Hi all!
I recently purchased an Off-Peak Return from Leuchars [LEU] to University (Birmingham) [UNI], valid starting the 21st July. I bought it from the LNER website, and it came with seat reservations, but is a flexible ticket rather than an advance, in case my plans changed. So far, so good.
Yesterday I found out that I'm going to a wedding as soon as I get back. The wedding is not on the East coast near Leuchars, but on the West coast near Kilmarnock [KMK], and I want to get as close to KMK as possible using the return portion of my ticket. So, for the first time in my life, I dipped my toes in the National Routeing Guide to see what my options were.
Here are my findings, but it's a complicated document and I'd really appreciate feedback on
First stop: the online routing point calculator. This reveals only one valid routing point at each end: Birmingham Group and Ladybank. Next: the NRG yellow pages, which on page 148 give the permitted routes from Birmingham Group to Ladybank as BE+EG, BP+WS+EG and BY+YA. My ticket says "any permitted route", so I guess any of these are allowed.
I focused in on that first option, BE+EG, and looked up the appropriate maps on the Routeing Maps page. Both maps show a load of stuff going on around Glasgow, so going to Glasgow Central seems legit. However, I also notice something interesting: Kilmarnock itself appears as a spur on both maps, but BE reaches it from the South, and EG reaches it from the North. So we can use BE to reach Kilmarnock, and EG to get from Kilmarnock to Leuchars, without ever doubling back. Right?
BE map, showing a route from Birmingham to Kilmarnock
EG map, showing a route from Kilmarnock to Ladybank
There's even a journey that follows this route in practice:
I actually called National Rail Enquiries on the phone, and asked about routes - they told me travelling via Glasgow was permitted, but when I asked about Kilmarnock they put me on hold for about 3 minutes and then told me it wasn't. Perhaps they made a mistake?
Is what I'm proposing allowed, or have I made a mistake somewhere? Furthermore, is there a good chance ticket inspectors would allow this route in practice?
Extra info: I'm using a 26-30 railcard, the outward journey is 2019-06-21 and my planned return journey (both original and revised) is 2019-06-26.
I recently purchased an Off-Peak Return from Leuchars [LEU] to University (Birmingham) [UNI], valid starting the 21st July. I bought it from the LNER website, and it came with seat reservations, but is a flexible ticket rather than an advance, in case my plans changed. So far, so good.
Yesterday I found out that I'm going to a wedding as soon as I get back. The wedding is not on the East coast near Leuchars, but on the West coast near Kilmarnock [KMK], and I want to get as close to KMK as possible using the return portion of my ticket. So, for the first time in my life, I dipped my toes in the National Routeing Guide to see what my options were.
Here are my findings, but it's a complicated document and I'd really appreciate feedback on
- whether I've interpreted the rules correctly; and
- whether my cunning plan is likely to work in practice.
First stop: the online routing point calculator. This reveals only one valid routing point at each end: Birmingham Group and Ladybank. Next: the NRG yellow pages, which on page 148 give the permitted routes from Birmingham Group to Ladybank as BE+EG, BP+WS+EG and BY+YA. My ticket says "any permitted route", so I guess any of these are allowed.
I focused in on that first option, BE+EG, and looked up the appropriate maps on the Routeing Maps page. Both maps show a load of stuff going on around Glasgow, so going to Glasgow Central seems legit. However, I also notice something interesting: Kilmarnock itself appears as a spur on both maps, but BE reaches it from the South, and EG reaches it from the North. So we can use BE to reach Kilmarnock, and EG to get from Kilmarnock to Leuchars, without ever doubling back. Right?
BE map, showing a route from Birmingham to Kilmarnock
EG map, showing a route from Kilmarnock to Ladybank
There's even a journey that follows this route in practice:
26 July 2019
15:04 Depart Birmingham New Street (West Midlands Trains)
15:56 Arrive Crewe
16:13 Depart Crewe (Virgin Trains)
18:46 Arrive Carlisle
19:20 Depart Carlisle (Scotrail)
21:03 Arrive Kilmarnock
15:04 Depart Birmingham New Street (West Midlands Trains)
15:56 Arrive Crewe
16:13 Depart Crewe (Virgin Trains)
18:46 Arrive Carlisle
19:20 Depart Carlisle (Scotrail)
21:03 Arrive Kilmarnock
I actually called National Rail Enquiries on the phone, and asked about routes - they told me travelling via Glasgow was permitted, but when I asked about Kilmarnock they put me on hold for about 3 minutes and then told me it wasn't. Perhaps they made a mistake?
Is what I'm proposing allowed, or have I made a mistake somewhere? Furthermore, is there a good chance ticket inspectors would allow this route in practice?
Extra info: I'm using a 26-30 railcard, the outward journey is 2019-06-21 and my planned return journey (both original and revised) is 2019-06-26.