I'm not sure what to do as Cuxton has a lower fare in all instances than either Maidstone or Chatham.
This is another example of the difficulties caused by Routeing Point Groups where different fares apply for different members of the Routeing Point Group. We debated the issue in
this thread.
For Farnborough - Cuxton, my calculations are:
Both Farnborough stations are members of Farnborough Group, which comprises Blackwater (BAW), Farnborough Main (FNB) and Farnborough North (FNN).
The Routeing Points for Cuxton are Chatham Group and Maidstone Group. Chatham Group comprises Chatham (CTM), Gillingham Kent (GLM), Rochester (RTR) and Strood Kent (SOO). Maidstone Group comprises Maidstone Barracks (MDB), Maidstone East (MDE) and Maidstone West (MDW). [1]
For the Fares Check, Standard Anytime Day Single (SDS) fares are:
BAW or FNB or FNN - CUX SDS route LONDON NOT UND £24.90.
BAW or FNB or FNN - SOO SDS route LONDON NOT UND £24.90.
BAW or FNB or FNN - CTM or GLM or RTR SDS route + ANY PERMITTED £26.20.
BAW or FNB or FNN - MDB or MDE or MDW SDS route + ANY PERMITTED £26.20.
Farnborough - Strood Kent passes the Fares Check, so Chatham Group is an appropriate Routeing Point for a Farnborough - Cuxton journey.
The Fares Check is not passed for a journey between any station in Farnborough Group and any station in Maidstone Group, so Maidstone Group is not an appropriate Routeing Point for a Farnborough - Cuxton journey.
Permitted routes between Farnborough Group and Chatham Group are: LONDON.
Permitted routes between Farnborough Group and London Group are: CS+WR or WX.
Permitted routes between London Group and Chatham Group are: HK HS LD LR LR+SL NK or VC.
Therefore a permitted route from either Farnborough station to Cuxton is
- By any mapped route from either Farnborough station to any London Group station using maps CS+WR or WX
- then by any mapped route from any London Group station to any Chatham Group station using maps HK HS LD LR LR+SL NK or VC
- then by the shortest route from any Chatham Group station to Cuxton.
Due to the routeing LONDON NOT UND, if different members of London Group are chosen for arrival and departure the passenger must make their way at their own expense between these two stations.
In this circumstance it seems that only the shortest route and any routes that are no more than three miles longer than the shortest route are valid.
This approach does not work in this case. The two routes found (via
Tulse Hill or via
Crystal Palace) both avoid London. But all fares from Farnborough Group stations (BAW or FNB or FNN) to Cuxton are route LONDON NOT UND.
In my opinion this means that, had there been no mapped routes between any Farnborough Group station and Cuxton, the permitted routes would have been
- the shortest permitted route between the passenger's choice of any Farnborough Group station and the passenger's choice of any London Group station which can be reached by following a permitted route, followed by
- the shortest permitted route between the passenger's choice of any London Group station with a permitted route avoiding Farringdon to Cuxton, and Cuxton
or any route not more than 3 miles longer than a shortest route above.
[1] The Routeing Point Groups I have used are from the list which appeared on the ATOC web site from 16 October 2009 to 29 November 2009. On 30 November 2009 that was replaced with a nonsense list which famously defines Aberdeen as comprising Dundee, Middlesbrough Group and Inverness. It remains on the
ATOC site today. In the 30 November list, Chatham Group comprises Dartford, Ebbsfleet International, Faversham, Maidstone Group, Gravesend and Swanley. Maidstone Group comprises Ashford International, Chatham Group, Swanley and Tonbridge.
