Clarity about off peak restrictions

[Pumperkin]

Hi,

I'm planning a journey from Kidderminster (KID) to Hykeham (HKM) next January 24th.

I would like to have a few hour's break of journey in Nottingham, whilst still arriving in Hykeham about 5pm and having an off peak ticket.

I have seen that the restrictions state that it is not valid on a train departing prior to 9am, however National Rail site seems to indicate a £68.50 return fare even for the 9:07. Am I misunderstanding something?

Also, is a lengthy BOJ permitted? Would I have any issues at the (presumed) ticket barriers in Nottingham? Don't want my ticket to be gobbled up...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Pumperkin. £68.50 is the Anytime Return fare. Should just be £53.00 for an Off Peak Return from Kidderminster to Hykeham (Lincolnshire) if travelling at or after 0900 on a Friday.

What day of the week/time of the day did you select (if any) for the return part of the journey from Hykeham?

 

[JonathanH]

I have seen that the restrictions state that it is not valid on a train departing prior to 9am, however National Rail site seems to indicate a £68.50 return fare even for the 9:07. Am I misunderstanding something?

The off-peak ticket has a restriction of 0900, but the first connection suggested by the journey planner is at 0952. That is just a function of the way the connections work. There is nothing wrong with catching the 0907 with the ticket, then further connections to Hykeham if you make them, but the journey planners don't seem to offer tighter connections.

 

[Pumperkin]

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I selected the Sunday 26th at about 3pm - I presume the OPR is fine to use at any time on a Sunday?

If I plug in KID - NOT for 9am on the Friday, it shows the 9:07 but with a return cost of £65 (again, this is the anytime fare, rather than the OPR £40.10). The restriction on this indicates a train not departing after 9:30 rather than 9am.

Am I right in thinking the journey KID - BMO - BHM - LEI - NOT - HKM would be fine to do on an OPR with train departing KID at 9:07 because the restriction on the KID - HKM is 9am not 9:30, despite the shorter KID - NOT return needing a departure at 9:30 or later?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Different fare setter (= Cross Country) for Kidderminster->Nottingham tickets. Cross Country don't normally offer Off Peak tickets for midweek travel starting before 0930. Kidderminster->Hykeham is priced by East Midlands Railway, who it would seem have a different take on what's considered Off Peak on the tickets that they price.

 

[Pumperkin]

Perfect thanks for the explanation.

I reckon I can get to Snow Hill for 9:46 then a quick dash to New Street for the 10:03? Hopefully that's doable otherwise it's a bit of a wait in Birmingham and wasting exploring time in Nottingham.

 

[Pumperkin]

Follow up question on this. I'm buying an OPR through Uber to get the 10% credits. However, the journey I want to do (leaving KID just after 9) doesn't show up, presumably because a minium connection time isn't followed at Birmingham. Will I be OK to travel on a different train to the one booked, given that it's an OPR not an advance fare?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Follow up question on this. I'm buying an OPR through Uber to get the 10% credits. However, the journey I want to do (leaving KID just after 9) doesn't show up, presumably because a minium connection time isn't followed at Birmingham. Will I be OK to travel on a different train to the one booked, given that it's an OPR not an advance fare?

Where are you travelling from Kidderminster to? If it's to some destination where the through tickets from Kidderminster are priced by Cross Country, for example to Derby, then the Off Peak Return wouldn't be valid, midweek, for through journeys starting before 9.30 a.m.

 

[transportphoto]

Worth noting also that off peak tickets priced by CrossCountry also typically have evening peak restrictions. Off peak tickets priced by East Midlands Railway typically do not.

 

[Pumperkin]

Travelling to Hykeham (near Lincoln). As far as I can see, OPR is valid from 09:00. Just didn't know if selecting a different journey on Uber (to allow the correctly priced ticket) would mean that it somehow wouldn't be accepted on the 09:07.

 

[jfollows]

If you have an off-peak return Kidderminster-Hykeham, it has restriction code CG so you can leave on the 09:07. If you don’t make a “connection” in Birmingham because it’s shorter than the minimum connection time, you can’t claim Delay Repay for the full journey, but that’s then your choice.

Journey Planner software forces you to specify trains, but you can use any other valid train within the ticket’s restrictions, provided it’s not an Advance ticket of course. If you split tickets then you have to follow the restrictions for each separate ticket.