Both barrier staff at Stratford & RPI's at Liverpool Street have advised that as this bus is no longer running, my ticket is not valid on this route any more. Can this possibly be right?
Rubbish! How can the omission of a bus link change routeing permissions? The bus link is simply replaced by walking.
If this is what staff have been advising passengers, then a strongly-worded letter needs to be sent to NXEA requesting that they get their training in order. Unfortunately NXEA have a history of giving clueless answers to previous enquiries so I will not be surprised if that is how their staff have been briefed.
My ticket is from Foklkestone West to London terminals via HS1. Obviously this has a potentially severe impact on my back pocket! The barrier staff at Stratford said they'd been told to let people through today "to stop them being abused".I've spoken to National Rail Enquiries who confirmed the ticket was valid and there has been no information from Southeastern (not unusual!) that this could be an issue. Can anybody help?
The shortest route and those no more than 3 miles longer are always permitted.
The shortest route between Folkestone West and a London Terminal is Folkestone West - Ashford International - (High Speed Line) - Ebbsfleet International - (Walk) - Northfleet - Dartford - Bexleyheath - Lewisham - New Cross - London Bridge. According to National Rail Timetable, the distance between Folkestone West and Ashford International is 13.25 miles, between Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International along HS1 is 33.25, between Northfleet and Dartford is 4.75 and between Dartford and London Bridge using the route above is 15.25, totalling 66.5 miles.
The route between Folkestone West and Liverpool Street via HS1 and changing at Stratford is calculated as follows: Folkestone West - Stratford International - 63.25 miles, Stratford London - Liverpool Street - 4 miles, total - 67.25 miles.
The route into Liverpool Street is less than 3 miles longer than the shortest route, and the routeing on your ticket does not forbid the use of HS1. This draws me to the conclusion that going into Liverpool Street the way you have done for the last two years is absolutely valid.
Isn't Stratford International a London Terminal? If so, you've reached your destination and the ticket wouldn't be valid beyond there. If I search for tickets from Folkestone to Liverpool Street, the only tickets that appear are to Zone U1 London.
Err, no! Stratford International is not a London Terminal for ticketing purposes. See
this.