eastend43
Member
Hi
I'm new to this, so apologies if this has been asked before. And forgive me for not going into too much detail, for obvious reasons.
I recently noticed a negative easement that affects my local station (Station A), which is very close to a large station (Station B). To get to another large station about 50 miles away (Station C) it is usually quicker to go via B and get the fast train (on a separate line) to C. But the recent negative easement now states that A to C via B is not a permitted route.
My local station is unstaffed and when I get on a train from A to B I have always been able to buy the cheapest ticket for the journey from A to C. When there hasn't been the opportunity to buy a ticket on the train from A to B, I have always been able to buy the cheapest ticket from A to C at the platform ticket office at Station B. When I go on the www.eastcoast.co.uk website to buy a ticket from A to C it often routes me via B (as it is the quickest) and gives it to me at the lowest price.
The trainline website (and the website of the TOC which covers these stations) only offers the direct but slower journeys from A to C (at the lowest price) and the network rail website offers the direct journeys at the lower price, or journeys via B at a higher price (£1.20 more) and states that you would have to buy multiple tickets to go that route.
My first question is, how are people meant to know that travel between A and C via B is not a valid route anymore, particularly since up until a few years ago, you had to go via B as there wasn't a direct link from A to C? I only found the easement by chance after stumbling across this website at the weekend and following links to the Routeing guide and then (since I was on a train at the time) was bored enough to look at the easements. My experience is that the on train staff and ticket office staff don't know about it either.
My second question is, what would happen if I had bought the cheapest ticket from A to C from eastcoast.co.uk, followed their suggested route via B and then bumped into either a RPI or a ticket examiner who knew about the negative easement? Would I get done for not having a valid ticket (I am not in a penalty fare area) and would showing them the print out of the suggested route help me avoid that?
Similarly what would happen if I had got on the train from A to B, said I was going to C (which I would think would obviously be via B) and was sold the cheapest ticket from A to C and then on my journey from B to C I bump into a RPI or more knowledgeable ticket examiner?
In other words, could I get penalised for someone selling me the wrong ticket (even though I have clearly stated my final destination and my route was obvious), or get penalised for following the route / times given to me by www.eastcoast.co.uk when buying a ticket online.
I only make that journey once a month or so, but the same issue probably occurs for season ticket holders.
I'm new to this, so apologies if this has been asked before. And forgive me for not going into too much detail, for obvious reasons.
I recently noticed a negative easement that affects my local station (Station A), which is very close to a large station (Station B). To get to another large station about 50 miles away (Station C) it is usually quicker to go via B and get the fast train (on a separate line) to C. But the recent negative easement now states that A to C via B is not a permitted route.
My local station is unstaffed and when I get on a train from A to B I have always been able to buy the cheapest ticket for the journey from A to C. When there hasn't been the opportunity to buy a ticket on the train from A to B, I have always been able to buy the cheapest ticket from A to C at the platform ticket office at Station B. When I go on the www.eastcoast.co.uk website to buy a ticket from A to C it often routes me via B (as it is the quickest) and gives it to me at the lowest price.
The trainline website (and the website of the TOC which covers these stations) only offers the direct but slower journeys from A to C (at the lowest price) and the network rail website offers the direct journeys at the lower price, or journeys via B at a higher price (£1.20 more) and states that you would have to buy multiple tickets to go that route.
My first question is, how are people meant to know that travel between A and C via B is not a valid route anymore, particularly since up until a few years ago, you had to go via B as there wasn't a direct link from A to C? I only found the easement by chance after stumbling across this website at the weekend and following links to the Routeing guide and then (since I was on a train at the time) was bored enough to look at the easements. My experience is that the on train staff and ticket office staff don't know about it either.
My second question is, what would happen if I had bought the cheapest ticket from A to C from eastcoast.co.uk, followed their suggested route via B and then bumped into either a RPI or a ticket examiner who knew about the negative easement? Would I get done for not having a valid ticket (I am not in a penalty fare area) and would showing them the print out of the suggested route help me avoid that?
Similarly what would happen if I had got on the train from A to B, said I was going to C (which I would think would obviously be via B) and was sold the cheapest ticket from A to C and then on my journey from B to C I bump into a RPI or more knowledgeable ticket examiner?
In other words, could I get penalised for someone selling me the wrong ticket (even though I have clearly stated my final destination and my route was obvious), or get penalised for following the route / times given to me by www.eastcoast.co.uk when buying a ticket online.
I only make that journey once a month or so, but the same issue probably occurs for season ticket holders.