Can I get on at a later station?

[Traveller2112]

Hi

I have a ticket for the 10:15 Manchester Picadilly to Euston train tomorrow morning.

At the time of booking I had intended to travel into the city centre first, hence getting a ticket from Picadilly.

My plans have changed slightly since booking such that boarding at Stockport instead will be more convenient (the first stop after Picadilly). Is this OK? And if so, will the ticket barriers at Stockport allow me through?

Thanks

 

[mangyiscute]

Hi, you will need to check your ticket - if it is an advance ticket, then you cannot board at Stockport, but if it is an off peak or anytime ticket then you can. Since you said your ticket is for a specific train, it suggests to me that it is an advance ticket so you would not be able to do this - if you can't tell what type of ticket it is, if you tell us the price (and any railcard or other discounts that you have) then we should be able to work it out for you

 

[Watershed]

It depends on the kind of ticket you have. If you have an Advance ticket, then unfortunately break of journey, which includes getting on at a later station, is strictly speaking not permitted. You would have to pay the excess to the cheapest valid walk-up ticket that permits break of journey (i.e. the Off-Peak Single at £68.60, in this case). On the other hand, if you have an Off-Peak or Anytime ticket then starting late at Stockport is fine.

Whether or not the barriers automatically accept your ticket is a different question from whether it's valid. It's possible that they might accept an Advance that doesn't permit break of journey, or they might they might reject a walk-up ticket that does - it all depends on how they're programmed. Either way, what the barriers do or don't accept isn't determinitive; if rejected, it simply means that you might need to speak to the barrier staff to let you through.

In practice, there is probably a reasonable chance that the barrier staff will show discretion and let you through with an Advance. But you cannot bank on this, and so if you bought your ticket no later than 30 November, then in most cases you would be able to use the 'Book with Confidence' scheme to return it to the retailer you bought it from for a voucher, which you can use to book a future journey.

If you bought your ticket from 1 December onwards, or used a retailer that doesn't offer vouchers for BwC, then I'd advise that you turn up to Stockport in plenty of time for the train and try your ticket in the barriers. If it doesn't work, and the barrier staff aren't willing to let you through, then you can go to the ticket office and pay the excess to the Off-Peak Single.

 

[Traveller2112]

Hi

Thank you.

Screenshots of tickets below:

 

[Watershed]

Hi

Thank you.

Screenshots of tickets below:

That's an Off-Peak Single so break of journey - i.e. starting at Stockport - is permitted. As I say, no guarantee it will open the barriers, but if it doesn't, just show it to the barrier staff to be let through.

Incidentally, you might want to redact the barcode on your first attachment (or just remove it entirely). It contains the very same reference number you've redacted!

 

[Traveller2112]

Thanks. Removed the screenshots.

I had a frustrating run in with Northern at the start of the year owing to a confusion on tickets (and a £100 or so 'fine' as a result) so I've been overly cautious not to get things wrong again!

 

[Watershed]

Thanks. Removed the screenshots.

I had a frustrating run in with Northern at the start of the year owing to a confusion on tickets (and a £100 or so 'fine' as a result) so I've been overly cautious not to get things wrong again!

Ah yes. Looking back, that was a case where you were 100% in the right (albeit not in a way that was necessarily immediately obvious) but it was, sadly, the most pragmatic option to 'bribe' Northern to make them go away. An unacceptable state of affairs but there we go.

The same doesn't apply here - break of journey at Stockport on a ticket from Manchester to London is really quite uncontroversial.