Cambridge to King's Cross off-peak return - confused!

[tjewell]

Hi all, and apologies if this is a faq.

I regularly travel from Cambridge to King's Cross. Typically I would get the 1.45pm train to King's Cross and the 4.44pm back again. I've always paid the full (not off-peak) fair, because I was under the impression that a journey that returned between 4.30pm and 7pm didn't qualify as an off peak return. I double checked this with the ticket counter staff today, and they agreed.

*However* I've noticed that the Network Rail site would charge for me an off-peak fare for that journey if I bought it online, and the King's Cross counter staff say I don't need an off-peak ticket. I haven't yet tested this by buying an off-peak ticket and coming back on the 4.44 pm, as I don't want to get caught at the barriers!

So ... if enter a journey in the Network Rail site, and it says it's off-peak (regardless of what the counter staff say), and I buy the ticket, will it work? is it a valid ticket?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[greatkingrat]

I think the confusion is because there is more than one off-peak ticket from Cambridge to London.

An Off-Peak Day Return costing £23.70 is not valid on trains leaving Kings Cross between 1629 and 1900.
An Off-Peak Return costing £34.50 is not valid on trains leaving Kings Cross between 1700 and 1800.
So if you want to return on the 1644, you can buy the £34.50 ticket, this is presumably what the NR site is showing.

I assume you are currently buying an Anytime Day Return at £38.60?

 

[bb21]

First off, I assume you meant the National Rail Enquiries website as the Network Rail site does not offer fares enquiry functions.

Secondly National Rail Enquiries do not sell tickets themselves. They will redirect you to a ticket-retailing website to complete the purchase. If you can get National Rail or the ticket-retailing website to give you an itinerary on the 1644 with the ticket you intend to purchase, then you should be able to use it without hassle.

Finally the Off-Peak Day Return (£23.70) is not valid for returning on the 1644 from King's Cross, however the Off-Peak Return (£34.50) is. The return portion of the latter is valid for one month. The latter ticket is restricted from King's Cross between 1730 and 1830 only, whereas the former is restricted between 1629 and 1900.

 

[tjewell]

Many thanks for the replies - and apologies, I did mean National Rail Enquiries. As I've never actually bought a ticket from them, I hadn't realised they didn't actually sell me the ticket themselves.

Yes, the counter staff at Cambridge sold me a £38.60 ticket, but the site was offering the £34.50 ticket, and I wasn't sure if it would work.

Thanks again!

 

[yorkie]

According to the Train Companies, the ticket names "describe when you can buy or use a ticket", in this case the name "Off Peak Day" allegedly describes the fact it cannot be used in the evening peak, while the ticket type "Off Peak" allegedly describes the fact it can be used in the evening peak. Also "Ticket terms and conditions are now the same across all train companies nationwide, so you know exactly where you stand." Apparently.

For Cambridge to London, there is more than one Off Peak fare for the journey. The Train Companies state that "the cheaper fare with more restrictions will be named Super Off-Peak", however they do not appear to adhere to that claim.

In the past, the Off Peak Day Return (CDR) was known as the Cheap Day Return (CDR), and the Off Peak Return (SVR) was known as the Saver Return (SVR), and nearly all Savers used to be valid on any train on the return portion. Again, according to the Train Companies, that was complicated, and so the new names were made very similar to each other as "with fewer names you can quickly work out what ticket you need to make your journey". Apparently!

In fact, the best way to find out the restrictions, is not to use a website made by the Train Companies, or listen to their confusingly false claims, but to use an independent website, brfares.com, which gives the exact restrictions for the different tickets, here are links to the restrictions for the 'Route: any permitted' SVR and CDR. Other ticket types exist for this journey, and they can all be found at brfares.com.

Note that if making journeys within London, and returning within a day, a Travelcard (ODT) may be better value.

Even senior people in the industry have admitted they find it easier to use brfares.com than the official industry tools.

 

[island]

It's really

 

[alastair]

Hi all, and apologies if this is a faq.

I regularly travel from Cambridge to King's Cross. Typically I would get the 1.45pm train to King's Cross and the 4.44pm back again. I've always paid the full (not off-peak) fair, because I was under the impression that a journey that returned between 4.30pm and 7pm didn't qualify as an off peak return. I double checked this with the ticket counter staff today, and they agreed.

*However* I've noticed that the Network Rail site would charge for me an off-peak fare for that journey if I bought it online, and the King's Cross counter staff say I don't need an off-peak ticket. I haven't yet tested this by buying an off-peak ticket and coming back on the 4.44 pm, as I don't want to get caught at the barriers!

So ... if enter a journey in the Network Rail site, and it says it's off-peak (regardless of what the counter staff say), and I buy the ticket, will it work? is it a valid ticket?

Many thanks in advance!

It appears that you do not have a Network Card? I strongly recommend you buy one (£30),it will save you(and anyone travelling with you) a third off all these fares provided you travel after 1000 a.m.(which you have indicated you do). It is valid for a year and will pay for itself after 3 or 4 trips.

You are simply throwing money away if you don't have one!

 

[bengolding]

In the opposite direction, I regularly travel from Kings Cross to Cambridge on a First Class Off Peak Day Return (good value at £36), and I can travel out anytime after 0915, including the evening peak which I occasionally do.

I pity the FCC RPIs who have to recall these varying time restrictions depending on ticket type and route.

 

[IanD]

I pity the FCC RPIs...

That's the first time I've heard that phrase and may well be the last.

 

[andrewkeith5]

That's the first time I've heard that phrase and may well be the last.

I think I agree - I do pity FCC RPIs sometimes, I can't help but think that if their employer wasn't out to try and make it almost impossible to fully understand FCC fares, and wasn't out to make it as difficult as possible to get good value, then it would be better for everyone involved, including the frontline employees.

 

[317666]

One thing that it's worth bearing in mind - off-peak travelcards from stations between Ely and Kings Lynn inclusive have no evening peak restriction, and can be bought from the ticket office at Cambridge. So if you wanted to catch an evening peak train from Kings Cross, it would save you a good £35 or so to buy an off-peak travelcard from Ely rather than an anytime travelcard from Cambridge.