Restriction code 5f

farleigh · 22 Sep 2019

Hi,

How can I find out if my ticket (code 5f) is valid on HS1??

Thanks

RailUK Forums

gazthomas · 22 Sep 2019

This is what National Rail has to say: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/5F

All relates to north of London.

What is your ticket type, origin and destination?

alistairlees · 22 Sep 2019

farleigh said:
Hi,

How can I find out if my ticket (code 5f) is valid on HS1??

Thanks

You need to tell us where the ticket is from and to, and what type of ticket it is. The restriction code is about timings, not routes, so doesn’t help in this case.

farleigh · 22 Sep 2019

alistairlees said:
You need to tell us where the ticket is from and to, and what type of ticket it is. The restriction code is about timings, not routes, so doesn’t help in this case.

Sorry to be a dunce.

It is an off peak return portion from Oxenholme to Bexhill.

My wife is on it now.

Thanks for any help

gazthomas · 22 Sep 2019

Checking the routing guide and planners this doesn't seem a valid route but I'm sure others will confirm

Hadders · 22 Sep 2019

I assume it's the return portion of a Bexhill to Oxenholme ticket routed 'Any Permitted'.

If so it's perfectly valid on HS1.

Hadders · 22 Sep 2019

I'm out and about at the moment but assuming the Routeing Guide says it's valid via London then London - Bexhill is offered as an itinerary on a single ticket on Webtis sites, suggesting it's valid.

gazthomas · 22 Sep 2019

gazthomas said:
Checking the routing guide and planners this doesn't seem a valid route but I'm sure others will confirm

Apologies, I double checked and it is perfectly valid and you can confirm this by forcing via Ashford International as a route

Your restriction code relates to the times you can arrive/leave London, given the ticket is off peak

farleigh · 22 Sep 2019

Thanks all - I shall text her and she should be home earlier.

Thanks again

farleigh · 22 Sep 2019

Cheers for the help.

Unbelievable that you guys know more than the rail staff.

She asked the train manager who did not know and said to ask at the LU station as he thought HS1 was run by London Transport.

Asked at Euston and they said to go to St Pancras and ask there if it was valid. Not a great idea as if they said no she would have to go to Victoria.

So she ended up home late as she came down from Victoria.

OK so we should have checked before the journey but it should be reasonable to expect staff to know or at least be able to find out.

Never mind.

RJ · 22 Sep 2019

farleigh said:
OK so we should have checked before the journey but it should be reasonable to expect staff to know or at least be able to find out.

Never mind.

Unfortunately you need to recalibrate what you deem as reasonable. Being able to find things out is a research skill which the railway doesn't deem to be necessary when placing people in customer service roles.

The question you have asked - whether your ticket is valid by a particular route - is actually a complex technical query and you'd be exceptionally lucky to find someone who can answer that without merely guessing. A guess will be based on their personal opinion on whether or not the route is reasonable.

To this day the railways have not found a way to make it easy for such a query to be answered and the skills required to check are deemed to be specialist.

farleigh · 23 Sep 2019

RJ said:
Unfortunately you need to recalibrate what you deem as reasonable. Being able to find things out is a research skill which the railway doesn't deem to be necessary when placing people in customer service roles.

The question you have asked - whether your ticket is valid by a particular route - is actually a complex technical query and you'd be exceptionally lucky to find someone who can answer that without merely guessing. A guess will be based on their personal opinion on whether or not the route is reasonable.

To this day the railways have not found a way to make it easy for such a query to be answered and the skills required to check are deemed to be specialist.

Cheers RJ.

The incompetence would be laughable were people not to be prosecuted.

Haywain · 23 Sep 2019

gazthomas said:
Your restriction code relates to the times you can arrive/leave London, given the ticket is off peak

For clarity, it relates to the times the user can arrive and depart London from/to Oxenholme, there being no time restrictions on travel to London from Bexhill (and all other stations in the Network Railcard area).

hkstudent · 23 Sep 2019

RJ said:
Unfortunately you need to recalibrate what you deem as reasonable. Being able to find things out is a research skill which the railway doesn't deem to be necessary when placing people in customer service roles.

The question you have asked - whether your ticket is valid by a particular route - is actually a complex technical query and you'd be exceptionally lucky to find someone who can answer that without merely guessing. A guess will be based on their personal opinion on whether or not the route is reasonable.

To this day the railways have not found a way to make it easy for such a query to be answered and the skills required to check are deemed to be specialist.

As some people say, ticketing knowledge is like rocket science now.
Our fare system is getting too complex nowadays, particularly comparing to continental Europeans one.

AlbertBeale · 23 Sep 2019

hkstudent said:
As some people say, ticketing knowledge is like rocket science now.

Actually, rocket science is pretty straightforward (I speak as a one-time physics teacher); rocket technology, on the other hand...

Hadders · 23 Sep 2019

hkstudent said:
As some people say, ticketing knowledge is like rocket science now.
Our fare system is getting too complex nowadays, particularly comparing to continental Europeans one.

What do you suggest to fix it?

The rail industry would love to simplify things by making everything booked train only.

Be very careful what you wish for.

gazthomas · 23 Sep 2019

Haywain said:
For clarity, it relates to the times the user can arrive and depart London from/to Oxenholme, there being no time restrictions on travel to London from Bexhill (and all other stations in the Network Railcard area).

Fair point, though I did say it related to north of London in an earlier post

hkstudent · 24 Sep 2019

Hadders said:
What do you suggest to fix it?

The rail industry would love to simplify things by making everything booked train only.

Be very careful what you wish for.

We get 50 million combinations of fares, which is really complex.
But of course, I think noone here would want all tickets to be advance ticket only, just as PRC does.
The more effective solution would be, fare base on distance with a base fare, just like the Dutch does.

Bletchleyite · 24 Sep 2019

The absolute simplest arrangement is one ticket per vehicle journey, valid in the specified train and seat only.

I agree, few people here would want that.

Restriction code 5f

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