What could I have done with this ticket combo?

[Mystic Force]

A few years ago I took a week of work and went to visit a freind in Alsager (near Crewe). I purchased a return from Enfield station (London) just in case my other plan didnt work out. I was planning on meeting a friend down in Exmouth, where I am originally from, They were going to drive me back to Enfield. Having not been able to get hold of them I decided to chance it and went to Exmouth again purchasing a return fare just in case they never made it to Exmouth. the person didnt make it so, not wanting to purchase a third ticket for the triangle journey I combined the use of the two tickets and traveled to Birmingham where I changed to another train to head to London assuming that this would be a reasonable place to have changed train coming from Crewe to head to London.

I am curious. With this combination of tickets (Enfield Stations to Alsager and Alsager to Exmouth both returns) What would the shortest/Quickest route I could have taken been and what other strange posabilities would this have allowed.

 

[yorkie]

It's difficult for me to understand exactly what tickets you bought and what your original plans were, but you can combine the tickets in accordance with the Conditions of Carriage. As these are not seasons and not zonals, the train must call at the station where you change from one ticket to the next. However excessing may have been cheaper but I am unsure what the journeys were exactly. (It may be because I am tired and it's late!)

As for what routes are allowed, that is determined by the Routeing Guide.

If you can say an itinerary like this someone may be able to help:
Day 1. Place X to Place Y (via ... - if required)
Day 2. Place Y to Plaze Z

Also without knowing the ticket type it may also be difficult to determine the permitted routes as these may change, also ticket conditions can change.

 

[bb21]

Using NFM08 Fares

Ticket 1

Enfield (ENF) - Alsager (ASG)
SOS £123.00 +Any Permitted
(I take it that you mean Enfield Town station.)

Enfield RP: Stansted Gp, Tottenham Hale Gp

Stansted (SSD) - Alsager (ASG)
SOS £78.50 Not London
SOS £140.50 +Any Permitted

Tottenham Hale (TOM) - Alsager (ASG)
SOS £122.50 +Any Permitted

Both Routeing Points pass the fares check rule, however SSD cannot be part of a legitimate route for you as you want to travel into London and SSD is only a valid Routeing Point if not routed via London.

Alsager RP: Crewe (CRE), Stockport (SPT), Stoke on Trent (SOT)

Enfield (ENF) - Crewe (CRE)
SOS £113.50 +Any Permitted

Enfield (ENF) - Stockport (SPT)
SOS £153.00 +Any Permitted

Enfield (ENF) - Stoke on Trent (SOT)
SOS £119.50 +Any Permitted

SPT does not pass the fares check rule.

Maps to look up are the following:
TOM - CRE: LONDON / LC+TS
TOM - SOT: LONDON / LM+TS

CRE - London: CS / GC+CM / LC
SOT - London: CS / GC+CM / LC / MM+EM

Ticket 2

Alsager (ASG) - Exmouth (EXM)
SOS £92.00 Bristol

Alsager RP: Crewe (CRE), Stockport (SPT), Stoke on Trent (SOT)

Crewe (CRE) - Exmouth (EXM)
SOS £92.00 Not London

Stockport (SPT) - Exmouth (EXM)
SOS £107.00 Not London

Stoke on Trent (SOT) - Exmouth (EXM)
SOS £89.00 Bristol

SPT does not pass the fares check rule.

Exmouth RP: Exeter (EXD)

No fares check required.

Maps to look up are the following:
CRE - EXD: BD / CE+CC / SW+CE+CC / SW+MW / WE+MW / WR+MW
SOT - EXD: Same maps as for CRE

This is a whole myriad of maps combination. It appears that the quickest legit route between Exmouth and London (assuming this is the journey you wanted to do) on your combo would be via Bristol (to satisfy the routeing requirement of the second ticket) and Reading (to change over between the tickets) into Paddington, using the underlined map combination. Changing over at Birmingham via Bristol is also valid. (I also assumed that you held Saver Returns which by today's conditions have no restrictions on BOJ in either leg.)

 

[John @ home]

A few years ago I took a week of work and went to visit a freind in Alsager (near Crewe). ... With this combination of tickets (Enfield Stations to Alsager and Alsager to Exmouth both returns) What would the shortest/Quickest route I could have taken been and what other strange posabilities would this have allowed.

To attempt to answer this question, we would have to know the dates of your journeys. We would then need access to historic fares manuals and routeing guides which were valid on those dates. Both change several times annually. We can't assume that a route valid today would have been valid "a few years ago".