNER, (00493) AP XC EMTR & CONNS and (00700) NOT VIA LONDON, may travel via Sowerby Bridge and Halifax. This Routeing Point easement overrides the NFM64 fares check and operates in both directions.

700838 (Routeing Point) Journeys from Elsecar and Wombwell to Willesden Junction priced on route (00486) AP EMTR & CONNECTIONS are denied via Meadowhall by (NFM64) fares checking. This routeing point easement will apply and operate in both directions.
These changes just remove some references to former train companies.
 
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kieron

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Some more changes were published on Wednesday:

Changes from 30 Oct 2019 (282) to 06 Nov 2019 (283).

Permitted Route changes:

London Group (G01) to Weymouth Group (G33) gain WX+EU lose LB+CW
An "any permitted" ticket for this journey no longer has mapped routes via Ford.
It now has mapped routes which go via both Clapham Junction and Yeovil.

While there are "any permitted" tickets for routes between some related stations, actual London-Weymouth/Dorchester tickets all have "via Southampton", "via Westbury" or "SWR only" routes. These are unaffected by this change.

Stalybridge (SYB) to Stockport (SPT) lose GM
This journey no longer has mapped routes via Wilmslow.

Easement changes:

Removed:

000009 (Manual) Customers holding tickets to Ireland routed through either Nottingham or Derby can travel via Birmingham New St to connect with the 2230 Birmingham New St to Holyhead service
The evening train to Holyhead now leaves Birmingham at 22:52. The timetable doesn't make travel via Birmingham an especially attractive option anyway.

000036 (Local) Journeys from Stockport to Stalybridge may go via Manchester. Journeys via Stockport and Stalybridge may go via Manchester. These easements apply in both directions.
Tickets between Stockport and Stalybridge either have a "Metrolink CTLZ" route (so are valid via Manchester) or a "not via Manchester" one. This change may have an effect on some longer distance journeys, but I don't know which ones.

700868 (Map) Due to engineering closures between Bristol and Cheltenham Spa, Cross Country services will be diverted via Bath Spa and Swindon on 26 and 27 October and 03 November 2019. This map easement will apply in both directions.

700871 (Map) Customers travelling to Edinburgh and beyond, whose normal route is via Newcastle and Berwick upon Tweed, may travel via Carlisle during engineering works on Saturdays between 14 September and 12 October 2019; Sundays 15 and 22 September 2019. This map easement applies in both directions
Two temporary easements with dates in the past.

Added:

700886 (Circuitous Route) On Sunday 24 November 2019 customers travelling from Reigate to Purley, Purley Oaks, South Croydon and via South Croydon should use the rail replacement service to Purley and not the rail replacement service to Gatwick Airport. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions.
It's usually quicker to use the rail replacement bus to Purley, but there are exceptions.

The earliest someone going from Purley on that date can reach Reigate by train and rail replacement bus is 5:45, travelling via Gatwick. The earliest someone using a through ticket can do it is 6:35.

Changed:

000001 (Manual) (Local) Journeys from stations on the the Great Yarmouth-Norwich line via Acle to stations on the Norwich-Lowestoft line may go via Norwich. This easement applies in both directions.

000005 (Manual) (Local) Journeys from stations on the Barton-on-Humber line to Habrough and stations west of Habrough may double back between Habrough and Grimsby. This easement applies in both directions.

000020 (Manual) (Local) Journeys via Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Burnley Manchester Road may double back from Halifax. This easement applies in both directions.

000034 (Manual) (Local) Journeys from or via Poulton-le-Fylde to Layton may double back from Blackpool North. This easement applies in both directions.
A few early "manual" easements have been turned into "local" ones. These changes shouldn't have much effect, but I don't know enough about the implementation to say how web sites interpret them.

000016 (Manual) Journeys from Caterham, Whyteleafe South and Whyteleafe to South Croydon and beyond may go via Upper Warlingham. This manual easement applies in both directions. It reflects the presence of a fixed walk time in timetable data between Whyteleafe and Upper Warlingham.

000017 (Manual) Journeys from Upper Warlingham and stations south of Upper Warlingham and South Croydon and beyond may go via Whyteleafe. This manual easement applies in both directions. It reflects the presence of a fixed walk time in timetable data between Upper Warlingham and Whyteleafe.
I don't think the extra sentence affects the meaning of these easements.
 
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infobleep

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Some more changes were published on Wednesday:
Added:

700886 (Circuitous Route) On Sunday 24 November 2019 customers travelling from Reigate to Purley, Purley Oaks, South Croydon and via South Croydon should use the rail replacement service to Purley and not the rail replacement service to Gatwick Airport. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions.
It's usually quicker to use the rail replacement bus to Purley, but there are exceptions.

The earliest someone going from Purley on that date can reach Reigate by train and rail replacement bus is 5:45, travelling via Gatwick. The earliest someone using a through ticket can do it is 6:35.
Could they modify the easement to just allow travel vai Gatwick for the one service where it is faster?
 

kieron

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Some more changes were published on Wednesday.
Changes from 06 Nov 2019 (283) to 27 Nov 2019 (284).

Station Association changes:

Canada Water (ZCW), Rotherhithe (ROE), Wapping (WPE), Shadwell (SDE), Whitechapel (ZLW), Shoreditch High Street (SDC), Hoxton (HOX), Haggerston (HGG) and Dalston Junction (DLJ) are no longer associated with Stratford London Gp (G74).
The East London Line stations between Canonbury and Surrey Quays (exclusive) are now only associated with Highbury & Islington and Surrey Quays.

None of these stations appear in the NFM64 list published by the Rail Delivery Group, so the effect of this is a little obscure.

Permitted Route changes:

Didcot Parkway (DID) to Woking (WOK) gain XS+HE
Twyford (TWY) to Woking (WOK) gain RG+CS+PU
These journeys now have mapped routes via Guilford.

Guildford (GLD) to Reading Group (G24) gain RB lose XS
No effect.

Northampton (NMP) to Southampton Group (G26) gain SM+XR
This now has mapped routes via Coventry (but these do not include any via Birmingham).

I think this change may be the reason why Northampton-Southampton now has XC advance tickets available whereas (for example) Northampton-Brockenhurst and Northampton-Winchester do not.

Nottingham Group (G43) to Wakefield Group (G30) lose DG+ED
This journey no longer has mapped routes via Lowdham (between Nottingham and Newark).

Reading Group (G24) to Woking (WOK) gain MW+DK WV lose RU
This journey no longer has mapped routes via Basingstoke.
It now has mapped routes:
via Guildford; and
via both Wokingham and Chertsey.

Easement changes:

Added:

700887 (Doubleback) Customers travelling to Ealing Broadway on tickets priced on route (00000) ANY PERMITTED from Bedwyn, Hungerford, Kintbury, Newbury, Newbury Racecourse, Thatcham, Midgham, Aldermaston and Theale, may doubleback via London Paddington. This doubleback easement will apply in both directions.
That is to say, passengers from every station between Reading and Westbury except Pewsey.

This is similar to the erstwhile easement 40003, except that that applied to all of the stations now associated with Ealing Broadway Group, and to every journey via Southall. Ealing Broadway Group didn't exist when it was added so they couldn't have done this by making LONDON a valid map combination for Ealing Broadway-Reading back then.

700888 (Routeing Point) Customers travelling to Brigg and Kirton Lindsey (Saturday only services) from or via London Kings Cross may travel via Barnetby. This routeing point easement will apply in both directions.
Lincoln and Retford pass the fare check for this sort of journey. Barnetby and Doncaster do not. "Saturday only" refers to the day the trains to Brigg run, but you can make the rest of the journey on any day within the validity period of your ticket.
 
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embers25

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Some more changes were published on Wednesday.
Reading Group (G24) to Woking (WOK) gain MW+DK WV lose RU
This journey no longer has mapped routes via Basingstoke.
It now has mapped routes:
via Guildford; and
via both Wokingham and Chertsey.

This seems a particularly harsh one as Woking to Reading via Basingstoke is often the quickest and most sensible route. I can see why they've done it, as it's a way to fix a fare anomaly but that anomaly only applies westbound in peak anyway and it inconveniences a lot of people at all times.
 

JB_B

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Some more changes were published on Wednesday.
Changes from 06 Nov 2019 (283) to 27 Nov 2019 (284).

Station Association changes:

Canada Water (CAW), Rotherhithe (ROE), Wapping (WPE), Shadwell (SDE), Whitechapel (ZLW), Shoreditch High Street (SDC), Hoxton (HOX), Haggerston (HGG) and Dalston Junction (DLJ) are no longer associated with Stratford London Gp (G74).
The East London Line stations between Canonbury and Surrey Quays (exclusive) are now only associated with Highbury & Islington and Surrey Quays.

None of these stations appear in the NFM64 list published by the Rail Delivery Group, so the effect of this is a little obscure.

I think these all use NFM64 fares to/from New Cross for the fare check. Do you know if the bold change description text is generated automatically? NRE has ZCW = Canada Water and CAW = Carlow (in Ireland).
 

yorkie

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This seems a particularly harsh one as Woking to Reading via Basingstoke is often the quickest and most sensible route. I can see why they've done it, as it's a way to fix a fare anomaly but that anomaly only applies westbound in peak anyway and it inconveniences a lot of people at all times.
It is the most sensible convenient route. Some people at RDG seem to be content to inconvenient people; their aim is to maximise profits for train companies after all.

However anyone who wishes to make this journey can still do so via Basingstoke, and for a LOWER price than the through fare, by splitting. Though I'm not going to divulge that here because RDG will want to further inconvenience people by closing that down.
 

infobleep

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This seems a particularly harsh one as Woking to Reading via Basingstoke is often the quickest and most sensible route. I can see why they've done it, as it's a way to fix a fare anomaly but that anomaly only applies westbound in peak anyway and it inconveniences a lot of people at all times.
I doubt they care about whether it inconveniences people. I guess people can ask the DfT if they approved the change and ask for it to be reviewed.

From looking at the timetable I think going via Basingstoke is reasonable from Woking to Reading.

I looked up the journeys. On a week day off peak it takes roughly between 57 and to 1 hour 6 minutes to go via Guildford.

Via Basingstoke it is 50 minutes to 1 hour 6 minutes. Mostly though it is 50 minutes. Didn't South Western Railway and Great Western Railway go on about speeding up journeys. This one isn't being sped up.

They are cutting the amount of off peak journeys one can make in half.

In the morning peak it's worse. There are now no trains listed between 6am and 7am from Woking to Reading that are valid. There is 1 but as it's overtaken, it doesn't show up.

There are 3 trains not valid that previously one could catch. Between 7 and 8, there are 3 trains not valid showing and just 1 that is. There is another 2 but again they don't show up as they get overtaken by trains that are not valid. So a great reduction in service, not to mention it being slower. For example the 8:00 Woking to Reading takes just 44 minutes. The last train during the week is via Guildford so that isn't impacted at least.

Then there is Sundays. Tomorrow the journey can be done in as little as 39 minutes via Basingstoke. Via Guildford the shortest is an hour. In terms of last trains, one use to be able to get the 23:37 via Basingstoke. Now it's the 22:52 via Guildford.

I've not fully checked the opposite direction but on Monday 16 Dec, after the 20:27 departs from Reading via Guildford, the next train listed you can get is the 23:12. No other valid train shows up.

There is actually a 21:20 and a 22:29 but these don't show up as they are overtaken by a faster trains that are no longer valid. In that time there are 6 trains running for which your ticket isn't valid. It's also only 1 train an hour via Guildford.

One is of course allowed to travel via Virgina Water but that isn't as fast as via Guildford or Basingstoke.
 

kieron

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I think these all use NFM64 fares to/from New Cross for the fare check. Do you know if the bold change description text is generated automatically? NRE has ZCW = Canada Water and CAW = Carlow (in Ireland).
The source for that part of the list is the routeing point identifier table, which uses station names.

I've seen CAW used for Canada Water in an industry document. A more recent version of it uses ZCW instead, so CAW may have simply been a mistake. I've changed it now, so thanks for letting me know.

On your other point, I can well believe that they've copied the New Cross fares across. There are over 2500 stations in the country with fares to Canada Water alone, though, so I have no practical way to find out if that's actually what has happened.
 
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kieron

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Two more easements were added to the routeing guide this afternoon.
Changes from 27 Nov 2019 (284) to 04 Dec 2019 (285).

700889 (Local) Customers travelling to Kirkstall Forge from Ilkey, Ben Rhydding, Burley in Wharfedale, Menston and Guiseley, may travel via Shipley (not the shortest route). This local easement will apply in both directions
From what I can tell, the shortest to from Kirkstall Forge from stations on the Ilkley branch is via Shipley. There's no regular direct service, so the only other route I can think of is changing in Leeds. Having checked the timetable, that's 20.5 miles, against 17.25 via Shipley.

This change should make it a bit easier to buy a ticket for the journey online, though.
700890 (Map) On Sunday 08 March 2020, Cross Country services will be diverted via Newport (South Wales). This map easement will apply in both directions.
These trains haven't been added to the timetable yet, so it's a bit soon to find out what's being permitted here.
 

clagmonster

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000005 (Manual) (Local) Journeys from stations on the Barton-on-Humber line to Habrough and stations west of Habrough may double back between Habrough and Grimsby. This easement applies in both directions.
...
A few early "manual" easements have been turned into "local" ones. These changes shouldn't have much effect, but I don't know enough about the implementation to say how web sites interpret them.
A local easement is defined as:
"Local easements, which allow a longer journey to the origin routeing point or from the destination routeing point, or which allow doubling back on this part of the journey. They may also forbid doubling back on this part of the journey."

Whereas a manual easement is defined as:
"Manual easements, which exist only as text in the computerised version of the Routeing Guide"
http://iblocks-rg-publication.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/nrg_detail.pdf page F10

This suggests to me that manual easements are never taken into account by booking engines, however local ones presumably can be. However, in this case it seems easement 000005 is still not being applied by electronic booking engines, which is a shame because, particularly on Saturdays, passengers travelling to stations on the Barton Line are effectively denied advance purchase tickets on the last journey opportunity of the day.

700889 (Local) Customers travelling to Kirkstall Forge from Ilkey, Ben Rhydding, Burley in Wharfedale, Menston and Guiseley, may travel via Shipley (not the shortest route). This local easement will apply in both directions
From what I can tell, the shortest to from Kirkstall Forge from stations on the Ilkley branch is via Shipley. There's no regular direct service, so the only other route I can think of is changing in Leeds. Having checked the timetable, that's 20.5 miles, against 17.25 via Shipley.

This change should make it a bit easier to buy a ticket for the journey online, though.
I think the easement is just to make it so that the theoretically possible but in practice useless shortest route, which would be direct from Ilkley to Kirkstall Forge, isn't the only permitted route. In practice, Shipley is the only sensible route.
 

kieron

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This suggests to me that manual easements are never taken into account by booking engines, however local ones presumably can be. However, in this case it seems easement 000005 is still not being applied by electronic booking engines, which is a shame because, particularly on Saturdays, passengers travelling to stations on the Barton Line are effectively denied advance purchase tickets on the last journey opportunity of the day.
Thanks. Not being able to buy advance tickets using the longer route is clearly a difference.

Having checked, nre.co.uk (at least) doesn't appear to have implemented any of the easements in the list from 6/11. Just as a comparison, easement 37 (which is still a "manual" one in the routeing guide) hasn't been implemented either.

I think the easement is just to make it so that the theoretically possible but in practice useless shortest route, which would be direct from Ilkley to Kirkstall Forge, isn't the only permitted route. In practice, Shipley is the only sensible route.
To me, "via Leeds" also seems like a pretty sensible route for a Kirkstall Forge-Guiseley journey, even if it's not as easy to buy tickets for it. nre.co.uk shows journeys with a change at Bradford Forster Square instead of Shipley, but I don't think this is permitted by the "routeing point in common" rules as the route via Leeds is shorter.

With regard to the "theoretically possible" route avoiding both Leeds and Shipley, the routeing guide instructions say the permitted route is via "the shortest distance from the origin to the destination over which a regular scheduled passenger train service operates".

There's a train each way between Leeds and Ilkley on 28/12 which call at Kirkstall Forge (leaving at 06:40 and 07:33), and there are westbound trains on 27/12 and 1/1 at 7:34. After that, I don't know when the next train is.

I appreciate that there's a range of opinions on what counts as "a regular service", but this one is neither frequent nor tied to any sort of predictable cycle. It's unfortunate that industry web sites don't use the shortest route rules from the routeing guide, as it means I can't use those as any sort of guide to what the intention is with this phrase.
 
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Paul Kelly

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However, in this case it seems easement 000005 is still not being applied by electronic booking engines, which is a shame because, particularly on Saturdays, passengers travelling to stations on the Barton Line are effectively denied advance purchase tickets on the last journey opportunity of the day.
I think it needs to be a doubleback easement rather than a local easement. The local part of the journey is fine; it's simply Habrough to Barton-on-Humber on a through train. The tricky part is the mapped part of the journey to Habrough, which passes through Habrough non-stop and then doubles back from Grimsby, this time stopping at Habrough. That needs a doubleback easement, to my eyes anyway.
700888 (Routeing Point) Customers travelling to Brigg and Kirton Lindsey (Saturday only services) from or via London Kings Cross may travel via Barnetby. This routeing point easement will apply in both directions.Lincoln and Retford pass the fare check for this sort of journey. Barnetby and Doncaster do not. "Saturday only" refers to the day the trains to Brigg run, but you can make the rest of the journey on any day within the validity period of your ticket.
I'm not sure about that. The electronic version of the easement also makes it clear that it only applies on Saturdays, and that is thus the only day on which journey planners will apply it.
700889 (Local) Customers travelling to Kirkstall Forge from Ilkey, Ben Rhydding, Burley in Wharfedale, Menston and Guiseley, may travel via Shipley (not the shortest route). This local easement will apply in both directionsFrom what I can tell, the shortest to from Kirkstall Forge from stations on the Ilkley branch is via Shipley. There's no regular direct service, so the only other route I can think of is changing in Leeds. Having checked the timetable, that's 20.5 miles, against 17.25 via Shipley.
Via Leeds is permitted anyway, by the common routeing point rule. It's only the "NOT VIA LEEDS" fares that disallow it. But this easement has some errors in the coding. It actually only allows travel via Leeds (despite that being pointless due to the fare routeing) or Bradford Forster Square. The electronic version does not allow travel changing at Shipley avoiding Bradford as it purports to do; you must travel via Bradford to take advantage of it!
 

kieron

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Two more easement changes were published on Friday:

Changes from 04 Dec 2019 (285) to 06 Dec 2019 (286).

Easement changes:

Removed:

700491 (Circuitous Route) Customers travelling from or via Oxford to Kings Sutton may not travel via Banbury. This easement applies in both directions.
From what I can see, this was an easement which forbade something which wasn't permitted under the standard rules.

Added:

700891 (Routeing Point) Customers travelling from New Pudsey to or via Harrow on the Hill may travel via Leeds. This routeing point easement overrides NFM64 fares checking and applies in both directions.
There are no fares defined between New Pudsey (or Leeds) and Harrow on the Hill. You can use a fare with validity to London zone 5, but someone with (say) a New Pudsey-London Zones 1-5 would only rely on the routeing guide as far as central London.

In other words, I don't know what effect this easement has.
 

kieron

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Some more changes were published this afternoon:
Changes from 06 Dec 2019 (286) to 11 Dec 2019 (287).

Permitted Route changes:

Chester (CTR) to Runcorn (RUN) gain JO
This journey now has mapped routes using the route direct trains take via Frodsham.

Easement changes:

Added:

700892 (Circuitous Route) Customers travelling from Liverpool to Chester on fares priced (00247) VIA RUNCORN, may not travel via Crewe. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions
This means that one of the slower routes between the end points is now no longer valid using one of the cheaper tickets.
 

Kite159

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700491 (Circuitous Route) Customers travelling from or via Oxford to Kings Sutton may not travel via Banbury. This easement applies in both directions.From what I can see, this was an easement which forbade something which wasn't permitted under the standard rules.

I've heard that "easement" before due to the limited service Kings Sutton gets, sometimes it is quicker to catch a Chiltern service from Kings Sutton to Banbury for a XC to Oxford rather than wait for the Banbury - Oxford GWR stopper.
 

kieron

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There are quite a lot of stations where the quickest way to go south (or wherever) can be to catch the next train north and double back from the next larger station. Some may be permitted by the larger station being a valid routeing point for the journey. Some may be permitted or forbidden by easements. In Kings Sutton's case, it's forbidden because Kings Sutton is part of the same routeing point as Banbury.

Now easement 700491 has been deleted, Kings Sutton-Oxford via Banbury has gone from being a journey which was explicitly forbidden to one which is implicitly forbidden, but where a web site may permit it for a specific itinerary because of the way it calculates permitted routes.

That's fine, of course, and you certainly don't need to know any of this stuff to buy a ticket, but it means you're relying on a web site to tell you what's allowed and what isn't, and it just seems a bit messy to me.
 

Paul Kelly

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Now easement 700491 has been deleted, Kings Sutton-Oxford via Banbury has gone from being a journey which was explicitly forbidden to one which is implicitly forbidden
I disagree with this. King's Sutton to Banbury is just under a mile and a half. So the doubleback from Banbury adds less than 3 miles to the journey, and this is now permitted as it's within 3 miles of the shortest route.
 

kieron

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I disagree with this. King's Sutton to Banbury is just under a mile and a half.
Are you sure about that? In the National Rail Timetable, the distance between the stations is given as 3.5 miles in tables 115 and 116. There are plenty of errors in the National Rail Timetable, but I don't think 3.5 miles is one of them as the distance between the stations is more than 3 miles as the crow flies (according to www.freemaptools.com).
 
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JB_B

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Are you sure about that? In the National Rail Timetable, the distance between the stations is given as 3.5 miles in tables 115 and 116. There are plenty of errors in the National Rail Timetable, but I don't think 3.5 miles is one of them as the distance between the stations is more than 3 miles as the crow flies (according to www.freemaptools.com).

Yes it's definitely 3.5 miles - this must be an error ( or possibly a deliberately introduced fiction ) in the eNRG distance data.
 

Paul Kelly

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Fascinating - yes JB_B is right; there's an error in the distance data used by journey planners implementing the routeing guide. Perhaps that was even where the problem arose from in the first place, and why the easement was needed?
 

PG

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Yes it's definitely 3.5 miles - this must be an error ( or possibly a deliberately introduced fiction ) in the eNRG distance data.
I've checked my printed copy of the BR summer 1991 national timetable and it has the distance as 3.5 miles so looks like a long standing error as opposed to a deliberate fudge!
 

kieron

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Two easements have been added to the routeing guide this afternoon.
Changes from 11 Dec 2019 (287) to 18 Dec 2019 (288).

Easement changes:

Added:

700893 (Fare route) Customers travelling from Purfleet, Rainham and Dagenham Dock to destinations via Grays on the 27 and 28 December 2019, may use tickets priced (00112) VIA BARKING including on rail replacement services to Grays. This fare route easement will apply in both directions.

700894 (Map) Customers travelling from Purfleet, Rainham and Dagenham Dock to destinations via Upminster on the 27 and 28 December 2019, may travel via Grays including on rail replacement services to Grays. This map easement will apply in both directions.
The rail replacement buses in the system all run between Upminster and Grays via Rainham and Purfleet, and web sites give itineraries with a change at either. None of them call at Dagenham Dock station, but C2C's web site states that tickets will be accepted on two buses which serve Dagenham.
 

kieron

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Some more easements were added to and removed from the routeing guide on Wednesday.
Changes from 18 Dec 2019 (288) to 08 Jan 2020 (289).

Removed:

700878 (Map) During engineering works between the 09 - 14 November 2019, in the Taunton area, Great Western services will be diverted via Castle Cary, Yeovil and Honiton to Exeter and beyond. Temporary permitted routes for journeys on tickets priced on routes (00000) ANY PERMITTED, (0411) AP SLOUGH, (00700) NOT VIA LONDON, (00810) NOT VIA READING, (00820) GREAT WESTERN ONLY and (00840) VIA TAUNTON will be in force. This map easement will apply to journeys in both directions.

700879 (Fare route) During engineering works diversions between 09 - 14 November 2019. Tickets priced on route (00842) VIA TAUNTON will be valid for travel via Honiton, Yeovil and Castle Cary and onward toward Reading and London. Tickets priced on this route will not be valid via Brockenhurst or Salisbury. this fare route easement will apply in both directions.

700886 (Circuitous Route) On Sunday 24 November 2019 customers travelling from Reigate to Purley, Purley Oaks, South Croydon and via South Croydon should use the rail replacement service to Purley and not the rail replacement service to Gatwick Airport. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions.

700893 (Fare route) Customers travelling from Purfleet, Rainham and Dagenham Dock to destinations via Grays on the 27 and 28 December 2019, may use tickets priced (00112) VIA BARKING including on rail replacement services to Grays. This fare route easement will apply in both directions.

700894 (Map) Customers travelling from Purfleet, Rainham and Dagenham Dock to destinations via Upminster on the 27 and 28 December 2019, may travel via Grays including on rail replacement services to Grays. This map easement will apply in both directions.
All temporary easements for 2019.

Added:

700893 (Circuitous Route) Customers traveling from Kelvedon to or via London Terminals may not travel via Marks Tey. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions.
This sounds a lot like a negative routeing point easement (Marks Tey and Witham are the routeing points associated with Kelvedon). There don't seem to be many places you can go to from Kelvedon where Marks Tey is a valid routeing point but where this permitted a route via London. Kelvedon-London itself wasn't valid that way.

700894 (Circuitous Route) Customers from Warrington West travelling to Sankey, Widnes, Hough Green, Halewood, Hunts Cross and via Hunts Cross may not travel via Warrington Central. This circuitous route easement applies in both directions
I can't find Warrington West in the National Rail Timetable at all, so it's unclear what routes are actually valid between there and anywhere else. Two of the three hourly journey opportunities from Warrington West to Widnes go via Warrington Central anyway, whatever tickets you need.

And yes, they have reused those easement numbers.
 

kieron

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Wouldn't 700894 be a double back anyway?
It would, but the National Rail Conditions of Travel say:

If no specific route or Train Company is shown, then ... it will be valid on: ... by any services ... over the shortest route which can be used by scheduled passenger services between the stations shown on your Ticket.

If you use the distances in the National Rail Timetable to calculate the shortest route, you sometimes find that the shortest route between two stations involves a route which goes through one of them. This doesn't apply here, as Warrington West doesn't appear in the timetable even as a footnote.

Really, though, I think this easement is just to help web sites which don't realise that Warrington West is between Warrington Central and Widnes.
 

kieron

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I've only just noticed that a new version of the routeing guide instructions was published on 15 November 2019. The only substantive change is the addition of the following paragraph:

A NOTE ABOUT ROUTEING WITH OUTBOUNDARY TRAVELCARDS
(TRAVELCARDS VALID FROM STATIONS OUTSIDE THE LONDON ZONAL FARE AREA TO ZONES WITHIN IT)

The route you take between your origin station and the point at which you first cross into the London zonal area (Zones 1-9) should be the route valid for a journey to ‘London Terminals’, regardless of the zone(s) to which the ticket is actually valid or the combination of London Travelcards being used. This does not affect validity within the London zonal area, where you are permitted to use any eligible National Rail service within the zone(s) for which your Travelcard is valid.’​

This is, I think, the first direct indication in the routeing guide of which routes are permitted for a Travelcard. As it specifies Travelcards, I assume this does not affect tickets to locations such as "Zone U6 London".
 

Bletchleyite

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That is a very significant change indeed and seriously reduces validity in some cases. Previously convention (and what the planners would do) was that you pick your destination within the Zones and apply Permitted Routes to that destination, which is why WMT added "route Watford Jn" to all their outboundary Travelcards but not to the point to point London Terminals tickets.
 

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