To ask a train question?

[idontknowaboutyou]

I've book a train ticket return. When I'm due to return I'm actually closer to another station that is further up my route. (But still the same train) Can I just get on there instead? As I've already paid.

Yes, if the station you're planning to get on at is one you'd have passed through on your journey, that should be fine. I do the same frequently with no issues.

So it is a station that you would pass through after you had got on the train with your current ticket?

If that's that case:

If an "advance single" the answer is no.

If it's an "anytime single" an "anytime return" or an "off peak return" you should be able to start or end your journey at a different station.

You can also check the conditions of your ticket with national rail - I will just dig out their website but I have rung them before too.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tickets-railcards-and-offers/buying-a-ticket/breaking-your-journey/

Honestly I’d ring and check. You’d like to think so but you might accused of having broken your journey up (even though you haven’t). I remember locally a newspaper article years ago from someone who was fined for getting off their train a stop early. I used to go to X town but buy a ticket to Y which was the stop after X because bizarrely it was cheaper. This is what this guy had done and apparently it’s not allowed.

But if it is against the rules, how would anyone know whether you’d done it anyway? You have booked and paid for that seat on that journey, it wouldn’t even cross my mind that it would be a problem.

As mentioned above, it's fine with an anytime single and return ticket as you can break your journey up and get off/on at any station along the route. Other tickets are more restrictive.

If you could find the article I would be interested. I suspect that the is legally challengable as the way you have described it the passenger had a valid ticket which covered their journey.

Some train stations have barriers to get onto the platform so you might struggle getting through? But the other poster’s explanation of the different tickets hopefully explains what’s allowed and what isn’t better.

I can’t find the case I was thinking of but there’s other similar ones https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315587/Professor-slapped-155-railway-fine-getting-OFF-train-stop-early.html

Exactly what type of train ticket have you bought? (There's more than one type of return - we have a crazily complex ticketing system).

If there are ticket gates it won’t let you through. Some tickets will not let you use a shorter route, even on the same line. Bloody daft l know, but we are not talking logic here.

Trying to phone and speak to a human being can be difficult. If you have not yet made the outbound journey, maybe speak to someone when you get off.

Ticket gates probably won't let you through by themselves, but the staff should if they are properly trained and the ticket is valid (which if it isn't an advance single it almost certainly should be).

Sorry everyone I got busy. We are in Edinburgh

Yes it's an anytime. I checked the terms as someone suggested and it looks like we are fine

I do this all the time when travelling via Edinburgh. If my train is late, I jump off at Haymarket, as both trains stop at Haymarket in and out of Edinburgh. I guess it only works at Haymarket as I'm not leaving/ entering the station just moving from one platform to another.

I've travelled on the train from Brum to Glasgow several times on an Advance single and have sometimes got off at the stop before as it's easier for my friend to pick me up there. I've always been able to go through the barriers with no problem. It had never occurred to me that this wouldn't be allowed?

This is exactly what we did. As it happens we were accompanied by several hundred other swifties and not one ticket was checked

Yes this is fine. Our office is smack between Leeds and Wakefield so people pick and choose which they get on and off at depending on the time of day and traffic.