London to Diss

[Halsebee]

A friend has a flexible off peak return ticket from London Liverpool St to Diss for Monday leaving about 0940 return leaving 1800 odd.
She now needs to travel outward from Kings X to Bury St Edmunds at 0940 odd, but return as planned from Diss to Liverpool St at 1800 odd.

I don't know if the ticket from Liverpool St is specific from Liverpool St or if its from London terminals (are all off peak tickets to Diss from London terminals).

My question is can she use the ticket to travel from Kings X to Bury St Edmunds and stop short there, but use the return as planned. Is this permitted?
If not can anyone advise on the best/cheapest way to do this journey, bearing in mind she has already bought the Liv St Diss return

 

[47513 Severn]

National Rail says you need two tickets to go from Kings Cross to Diss via Bury so I guess that means her existing ticket can't be used that way.

Does she have to go from Kings Cross? The cheapest option seems to be to use the existing ticket from Liverpool Street and stop short at Stowmarket, then get a £6 single from there to Bury St Edmunds.

To travel from Kings Cross would mean a new ticket for the whole outward journey for £34.50

 

[CyrusWuff]

Looking at the Routeing Guide, routeing points for Diss are Norwich and Stowmarket. For a journey from London to Diss, Stowmarket is the appropriate routeing point by virtue of the fare FROM Stowmarket to London being lower than that from London to Diss.

Permitted routes can be found on Map EA, which essentially only allows Liverpool Street - Stowmarket via the main line.

There are no direct trains from Kings Cross to Diss via Bury St Edmunds, so the direct train rule doesn't apply, which leaves shortest route as the only possibility.

Table 11 of the National Rail Timetable gives Liverpool Street to Diss as being 95 miles, and Stowmarket - Diss as 14.25 miles; Table 14 gives Cambridge - Bury St Edmunds - Stowmarket as 43.5 miles; and finally, Table 25 gives Kings Cross - Cambridge as 58 miles.

Adding those together, you get 115.75 miles for Kings Cross - Cambridge - Bury St Edmunds - Stowmarket - Diss, which is over 20 miles further than the direct route, so wouldn't be permitted either.

 

[Hadders]

I've not checked the routeing guide but Webtis sites will allow London to Norwich via Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds so the OP could purchase an over distance excess to Norwich costing £5.60 and finish short at Bury St Edmunds.

 

[yorkie]

I've not checked the routeing guide but Webtis sites will allow London to Norwich via Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds so the OP could purchase an over distance excess to Norwich costing £5.60 and finish short at Bury St Edmunds.

I agree.

Some people claim that the original ticket must still be used via Diss, as they claim the original terms still apply, but the TSA does not support such claims.

“Excess Fare” means a variation in the Rights and Restrictions applicable to a Fare which has the impact of converting that Fare into another Fare”

So, once you have excessed a London Terminals to Diss ticket into a London Terminals to Norwich ticket, you have a London Terminals to Norwich ticket, and the rights and restrictions which apply are that of the fare you have excessed to.

But, curiously, a small number of people do not agree.

(If the ticket was taken to the same retailer that the original ticket was sold from, then they may exchange it (by refunding the original and issuing a new one) without an admin fee as an alternative to an excess fare, but I think it makes no difference either way)

 

[30907]

While I am sure Hadders is right and the NRG will back him up, if the 1000 departure from LST arriving BSE 1155 suits, then for the sake of 40p it's the simplest hassle free option. But if that's too late...