Experiences of Derby station

[Class800]

[Please move if wrong section - I was between a few sections in choosing where to put this one!]

I've got a journey coming up involving travelling via Derby on a London Terminals to Nottingham return ticket with breaks of journey at Derby in both directions. I do this journey from time to time, so anything I posted on a different variation of this refers to a different journey. I know this is a mapped route. However, going via Derby isn't the most obvious route from London as there's a direction train. If I just wanted to change, I'd be confident. Yet I just wanted to ask if anyone's got any experience with Derby gateline as to whether it would likely be difficult in practice to do break of journey (and resumption of journey there) on London to Nottingham tickets.

Thanks.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Good question. Is London to Nottingham valid via Derby?

Walk-up fares from London to Derby seem to be higher than from London to Nottingham, what's to stop someone buying a ticket to Nottingham but travelling on a train from London to Derby, and leaving ("breaking journey") there, in order to shave off some ££ on a journey that was really always going to be just to Derby?

 

[Class800]

Good question. Is London to Nottingham valid via Derby?

Walk-up fares from London to Derby seem to be higher than from London to Nottingham, what's to stop someone buying a ticket to Nottingham but travelling on a train from London to Derby, and leaving ("breaking journey") there, in order to shave off some ££ on a journey that was really always going to be just to Derby?

I've been previously advised that it is via the routing guide - does anyone disagree?

 

[jfollows]

I've been previously advised that it is via the routing guide - does anyone disagree?

Previously advised as in https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/fares-options-for-a-complex-journey.252722/#post-6352260
London to Nottingham "any permitted" is valid via Derby, and vice-versa.
PS I’m always happy to be corrected, I’m definitely not infallible!

Good question. Is London to Nottingham valid via Derby?

Walk-up fares from London to Derby seem to be higher than from London to Nottingham, what's to stop someone buying a ticket to Nottingham but travelling on a train from London to Derby, and leaving ("breaking journey") there, in order to shave off some ££ on a journey that was really always going to be just to Derby?

It is, and nothing prevents this if so!
The reality is that it’s probably not worth the potential hassle for the small saving.

 

[Spaceship323]

With a Railcard an Advance Single Derby to Leicester Via Nottingham is only about £1.35 if you're worried about getting through the barriers at Derby

 

[Class800]

Understand - it's clearly valid - do people really think it's likely to cause issues on the day though?

 

[transportphoto]

Staff at Derby are EMR own staff rather contractors. I wouldn’t worry too much.

I can replicate the journey in the EMR ticket buying app and am offered through tickets.

 

[Haywain]

Staff at Derby are EMR own staff rather contractors. I wouldn’t worry too much.

I wouldn't put too much faith in that. I've had them refuse an East Midlands Rover on more than one occasion.

 

[Class800]

So it seems a bit of a luck of the draw who you get. Not ideal. But I'll decide on the day what ticket(s) to use depending how I feel.

 

[Class800]

OK what happened?

Very impressed by EMR actually - staff helpful and EMR have correctly programmed the Derby gates to accept Nottingham to London tickets - Derby being an alternative mapped route.

Thameslink still not resolved the issue with the St Pancras gates on through tickets from the Midlands to South London e.g. Plumstead. All it would take is adding Maltese cross to the gate coding? Yet let through no issue.

Southeastern remain a source of frustration with break of journey. While SWR have seemingly coded the gates at their stations to accept all stations on the line up to and including that station e.g. Cranbrook tickets accepted at Salisbury, Southeastern just haven't done it. Dartford tickets not opening gates at Bexley, same with Plumstead tickets at Woolwich Arsenal. Not a good look for customer service. Yet the staff think it's not an issue to be fixed!

So, a good journey in the Midlands but some annoying issues in London. Even in the USA when service with a smile - often a bit fake and cheesy - is the norm, it isn't on the railways!

 

[MikeWM]

Very impressed by EMR actually - staff helpful and EMR have correctly programmed the Derby gates to accept Nottingham to London tickets - Derby being an alternative mapped route.

Good to hear - conversely I've had quite a few irritating experiences at Derby with rovers, more than once I've been told to put it through the gate anyway and then the member of staff spends ages looking confused as to why it hasn't worked. Derby seems particularly bad for doing that.

Southeastern remain a source of frustration with break of journey.

c2c too. I've had a few attempts recently breaking at Basildon with a BZ6-Southend ticket and every time it (a) doesn't work the barriers and (b) I've had to explain to the staff what the ticket is and why I'm ok breaking my journey. I always get let through *eventually*, but you shouldn't have to go through the hassle.

 

[_toommm_]

Good to hear - conversely I've had quite a few irritating experiences at Derby with rovers, more than once I've been told to put it through the gate anyway and then the member of staff spends ages looking confused as to why it hasn't worked. Derby seems particularly bad for doing that.

Stoke did this to me a lot - apparently the East Midlands Rover needs going through so there's a 'record of where I've travelled to' and so 'they get the money for it' which is of course absolute rubbish. I tried it the first time, it didn't work, but they insisted on me putting it through every time.

 

[LowLevel]

Leicester - Derby - Nottingham triangular validity has long been a thing (it goes back decades) and is something the staff will be very used to.

 

[MikeWM]

Stoke did this to me a lot - apparently the East Midlands Rover needs going through so there's a 'record of where I've travelled to' and so 'they get the money for it' which is of course absolute rubbish. I tried it the first time, it didn't work, but they insisted on me putting it through every time.

Yes, Stoke is up there with Derby as one of my 'top' handful of stations that tend to have a irritating customer experience with rovers-at-ticket-gates. Last time I was there they also told me some nonsense or other about why they needed me to 'try' the ticket in the gate before letting me through, even though we all acknowledged it wouldn't work.

I had that once at Derby too a few years back, though in Derby's case the more usual reaction seems to be bafflement about what to actually do about someone presenting with a rover rather than just putting the ticket into the gate.

Conversely the vast majority of stations are just happy to let you through after waving the rover at them - which is why those that make it more difficult stick in the mind.

 

[Russel]

I used to be a regular user of Derby station and my impression of the gateline staff was that they actively looked for confrontation...

I guess the location of the gateline doesn't help as the area can get quite congested, especially when a a queue forms for the single lift up to the bridge.

This was back in EMT days so things may have changed now.

 

[Class800]

Leicester - Derby - Nottingham triangular validity has long been a thing (it goes back decades) and is something the staff will be very used to.

one conductor said he wasn't sure but thought it should be OK as ticket just said via London. It's good to know this is well established as I wasn't that confident about it

 

[317 forever]

I found the display on my platform at Derby station useful for an instantaneous decision.

On July 1st I alighted the 20.06 (IIRC) from Leicester with a view to catching the next Crewe service to Stoke on Trent and returning home to Stockport from there. Anyway, the platform display included that the 3rd train would be the Crewe train but that it was cancelled.

I therefore jumped back on my train from Leicester and stayed on to Sheffield to get my train home from there.

Although that TPE train was delayed about 20 minutes I still got home sooner than by staying at Derby for an extra hour in the hope of the next Crewe train turning up.