Cannot buy tickets for usual route when engineering work disrupts

[suzanneparis]

I checked on NRE and discovered that a journey I wanted to make Leicester to London on a Sunday was showing a different route. Leicester to Nuneaton, change, then Nuneaton to London. Due to engineering work on the line between Leicester and London. I was coming back on the following Monday when there was a normal service showing.

I enquired at a ticket office if I could just buy a normal Leicester to London return for that journey. But was told I could NOT ??! Because it was using trains from a different TOC.

Can anyone please comment on this.

FYI after more checking on East Midlands Trains the trains are showing as running as usual directly from L to Lon on the Sunday, albeit with longer journey times. But I would still like the question answered purely out of interest.

Thanks for any help

 

[najaB]

I enquired at a ticket office if I could just buy a normal Leicester to London return for that journey. But was told I could NOT ??! Because it was using trains from a different TOC.

What is the 'normal' ticket that you intended to purchase?

 

[suzanneparis]

Off peak return

 

[najaB]

Off peak return

Is it a TOC-specific ticket? What is the price (with or without railcard discount)?

 

[janb]

I checked on NRE and discovered that a journey I wanted to make Leicester to London on a Sunday was showing a different route. Leicester to Nuneaton, change, then Nuneaton to London. Due to engineering work on the line between Leicester and London. I was coming back on the following Monday when there was a normal service showing.

I enquired at a ticket office if I could just buy a normal Leicester to London return for that journey. But was told I could NOT ??! Because it was using trains from a different TOC.

Leicester to London in the routeing guide is permitted on map MI or map MO, both using the Midland Main Line. So the reason that the off peak return is not permitted on the route via Nuneaton onto the WCML into Euston is that it is not a permitted route (TOC is irrelevant in terms of the Any Permitted Off Peak Return) .

 

[CyrusWuff]

In my opinion (which may not be popular, but it is what it is) if EMT have requested ticket acceptance from London Midland (which I would suggest is unlikely, given the limited capacity between Leicester and Nuneaton) the normal ticket should be sold.

If ticket acceptance hasn't been requested, the appropriate ticket(s) for the alternative route would need to be purchased.

 

[Hadders]

I'm out and about so can't check properly.

NRE is probably suggesting that you travel via Nuneaton due to engineering works. It seems this isn't normally a permitted route.

Does NRE say you'll need two tickets to make the journey
Alternatively, there might be a temporary routing guide easement permitting travel via Nuneaton.

 

[John @ home]

If the train you intend to use between Nuneaton and London Euston calls at Watford Jn, you could buy:

• a £32.50 Railcard Off-Peak Return Leicester - Watford Jn route Not via London, and
• an Excess Fare for the Return leg only to a £61.70 Railcard Off-Peak Return Leicester - Watford Jn route + Any Permitted.

The Excess Fare for one leg only of the journey costs half the difference, that's £14.60, making a total cost of £47.10. An Excess Fare can't be bought online, so you'll need to buy this at a ticket office.

You change from using the outward leg of your ticket as the train stops at Watford Jn. After leaving Watford Jn, you use the return leg together with the Excess Fare voucher.

The outward leg is valid by any train on a Sunday. The return leg, together with the Excess Fare voucher, has the same time restrictions as a £57.10 Railcard Off-Peak Return Leicester - London Terminals.

 

[PermitToTravel]

I think the thread has been retitled incorrectly?

 

[swt_passenger]

Problem here I think, is that not every TOC bothers to do the necessary temporary routeing guide updates for engineering works which may only be needed for a single Sunday every now and again. Different if the situation might last for a couple of weeks.

You can see many of these temporary changes in the routeing guide changes thread...

Suppose (as an example near me) you want to travel from Fareham to Winchester, journey planners do not allow this to be done via Southampton, but this is the recommended diversion when the line via Botley is closed. So you just buy the normal ticket from the TVM or office, and the guard accepts it without question. But the journey planner still tells you that you need two tickets because you are off route.

ISTM that your EMT booking office is just applying normal routeing rules too literally, it has been accepted for many years that when planned engineering work diversions are on the normal ticket for the end to end journey should sold.

 

[najaB]

ISTM that your EMT booking office is just applying normal routeing rules too literally, it has been accepted for many years that when planned engineering work diversions are on the normal ticket for the end to end journey should sold.

That's what I thought - hence I was wondering if it was a TOC-specific ticket.

 

[greatkingrat]

ISTM that your EMT booking office is just applying normal routeing rules too literally, it has been accepted for many years that when planned engineering work diversions are on the normal ticket for the end to end journey should sold.

It's not a diversion though, no EMT services are running to Euston. Presumably there are replacement buses being provided that mean it is still possible to use the normal route.

 

[janb]

It's not a diversion though, no EMT services are running to Euston. Presumably there are replacement buses being provided that mean it is still possible to use the normal route.

The OP themselves said,

FYI after more checking on East Midlands Trains the trains are showing as running as usual directly from L to Lon on the Sunday, albeit with longer journey times.

So no need to invoke any routeing guide easements.

 

[Clip]

Be handy to know which sunday so people could give better advice here as I cant see anythign affecting leicetser on the EMT website http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/information/media/Disruption-Information/

 

[suzanneparis]

Many thanks all of you.

I suppose what I was trying to understand was what happens when engineering work obstructs a route.

In particular if someone already had a return ticket that they had bought in London for L to Leicester would they be allowed to use the return section from Leicester to London if engineering works obstructed the main route. Would they have to pay extra to go via Nuneaton??