3.4 Routes shown in the National Routeing Guide
It is advised that you refer to 3.14 Routes validated by National Rail journey planner in conjunction with this section.
3.4.1 Your right to take mapped routes
In addition to the methods described in 3.2 and 3.3 for determining permitted routes, you can also consult the Routeing Guide to determine permitted routes known as 'mapped routes'. The right to use the routes shown in the Routeing Guide is detailed in the National Rail Conditions of Travel:
NRCoC said:
13.1.3. The route you are entitled to take
(iii)any other routes as shown in the ‘National Routeing Guide’.
The
Routeing Guide was approved by the Rail Regulator in 1997 and the current version is available on the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) website. Train companies can request changes to be made, often to restrict routes after discovery of an anomaly, but all changes should, by law, be approved by the Regulator.
3.4.2 Determining appropriate Routeing Points
The Routeing Guide contains many maps showing mapped routes between stations.
Because of the vast number of stations in the network, it is not possible to provide an individual map for every possible origin & destination. Instead, each individual station is either designated as Routeing Point (RP) in its own right,
or is associated with one or more RPs.
Some RPs consist of two or more stations. These RPs are known as Routeing Point Groups.
Certain tickets are issued to a station group, for example Canterbury Stations, which consists of Canterbury East and Canterbury West. Station groups should not be confused with Routeing Point Groups; while in many cases Station groups have matching Routeing Point Groups, such as Falkirk Stations and Falkirk Group, in others, station group members may have different routeing points associated with each.
Determining the appropriate Routeing Points (RPs) for a given ticket is a two step process.
The first step is to determine the appropriate RPs for your origin. You do this by using the
Routeing Point Identifier (Section B) to find the RPs relating to the origin station. If your origin is a RP itself, you do not need to take any further steps.
The second step is to repeat the process above with your destination.
If both origin & destination have any RP in common, then there are no mapped routes valid using this ticket - see
3.4.3 Where the origin and destination have a common Routeing Point for more details.
If there is no common RP, then if either the origin or destination of the ticket are not Routeing Points, you must complete a fares check, see
3.4.4 Fare-check rule.
If both the origin and destination are routeing points, then you can skip the fares check, and proceed to
3.4.5 Identifying map combinations.
3.4.3 Where the origin and destination have any Routeing Point in common
In this case there are no
mapped routes, however you may take:
- A train from the origin that calls at the common Routeing Point, and then change for a train to your destination.
Where it is possible to interchange short of the common Routeing Point, doubling back is not permitted; in these cases it is necessary to change short of the common Routeing Point.
In certain cases there are multiple common Routeing Points. In this case, only the shortest such journey would be valid.
The following remain valid:
- A through train from origin to destination as described in 3.2 Through Trains
- The shortest route or any route no more than 3 miles longer than the shortest route as described in 3.3 The Shortest route
More information and examples are provided in
The National Routeing Guide in Detail
3.4.4 Fare check rule
If your origin and destination are both Routeing Points (RPs), the fares check is not applicable and you should skip to
3.4.5 Identifying map combinations.
If, however, either origin or destination, or both, are not RPs, you need to carry out a fares check to determine the appropriate Routeing Point(s) for your origin and destination stations.
The procedure for carrying out a fares check is to compare the fares as they were at 'NFM64' in 1996, as follows:
- Find the single fare(s) from the origin station to the destination station
- If the origin station is not a Routeing Point, find the single fare(s) from each Routeing Point associated with the origin station to the destination station
- If the destination station is not a Routeing Point, find the single fare(s) from the origin station to each routeing point associated with the destination station
You can use RDG's '
Routeing Point Calculator' tool to make these comparisons, however the results of this tool may not be consistent with the results of comparisons made by booking sites.
Routeing Points are valid if the single fare associated with that Routeing Point is the same or lower as the single fare of the same type (see list of single fare types below) for the through journey.
Where the associated Routeing Point is a Routeing Point Group, the comparison is made to the first station encountered in that group.
You may compare tickets of any of the following types with another ticket of the same type:
- Anytime Single (SOS)
- Anytime Day Single (SDS)
- Off Peak Single (SVS)
- Off Peak Day Single (CDS)
Occasionally, there will not be any fares of the same type. In these cases, the SDS and SOS should be compared.
For some routes, one ticket type, e.g., SDS, might fail the fares check, but another ticket type, e.g., CDS, passes. If this is the case, the Routeing Point is valid, regardless of the actual ticket type you purchase.
The fares are compared using the September 1996 (NFM64) data therefore any route permitted at that time is considered to have 'protected route status', as confirmed by ATOC in correspondence regarding a journey from Southport to Manchester, for which Liverpool remains an appropriate RP for Southport due to the fares check being satisfied at that time.
3.4.5 Identifying map combinations
Having identified one or more pairs of origin and destination Routeing Points,
Permitted Route Identifier (Section C) shows the mapped routes between each.
Locate the origin Routeing Point in Column A and the destination Routeing Point in Column B in order to obtain the permitted map combination. For the return journey (if any), the combinations will be identical, except that where there are routes split across multiple maps, these will be reversed for the return.
You are then ready to trace the routes on the Maps in Section D.
In some cases, a route option will be shown as 'LONDON' instead of a map combination.
If this applies, see 3.4.7 Where the route code is LONDON
3.4.6 Tracing routes on the maps
If a single map is shown, you may travel by any route on that map from the origin RP to the destination RP without doubling back.
Where a routeing specifies a combination of maps to be used e.g ER+PN+BD, you should trace a route as follows:
- Start with the first map at the origin Routeing Point, and trace a route from there to a point that appears on the next map.
- Depending on the number of maps, trace a route from the point you reached, to a point on the next map
- On the final map, trace a route to the destination Routeing Point.
- You must use all maps.
- Maps must be used in strict sequence, first to last
- Once route tracing has left a map it cannot return to it.
- You must transfer from map to map only where the maps touch. In most cases this will be at a station or Routeing Point marked on both maps, but it is not essential - where the same stretch of rail appears on both maps, you are free to switch from one map to the next at this point.
- Journeys may not normally double back (For exceptions, see Group station rule and easements)
In cases where either the origin or destination of your ticket are not routeing points, the routes traced above will be routes between the routeing points, rather than your actual origin and destination. Where your origin lies on the traced route, your ticket is only valid from the origin, not the Routeing Point. Likewise, where the destination lies on the traced route, your ticket is only valid to the destination, and not beyond it to the associated Routeing Point.
Where your origin is beyond the traced route, the permitted route also consists of a journey from the origin to the origin Routeing Point.
Likewise, where your destination is beyond the traced route, the permitted route also consists of a journey from the destination Routeing Point to the destination.
3.4.7 Where the route code is LONDON
If
Permitted Route Identifier (Section C) lists the map combination as 'LONDON', this consists of the map combinations from the origin RP to London, followed by a
cross-London transfer, and then the map combinations from London to the destination.
For example, Barking to Norwich has the map combinations LONDON and TS+EA.
Looking up Barking to London, the map is TS, and for London - Norwich the maps are CN+WA, EA.
Therefore the permitted routes from Barking to Norwich are:
- TS+Cross-London+CN+WA
- TS+Cross-London+EA
- TS+EA
Any route you take must also adhere to any route restriction printed on the ticket.
For example the route restriction may be routed via London (ie, you must go via a London Group station) or not via London (ie, you must not go via a London Group station), though where a choice of route restrictions is available, an excess can be obtained to use an alternative route.
The more expensive ticket is also valid via lower priced routes, however it is advisable to obtain a zero-fare
excess in cases where it is cheaper to go via London, otherwise you may encounter difficulty
crossing London.