Overnight change at Wolverhampton.. 0216 till 0637

[tractakid]

Just booked an itinerary that involves spending 0216 till 0637 at Wolverhampton station (it was cheap!)
Any ideas on how to spend the time? I'm travelling with a friend.

Advance tickets means technically can't leave the station? Not that they would enforce that, surely.

 

[Eagle]

Not that they would enforce that, surely.

Wolverhampton is unbarriered and there won't be very many staff there at that time of night.

 

[Tubeboy]

I would suggest a kip, if you can that is. I don't know if the waiting room(s) would be open at this time.

 

[Gathursty]

I'm fairly sure that Wolverhampton is locked so you can't nip out for a smoke or whatever through the night.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Wolves booking office is open 24/6 so I would assume the station is accessible and open all night long.

 

[Toad]

All the best with this one pal hock:

 

[nicobobinus]

Those times sound familiar. Not off to West Wales by any chance?

I did this once a number of years ago. I obviously don't recommend this for all the possible consequences - I actually consider myself lucky in hindsight that I didn't have any problems, but I was younger then...

I took one look at the Wolves break the tickets offered, with the facilities there, and decided to change at New Street instead (where the Aberystwyth train starts) and, after checking with staff that I wouldn't be thrown out, kipped in a waiting room. I don't recommend that either.. after about two hours I could count down the seconds to the next 80db automated security announcement. But it was dry and reasonably warm.

I hunted down the guard on the Aberystwyth train as it left New Street, showed her all the tickets and explained briefly what I had done and why, and offered to pay for a single from New St to Wolves. "No need". Case closed. Slept like a baby for the next three hours!

Why do the advances from the southern end of the WCML to West Wales insist on breaks at International or Wolverhampton - at least on that overnight change? Why not New Street?

 

[tractakid]

Off to Edinburgh actually!

I'm thinking as my sleep schedule naturally creeps forward later and later into the night I may as well just not try to restrain this before this journey. I was awake till 0400 the other day so I could definitely make it till 0600. Then grab some sleep on the train what was built by Virgin what also leans a bit

 

[yorkie]

Advance tickets means technically can't leave the station? Not that they would enforce that, surely.

Out of interest, where did you read that?

You will be pleased to hear that I do not agree that exiting the station for the duration of your overnight stay is a "break of journey".

I recommend you take a look at our Fares & Ticketing Guide. We have a section to cover this.

RailUK Fares & Ticketing Guide - Section 1 - Ticket Types & Conditions: 1.5 Break of Journey

 

[table38]

There is a 24-hour Asda about 10 mins walk away, you could go for a mooch around that if you get desperate

 

[tractakid]

Out of interest, where did you read that?

You will be pleased to hear that I do not agree that exiting the station for the duration of your overnight stay is a "break of journey".

I recommend you take a look at our Fares & Ticketing Guide. We have a section to cover this.

RailUK Fares & Ticketing Guide - Section 1 - Ticket Types & Conditions: 1.5 Break of Journey

I don't agree with you. All of the journey is being completed within one day, the tenth of January 2013.

In this instance though I would be shocked if common sense didn't apply in the unlikely situation that staff took an interest in the ticket of someone leaving the station from the last northbound service of the previous day's validity.

 

[yorkie]

I do not agree that any sensible definition of "overnight" would exclude the period 0216 - 0637 just because the origin station (which we do not actually know!) was after midnight.

I suppose it could be argued that if you are not staying in "overnight accommodation" then you could be refused to leave the station, but that would absolutely defy common sense. Sometimes I can't believe we are even having such discussions!

For future reference though, it is worth mentioning the origin station and departure time in the opening post. It's only in post #11 that we learn that the departure time is after midnight. We can guess your origin is the same as the location stated in your profile, thought that is not necessarily going to be the case!

Does it matter? T someone who is pedantically applying NRCoC Condition 16 to the letter, in a way that was clearly not intended, yes, I suppose so. But to someone interpreting it in a common sense way? Surely not!

Also some gateline staff in the London area would argue that you are starting your journey on the 9th, even if the date on station clocks stated the 10th, but that's another matter

 

[tractakid]

The origin station...


believe it or not...


is...


...Milton Keynes Central!



I didn't actually start this thread to discuss the fine details of ticket validity. More wanted to discuss how to occupy the time. :P

But, while we're on the topic, is it actually possible to book a through advance itinerary that finishes after 04:29 the day after the journey began?

 

[yorkie]

I take it my guess doesn't win any prizes?

It was one of two questions you asked, to be fair!

I am doubtful you will get a positive answer on the first question though!

 

[tractakid]

You do win a prize! You can go to that 24h Asda and buy yourself a chocolate bar.
:P