Validity of a National Rail ticket to Underground zones with route NOT UNDERGROUND

[Alex365Dash]

I went on TrainSplit to try and find a cheap ticket for this afternoon from Brighton to a Zone 4 Tube station. I get offered this ticket:



My main concern is the obvious oxymoron that the ticket is issued for an additional Tube journey in Zones 1-4 but the ticket isn’t valid on the Tube!

I imagine this would have something to do with the compound fare being calculated from a fare routed NOT UNDERGROUND but my question remains: is this ticket still valid, and if so, how do I explain this to LU gateline staff if required?

Edit: Having had another look at the fares, I’ll probably just get a Travelcard since the difference is 5p once I include a TfL bus single but it would be nice to know for future reference!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Alex365Dash. What's the actual Zone 4 destination that you're heading for?

 

[Alex365Dash]

@Alex365Dash. What's the actual Zone 4 destination that you're heading for?

That’d be Totteridge & Whetstone.

 

[30907]

That’d be Totteridge & Whetstone.

And what does TS show as the split?

 

[Alex365Dash]

And what does TS show as the split?

If by that you mean what it shows as the destination on the itinerary, that would be London St Pancras. (Which explains why the route is on the ticket!)

If you mean the split point, there isn’t one. The link in the first post should return the same ticket as the one I got offered.

 

[OscarH]

This has come up a couple of times - I'll add my answer from a previous thread, but the long and short of it is the ticket is valid

This is a ticket that can come about with the way the "London Underground Zone 1" fares are constructed. Fares to these destinations give you a single trip in the stated underground zones, so this journey is expecting you to use the tube.

The issue here comes about because these fares don't (usually) exist in the same way as other fares - they're constructed by adding an amount to the normal "base" fare to London Thameslink. When doing the construction all that changes is the fare amount and destination, the route isn't changed, so when we add the add-on to a base fare that's routed "Not Via London" you get this ticket that looks dodgy.

It's valid according to the rules, and should operate the TfL barriers no issue, but certain members of staff may take issue with it (unfortunately made worse as staff are very poorly trained with how to handle tickets they think were issued incorrectly). If its the same price to buy a London Thameslink ticket and use contactless it might be an easier option, though if not this is unlikely to cause you issues

From https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...split-and-splitticketing.250761/#post-6288713

In your case I agree the Travelcard is probably a better option

 

[Haywain]

It looks like they've sold you a Brighton to St Pancras ticket with an add-on to Zone U1234. Whilst this is a legitimate way of doing the add-on, I think it is problematic in this case because of the contradicting validity and routeeing.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

So, how exactly has the (combined?) through fare been calculated?

 

[OscarH]

So, how exactly has the (combined?) through fare been calculated?

It's the usual amount of the base fare, usually the fare to London Terminals, plus an add on amount for London U1 to London U4 (the prices of these add ons I'm not sure are publicly available)

It looks like they've sold you a Brighton to St Pancras ticket with an add-on to Zone U1234. Whilst this is a legitimate way of doing the add-on, I think it is problematic in this case because of the contradicting validity and routeeing.

Agreed it's not ideal. It's currently with RDG to provide a solution, but as I'm sure you know from experience we have no idea whether we'll be waiting weeks or decades

 

[Class800]

I'd be pretty certain TFL won't in practice accept a ticket that says Not Underground

 

[OscarH]

I'd be pretty certain TFL won't in practice accept a ticket that says Not Underground

It should operate the barriers, the route code isn't relevant to TfL. Unfortunately if a ticket does need manual inspection I have to agree TfL are not good with accepting valid tickets

 

[jon81uk]

The add on amount in my experience is usually the same as the contactless single fare would be. For example my usually commute is £20.30 for the return, plus £3.70 each way on the tube, total of £27.70. A ticket to Underground zone 1 is £27.70, which is the same price (but only available as a paper ticket, so less convenient).

 

[Paul Kelly]

the route code isn't relevant to TfL

I don't think that's correct; what about e.g. 00998 VIA UNDERGRD/DLR? I'd be surprised if the LU barriers do not check the route code at all.

 

[OscarH]

I don't think that's correct; what about e.g. 00998 VIA UNDERGRD/DLR? I'd be surprised if the LU barriers do not check the route code at all.

Sorry, good point, I more meant it's not relevant to addon destinations I don't think