Off peak day return from Dundee

Ginaro · 2 Aug 2019

Looking at off peak day returns between Dundee and stations in Fife/Edinburgh, I assumed they would be available and I thought I'd seen them before.

However checking brfares, it turns out that off peak day returns are only available from Edinburgh as far as Leuchars, and from Dundee as far as Kirkcaldy. http://www.brfares.com/#!fares?orig=DEE&dest=EDB

If traveling from Dundee to Edinburgh are you allowed to buy returns from Dundee to Leuchars and then Leuchars to Edinburgh, remaining on the same train and saving £5.10 in the process?

RailUK Forums

tony_mac · 2 Aug 2019

Yes - as long as the train actually stops at Leuchars.
There are websites, such as https://www.trainsplit.com that will let you book tickets like this.

yorkie · 2 Aug 2019

Ginaro said:
If traveling from Dundee to Edinburgh are you allowed to buy returns from Dundee to Leuchars and then Leuchars to Edinburgh, remaining on the same train and saving £5.10 in the process?

Yes, though Trainsplit finds an even cheaper option, but it limits the trains you can use a little further as not all trains call at Inverkeithing.

Ginaro · 2 Aug 2019

Thanks, didn't realise the splitting websites did returns as well singles - and forget to check Inverkeithing. Can save another £7 with singles but of course no flexibility.

route:oxford · 2 Aug 2019

Ginaro said:
Looking at off peak day returns between Dundee and stations in Fife/Edinburgh, I assumed they would be available and I thought I'd seen them before.

However you can buy an off-peak return that's valid for a month. Isn't that much better?

Scotrail forbids their customers from Stirling from buying an off-peak return - this means it becomes prohibitively expensive to use the train to get to Edinburgh Airport.

Ginaro · 2 Aug 2019

route:oxford said:
However you can buy an off-peak return that's valid for a month. Isn't that much better?

Scotrail forbids their customers from Stirling from buying an off-peak return - this means it becomes prohibitively expensive to use the train to get to Edinburgh Airport.

Not if you want to return the same day!

Suppose you could just buy an open return to Eskbank for the same price as the anytime day return - is that allowed or would you risk getting caught?

yorkie · 2 Aug 2019

Ginaro said:
Not if you want to return the same day!

Suppose you could just buy an open return to Eskbank for the same price as the anytime day return - is that allowed or would you risk getting caught?

You are allowed to finish short at Edinburgh when using a Stirling to Eskbank Off Peak Return (SVR).

route:oxford · 3 Aug 2019

yorkie said:
You are allowed to finish short at Edinburgh when using a Stirling to Eskbank Off Peak Return (SVR).

True, although why you'd pay for a ticket to Eskbank when there's a cheaper destination...

Of course it's all very well at Waverley or Haymarket. But it can be a right pest if there are no gateline staff on your side at Edinburgh Park.

methethpropbut · 3 Aug 2019

route:oxford said:
True, although why you'd pay for a ticket to Eskbank when there's a cheaper destination...

Of course it's all very well at Waverley or Haymarket. But it can be a right pest if there are no gateline staff on your side at Edinburgh Park.

I've used Alloa - Shawfair tickets multiple times in both directions and it worked the gates at Park no problem, so I'm hopeful :smile:

Ginaro said:
Not if you want to return the same day!

Suppose you could just buy an open return to Eskbank for the same price as the anytime day return - is that allowed or would you risk getting caught?

I've seen the guard himself suggest that option to a passenger, with the comment "lots of tickets are sold to there but nobody goes there" so I think we're good

reb0118 · 4 Aug 2019

methethpropbut said:
I've seen the guard himself suggest that option to a passenger, with the comment "lots of tickets are sold to there but nobody goes there" so I think we're good

You would be surprised. Eskbank is one of the busier stations on the Borders Route. That said many people travelling to/from there do not have tickets. Therefore the numbers of passengers with tickets to Eskbank, but who are not actually travelling there, may rebalance the usage figures for those who do travel there without tickets.

route101 · 4 Aug 2019

methethpropbut said:
I've used Alloa - Shawfair tickets multiple times in both directions and it worked the gates at Park no problem, so I'm hopeful

I've seen the guard himself suggest that option to a passenger, with the comment "lots of tickets are sold to there but nobody goes there" so I think we're good

Overheard ticket clerk at Queen St offering a Glasgow to Eskbank return .Surely you pass through barriers to change at Edinburgh so its ok.

yorkie · 4 Aug 2019

route101 said:
Overheard ticket clerk at Queen St offering a Glasgow to Eskbank return .Surely you pass through barriers to change at Edinburgh so its ok.

It's valid because break of journey is allowed!

Yes if it was not allowed, they'd have no way to detect if people were doing this, but that's a moot point!

Off peak day return from Dundee

Ginaro

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tony_mac

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yorkie

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Ginaro

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route:oxford

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Ginaro

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yorkie

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route:oxford

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methethpropbut

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reb0118

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route101

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yorkie

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