ian1944
Member
When I travel between North Berwick and Edinburgh on a weekday it is nearly always off-peak, so the appropriate ticket is an Off-Peak Day Return (£6.80 discounted by 50% with an E Lothian concession card). This £3.40 ticket is not available at the station machine. Sometimes, the conductor doesn't get to me because of number on the train so at Waverley I buy the ticket at the temporary platform barrier, if any. No barrier means a purchase at the travel centre, usually immediately to avoid a possible holdup when returning. The travel centre won't sell me the discounted Off-Peak Return (I tried a few times, then gave up), presumably because the concession card doesn't cover a two-way journey apparently starting outside E Lothian, so I save 20p and get a half-price single (£6.40 discounted to £3.20). But the only available one is an Anytime Day Single, which is endorsed "Lothian" and shows the price actually paid.
I've always made the return trip outside the peak hour, i.e. departing up to 16.43 or from 18.17, but would the wording on the ticket allow travel at any time? This doesn't enter the conversation at the ticket window, I just ask for a single to North Berwick and show my card - by claiming the discount, am I implicitly accepting the time restriction?
Incidentally, am I committing an offence when failing to pay the final 20p due?
I've always made the return trip outside the peak hour, i.e. departing up to 16.43 or from 18.17, but would the wording on the ticket allow travel at any time? This doesn't enter the conversation at the ticket window, I just ask for a single to North Berwick and show my card - by claiming the discount, am I implicitly accepting the time restriction?
Incidentally, am I committing an offence when failing to pay the final 20p due?