East Coast Rewards Advance Tickets

[njr001]

Thinking of visiting Shilton next month then using a 'free' rewards ticket to return to London between Darlington & KGX. Journey planner gives an itinerary with 7 minutes to change at Darlington, should I be delayed and miss my connection would I have any problem in catching a later train.


On my outward journey starting from Rickmansworth going via Marylebone & KGX to Leeds it's much cheaper to split ticket at KXG and using Oyster is even cheaper than a paper ticket but will I be covered if delayed.

 

[bb21]

With regard to your question about the connection at Darlington, you will be covered in the event of delays to the inbound service from Bishop Auckland. I recommend that you purchase your ticket for the connecting leg from Shilton in advance so that even if the guard does not come through on that train, you do not find yourself in a situation of having to argue whether you have an implied contract or not. It is not absolutely necessary, but saves potential hassle which you could do without especially when you have already missed your connection.

As for the second question, AIUI it is a grey area if you are using Oyster PAYG for the transfer so leave home with plenty of time to spare. A paper ticket would definitely cover you in the event of delays provided that minimum connection times have been stuck to.

 

[Haywain]

Generally, the splendid people at Kings Cross will pass you if you are delayed, so long as you have allowed sufficient time for your journey, regardless of payment method. This means you should follow a valid travel itinerary for your throughout journey from Rickmansworth obtained from National Rail Enquiries. An itinerary from the TfL journey planner for travel from Rickmansworth to Kings Cross will not suffice as it does not include the Natioanl Rail interchange time at Kings Cross.

 

[Clip]

I hope you mean Shildon as Shilton is in a different county(don't even think it has a station either)

 

[yorkie]

On my outward journey starting from Rickmansworth going via Marylebone & KGX to Leeds it's much cheaper to split ticket at KXG and using Oyster is even cheaper than a paper ticket but will I be covered if delayed.

Possibly.... What trains do you plan to get?

 

[njr001]

Intend to take 1123 chiltern to Marylebone then 1305 KGX to Leeds traveling via bakerloo and Victoria line or Bakerloo and Circle

 

[maniacmartin]

Using the times on BRTimes.com (Station info option)

10 mins MYB interchange time
+22 mins Tube transfer
+15 mins KGX interchange time

= 47 mins at least must be allowed to be cover to you in event of delays

 

[Haywain]

Intend to take 1123 chiltern to Marylebone then 1305 KGX to Leeds traveling via bakerloo and Victoria line or Bakerloo and Circle

According to NRE this would allow sufficient connection time for the 13:05 from Kings Cross. But how are you getting from Leeds to Shildon, or is it somewhere other than Shildon that you areactually going to?

 

[ainsworth74]

Using the times on BRTimes.com (Station info option)

10 mins MYB interchange time
+22 mins Tube transfer
+15 mins KGX interchange time

= 47 mins at least must be allowed to be cover to you in event of delays

eNRT has 50 minutes for interchanges between Marylebone and Kings Cross.

 

[njr001]

To answer Haywain's question, I am staying several days in Leeds then travelling to Shildon.

It would appear that I have 75 minutes to transfer between Marylebone & Kings Cross, presumably if delayed my 'touch in' time could be read to confirm the start of my journey as Oyster cost with railcard is £2.65 and a paper ticket costs over £8

 

[yorkie]

That is sufficient interchange time.

If you held two paper tickets, you could simply board the next train.

However the view of the rail industry (see the PDF attachment in our Fares Guide: 1.1.3 Advance tickets) is that journeys commencing using a smartcard are allowable "where electronically checked, delay verified and Advance ticket endorsed in Travel Centres", the bad news is this means if you miss your train you may have to queue at King's Cross to get your ticket endorsed, thus potentially incurring further delay.

This is bad for customers and also bad for the rail industry, as it increases their liabilities for delay compensation.

I don't like that policy, but until passengers are represented by a truly independent watchdog/ombudsman can who genuinely get the best deal for passengers, and who actually know what is happening on the ground, we're stuck with it!