Using advance tickets on unspecified reservable trains.

[mangyiscute]

So I often buy advance tickets from somewhere up north to Reading, travelling via London, and the journey planners allow you at least 45 mins to transfer from say Kings Cross to Paddington.

In actuality, I tend to do it in about 20/25, so I will often just take the first train out of paddington going to Reading, even if it's not the one specified in my booking. However, since most of these trains are reservable, I've heard people say that you aren't meant to do this, and you have to wait for the one on your ticket, which seems unreasonable to me - can I take any train?

I have a ticket for tomorrow on which I have actually been put on an unreservable train for the paddington to reading leg. The ticket therefore doesn't say what train to take from Paddington to Reading, it just says the previous train on it, so I would assume I can take any paddington to Reading train, even a reservable one. Is this correct?

 

[DanielDeronda]

As long as you don't have an advance ticket from Paddington to Reading on a specific service, or there are any other restrictions (peak time on weekdays), you'll normally get a suggested service for your itinerary based on the 45mins to get across London.

I was in the same situation as you on Sunday, travelling back from Liverpool, arrived at 2010 in Euston, but the suggested service back to Reading was 2103, but I got an earlier Paddington service without any issue, but I had a Travelcard & my advance ticket was only to/from Euston.

 

[transportphoto]

If you’ve an Advance ticket for the entire journey it is only valid on the specified (booked) trains.

 

[Hadders]

As ever it's ambiguous. The internal industry FAQs on Advance tickets states:

Q: Can a passenger travel on any train if they are booked on specific TOC’s Advance ticket e.g. “XC &Connections”?

A: As a connecting TOC into the main TOC shown in the routing on the ticket – yes.

As a replacement for the main TOC shown on the ticket - no*. (However, during times of disruption, retail and on-train staff should use their discretion, as advised by their Control office).*Please note that “TOC &Connections” tickets are not the same as ‘dedicated’ tickets and should be treated differently.

“TOC &Connections” simply means the majority of the journey should take place on the TOC shown plus any other local connections. Unfortunately not all Journey Planners understand the meaning of “the majority of”, and sometimes the ‘majority’ might be a relatively small portion. But it works both ways round as all TOCs are affected, and it all balances out. Do not penalise the passenger if the ticket issuing system gives them a journey where the “main” TOC has a relatively small portion, and please report any extreme examples found

Q: Can a passenger with an Advance ticket travel on an earlier connecting train?

A: Yes, if it is non-reservable, no if it is reservable

 

[rob.rjt]

But how is a passenger to know if a train is reservable?

I suspect most members of the public think a train is reservable if they get a specific seat reservation (not a counted place) for the train.