London to Cambridge

[barrykas]

For the record, the Cambridge ticket loophole was pointed out to ATOC in 1998 in writing, but they appear to have done nothing to close it, so I think its a bit unfair for TOCs to try and Penalty Fare passengers using it. That said, I would not attempt this journey unless you really are confident about your knowledge of the Routeing Guide (even though its written very unambiguosuly for this case) and have spare time on your hands to appeal

They did do something about it (or at least thought they did) by adding new maps an changing what maps you could use for a given journey.

So London - Finsbury Park is now only valid on Map EE (which is London to the North East and West Yorkshire via Sleaford, so most definitely doesn't feature Cambridge), and London - Hackney is only valid on Maps TS (LT&S plus Gospel Oak - Barking, the NLL between West Ham and Willesden Junction and Romford - Upminster) or WA (which does feature both Cambridge and the Great Northern routes via Welwyn and Hertford).

And I would fully expect anyone attempting to use a London Terminals - Hackney Downs ticket at Kings Cross, Moorgate or Old Street to be told they need to go to Liverpool Street, and anyone en route to, or arriving at, Cambridge with one to be PFed for travelling beyond the validity of their ticket regardless of what the Routeing Guide says.

Cheers,

Barry

 

[Oscar]

I spotted that but as there is no Not Via Darlington ticket from Scarborough there is no choice of the lower fare despite using exactly the same route from York.
Neither is there from York

I imagine that the current fare setter, TPE, and past fares setters do/did not believe that rail can compete with the bus from Scarborough to Whitby and that it is therefore not worth introducing a "Not Via Darlington" fare. However, York to Whitby generally takes over 2 hours by bus as opposed to 1 hour from Scarborough, so the difference in journey time is not enough to stop rail from being competitive for this flow if prices are low. Large rail systems like National Rail will always have anomalies but making certain ticket types and route/TOC-specific tickets only available for certain flows aggravates the situation while however also working to the advantage of TOCs and passengers (as the tickets available should be appropriate for that flow).

 

[Goatboy]

Plus presumably it's almost impossible to introduce a ticket which reflects the fact that despite being a long way by rail Whitby is quite close to Scarborough without people simply using it as a loophole to get to and from York (Where the return tickets are quite expensive for what is a 40 minute journey).

 

[RJ]

They did do something about it (or at least thought they did) by adding new maps an changing what maps you could use for a given journey.

So London - Finsbury Park is now only valid on Map EE (which is London to the North East and West Yorkshire via Sleaford, so most definitely doesn't feature Cambridge), and London - Hackney is only valid on Maps TS (LT&S plus Gospel Oak - Barking, the NLL between West Ham and Willesden Junction and Romford - Upminster) or WA (which does feature both Cambridge and the Great Northern routes via Welwyn and Hertford).

And I would fully expect anyone attempting to use a London Terminals - Hackney Downs ticket at Kings Cross, Moorgate or Old Street to be told they need to go to Liverpool Street, and anyone en route to, or arriving at, Cambridge with one to be PFed for travelling beyond the validity of their ticket regardless of what the Routeing Guide says.

Cheers,

Barry

Very true. I was considering a slight variation on this ticket, a First Class +Any Permitted ticket to get access to the East Coast First Class Lounge. However, upon reflection I realised that I couldn't justify spending the £7 or so as the benefits of the FC lounge are largely illusory! Very nice but of little monetary value.