A question about stopping short on a railcard-discounted ticket

[FenMan]

I live SW of London and am looking at a day out in Dedham on the Essex/Suffolk border. Manningtree is the nearest station to Dedham and there is some pleasant walking to be done between the two.

I have a Senior Railcard, but am not interested in the sometimes excellent value advances to GA destinations as I will need flexibility over which weekday I'll be travelling.

As both Manningtree and my home station are in Network Southeast (NSE) the first off peak return to Manningtree (£32.70) means a 12:28 arrival, which is a bit late for a day out.

However a discounted off peak return to Ipswich, which benefits from being beyond the NSE boundary, is far cheaper (£39.40) than an undiscounted anytime day return to Manningtree (£72.30) and would mean I could arrive in Manningtree at 10:28 if I stop short. As far as I can see, there are no break of journey restrictions for the Ipswich ticket.

Would buying the Ipswich ticket and stopping short result in any issues?

 

[JonathanH]

This seems fine to me.

The tickets to Ipswich carry a 9A restriction so you can leave Liverpool Street at 0930 and travel to London on any train. It is a journey outside of the "London & South East" area so the Senior Railcard is valid. There is no break of journey restriction so stopping short is not a problem.

The off-peak day return to Manningtree isn't valid for arrivals in London before 1000, and won't get you to Liverpool Street for 1030. As you have observed, for journeys wholly within the "London & South East" area, the Senior Railcard isn't valid until the off-peak day return is.

 

[island]

Very technically, this is against the rules.

The Senior Railcard time restrictions say it is not valid for journeys between 2 stations in the London and the South East area during morning peak on weekdays. (My emphasis)

It is the journey that is restricted, not the ticket.

However, there is no chance of this being enforced.

 

[Watershed]

Very technically, this is against the rules.

The Senior Railcard time restrictions say it is not valid for journeys between 2 stations in the London and the South East area during morning peak on weekdays. (My emphasis)

It is the journey that is restricted, not the ticket.

However, there is no chance of this being enforced.

And equally technically, OP could say they are just breaking their journey at Manningtree, and are intending on continuing to Ipswich later. No-one can force them to continue to Ipswich!

Manningtree doesn't have any barriers so it's exceptionally unlikely there'll be any issues anyway, as you say.

 

[island]

Indeed. Far more likely they will have to deal with gateline staff at their local station saying off-peak isn’t valid till 0930

 

[FenMan]

Indeed. Far more likely they will have to deal with gateline staff at their local station saying off-peak isn’t valid till 0930

Thank you for your replies. I'm not anticipating any issues at my local station as there are no gatelines or, indeed, any staff.