• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

network railcard query re boarding at different stations

Status
Not open for further replies.

kittykat

New Member
Joined
3 Nov 2011
Messages
1
Hi
Could anybody please clarify if this is allowed,my friend will be travelling with me and my network railcard but she would need to board at a stop after me. having read the railcard info it seems that as long as shes with me then she can travel under my card, it doesnt specify for the exact full journey with the cardholder

any thoughts welcome
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

AlterEgo

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Dec 2008
Messages
20,035
Location
No longer here
It depends on the tickets, really.

What type of tickets do you both have? Where are you travelling from and to?
 

JonathanH

Veteran Member
Joined
29 May 2011
Messages
18,531
Hi
Could anybody please clarify if this is allowed,my friend will be travelling with me and my network railcard but she would need to board at a stop after me. having read the railcard info it seems that as long as shes with me then she can travel under my card, it doesnt specify for the exact full journey with the cardholder

any thoughts welcome





You should accompany your friend past any barrier as her ticket isn't valid without your card. That means you should catch the train to her station, leave the station and then accompany her onto the station and the next train.

Obviously in practice this depends on the station you are using.
 

LexyBoy

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
4,478
Location
North of the rivers
As you say, there's nothing in the terms to say that you must be making the same journey, so as far as I can see it's allowed.

My view is that, unless the station the non-railcard holder is using alone is a compulsory ticket area, there is no need for them to be in the presence of the railcard holder until they board a train.

Your friend will be able to buy the discounted ticket from a machine, and use the ticket barriers (if present) without showing any railcard. The only chance for trouble is at a human barrier- in this case it might be easier to tell a little white lie and say that you're seeing someone off the train (explaining that a mate has the railcard may raise suspicions).
 

AlterEgo

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Dec 2008
Messages
20,035
Location
No longer here
We really need to be satisfied that the tickets are both booked from the relevant locations and that the OP's companion won't be falling foul of any Break of Journey restrictions...
 

Matt Taylor

Established Member
Joined
31 Aug 2008
Messages
2,339
Location
Portsmouth
It's all about the definition of 'travel'.

There may be problems getting past a gateline as you need to be able to show (when asked) a valid ticket and any supporting documentation such as railcards. Personally I think that the ticket isn't valid without the railcard holder being present.
 

MarkyMarkD

Member
Joined
1 Dec 2009
Messages
504
Location
Cliftonville, Margate, Kent
So why doesn't the card holder get off the train, go to the inside of the barrier, and meet the friend at the barrier - hence being able to show the railcard if required?

I don't see the need for the cardholder to exit the barrier and re-enter, and hence BoJ restrictions shouldn't be relevant.
 

Deerfold

Veteran Member
Joined
26 Nov 2009
Messages
12,571
Location
Yorkshire
So why doesn't the card holder get off the train, go to the inside of the barrier, and meet the friend at the barrier - hence being able to show the railcard if required?

I don't see the need for the cardholder to exit the barrier and re-enter, and hence BoJ restrictions shouldn't be relevant.

Surely it's still not a break of journey even if the barriers are crossed twice.

More relevant would be the frequency of service - how much earlier would the OP have to travel to get off and back on again if required?
 

AlterEgo

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Dec 2008
Messages
20,035
Location
No longer here
So why doesn't the card holder get off the train, go to the inside of the barrier, and meet the friend at the barrier - hence being able to show the railcard if required?

I don't see the need for the cardholder to exit the barrier and re-enter, and hence BoJ restrictions shouldn't be relevant.

I mean, the cardholder's companion may have a ticket from the same destination as the cardholder, but may just wish to 'start short'.
 

LexyBoy

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
4,478
Location
North of the rivers
So why doesn't the card holder get off the train, go to the inside of the barrier, and meet the friend at the barrier - hence being able to show the railcard if required?

I don't see the need for the cardholder to exit the barrier and re-enter, and hence BoJ restrictions shouldn't be relevant.

I think AlterEgo's concern was that the friend joining part-way may be "starting short" if they have the same ticket as the OP. There's no need for them to be - they would probably be better off buying a ticket from their origin (unless they plan to travel back to OP's station on the return).

It's sensible to check, but most likely there wouldn't be any BoJ restrictions; most flows in the SE have only CDRs available (generally without BoJ restriction). I'm not sure about SWT's Super Off Peak tickets.

Unless they really have to, it would be an unnecessary hassle to meet the friend at the barrier - there might only be one train an hour after all!

It's all about the definition of 'travel'.

There may be problems getting past a gateline as you need to be able to show (when asked) a valid ticket and any supporting documentation such as railcards. Personally I think that the ticket isn't valid without the railcard holder being present.

Certainly, the ticket isn't valid without the Railcard. The T&Cs refer to showing the Railcard "on your journey": I wouldn't consider being on the platform at your origin station to being "on your journey" as no travel has taken place.

From memory the situation regarding platform access is a bit confused, but it's certainly not necessary to have a valid travel ticket. Showing a gateline assistant a ticket which is not valid though is not a good idea!

Practically speaking though, if there are automatic barriers the ticket will almost certainly open them without a problem. If the friend aims to be on the platform a few minutes early she can always ring the OP to ask them to get off and show the Railcard.
 

yorkie

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
6 Jun 2005
Messages
67,433
Location
Yorkshire
I think the only way that validity may be an issue would be if the station platforms are in a CTA (compulsory ticket area) - of which there are very few - however we do not know the stations concerned, so we cannot provide any further advice other than hypothetical advice regarding that.

Barriers can pose a problem, though probably not, but again we do not know the stations concerned, so we cannot comment on that either, other than general, hypothetical advice that may or may not apply.

The ticket is very unlikely to prohibit break of journey, but we do not know the origin, destination or ticket type, so we cannot be certain.

So, basically, with the question as it is, it's impossible to give a conclusive answer. But with more information, we could :)
 

island

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Dec 2010
Messages
15,982
Location
0036
I don't see why this wouldn't be allowed. But if your friend is boarding at a gated station then the ticket might not be accepted by the gates and the attendant may not let her through.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top