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Peak times

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Rwhunited

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I was just reading on another thread that with a railcard you can travel on some peak services with an off peak ticket, does anyone know what these may be for Euston on a Friday night as many times I have been there early but had to wait for the 7 30 Glasgow central service.
 
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bb21

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Virgin Trains offers a concession to some types of railcard-holders if the entire journey is travelled on Virgin Trains.

This means, for example, if you hold a 16-25 Railcard, you can travel on the direct Euston - Glasgow Central Virgin Trains service with an Off-Peak ticket between London Terminals and Glasgow Cen/Qst during barred hours.

Which type of railcard do you have?
 

SickyNicky

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That's fine. If your ticket is an Off-Peak Return (or single) from LONDON TERMINALS to WIGAN STATIONS ( or the reverse ) and it's discounted using your railcard, it is valid on ANY Virgin train on that route, regardless of peak time restrictions :D
 
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cjohnson

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The relevant text I can find in Avantix is:

Holders of Off-Peak ticket
types SVS/SVR, which are
discounted using 16-25, Senior
, Disabled Persons, HM Forces
and Family & Friends Railcards
, New Deal Photocards and
Inter-Rail (Code 70) Cards,
may use ANY Virgin_train
service, provided that the
route on the ticket is not
"Virgin Trains Only" and the
journey being made is priced
by Virgin Trains. If the
journey is not priced by
Virgin Trains then the stated
Off-Peak restictions apply.

Curiously it doesn't seem to appear in the restriction (sorry, "validity") code PDFs that are on the NR website (was looking at 5F and 9I for example).
 

Rwhunited

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Ah right so as my ticket will be Dartford to wigan stations it will not be available to use on peak services?
 

SickyNicky

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Ah right so as my ticket will be Dartford to wigan stations it will not be available to use on peak services?

Technically, no, as all travel needs to be on Virgin services. How widely this is enforced, I don't know. In future you could buy a ticket from Dartford to London and one from London to Wigan to take advantage of the railcard offer.
 

cjohnson

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Technically, no, as all travel needs to be on Virgin services. How widely this is enforced, I don't know. In future you could buy a ticket from Dartford to London and one from London to Wigan to take advantage of the railcard offer.

Is that right? The restriction text seems to imply it's only available if the ticket is priced by Virgin; not making any reference to the train operator used?
 

SickyNicky

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Is that right? The restriction text seems to imply it's only available if the ticket is priced by Virgin; not making any reference to the train operator used?

I believe it changed at the end of last year and now your entire journey needs to be on Virgin. Perhaps one of the Fare Advisors could confirm this?
 

bb21

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The requirement for the fare to be priced by Virgin was phased out as it was impractical for the average passenger to know who prices a particular flow and therefore unenforceable. This requirement was replaced with the one requiring all travel to be on Virgin Trains instead.

The Dartford - Wigan ticket would have been fine for travelling during barred hours on Virgin under previous rules, however technically speaking it is no longer the case.
 

cjohnson

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The requirement for the fare to be priced by Virgin was phased out as it was impractical for the average passenger to know who prices a particular flow and therefore unenforceable. This requirement was replaced with the one requiring all travel to be on Virgin Trains instead.

The Dartford - Wigan ticket would have been fine for travelling during barred hours on Virgin under previous rules, however technically speaking it is no longer the case.

So we have a documented (-ish:tucked away in the validity codes if you have the latest NFM) easement which is actually wrong, but the correct easement is available to the public... where?
 

SickyNicky

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So we have a documented (-ish:tucked away in the validity codes if you have the latest NFM) easement which is actually wrong, but the correct easement is available to the public... where?

Good question - it doesn't seem to be on the Virgin or National Rail site. However, booking engines will allow you to book Off-Peak tickets on peak trains with a railcard, and Virgin guards/barrier staff seem to know the score.
 

Welshman

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Good question - it doesn't seem to be on the Virgin or National Rail site. However, booking engines will allow you to book Off-Peak tickets on peak trains with a railcard, and Virgin guards/barrier staff seem to know the score.

Except this morning's conductor on the 0549 from Rhyl to London Euston!
[see thread in General Discussion section]
 
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