I was thinking of that time I wanted to go to Shildon and it suggested changing at Thornaby. To an average person, that wouldn't seem too obvious a mistake as it's heading in vaguely the right direction and a lot of permitted rail journeys take a bit of a detour.
That's not a permitted route because Thirsk and Shildon share a common routeing point, and it's more than 3 miles longer than direct. However it is a reasonable route so I doubt that would be challenged. In fact, it's not only reasonable but it could be very inconvenient to change again at Northallerton to take the shorter route. I wonder if there is a hidden easement somewhere.
Also for some destinations in the South it suggests going on the Underground around London when Avoid London is entered. This notably occurs for North Eastern destinations to Southend stations.
Avoid London will mean avoiding London (routeing) group. It doesn't mean avoiding the London conurbation or avoiding London Underground.
I can't find this route on any of the maps.
It doesn't need to be. Depending on your interpretation of the "shortest route" rule, there is a very good case for saying that the shortest routes include York - Finsbury Pk - Highbury & Islington - Stratford - Southend.
Indeed, route 'London' is the only permitted route, although a 'Not London' ticket exists. Presumably this latter ticket is unusable and should not be sold?
"Not London and London are not mutually exclusive" - ATOC.
If you are referring to the only mapped routes being "LONDON" then that doesn't necessarily mean you have to go via a London Group station, as if the maps touch at other locations short of London (e.g. Highbury & Islington) then that would be valid. Also, the shortest route option is in addition to mapped routes.
When route Not London is put in via the 'select a route' tool, it suggests going via Stansted Airport, Tottenham Hale and Stratford London. These all seem like reasonable routes, but the latter one especially is not permitted as there are no 'Not London' permitted routes!
They all avoid London Group.
Stratford London may have London in the name but it's not a member of London Group; it's a member of Stratford Group.
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Au contraire, Stratford is
not a London station
Agreed, although you link to members of London Terminals station group which isn't the same as the London Group for routeing purposes:
Routeing Guide said:
KINGS CROSS THAMESLINK
BETHNAL GREEN
CITY THAMESLINK
BLACKFRIARS
LONDON BRIDGE
CANNON STREET
CHARING CROSS
EUSTON
FENCHURCH STREET
KINGS CROSS
LIVERPOOL STREET
MARYLEBONE
PADDINGTON
ST PANCRAS
VICTORIA
WATERLOO
WATERLOO EAST
MOORGATE UNDERGROUND
OLD STREET UNDERGROUND
There is only one difference, and it's a difference that is rather unusual: Vauxhall is a member of London Terminals (station group used as a destination/origin) but
not London Group (routeing group for routeing purposes).
This is the only case I am aware of where the routeing group has
less stations than the station group used as a destination/origin. It's common for it to be the other way round. For example, Aston is in Birmingham Group (but not Birmingham Stations) and Micklefield is in Leeds Group (there is no Leeds Stations group).