Train annual season ticket loophole?

A question about : Train annual season ticket loophole?

Hi all,

I live in Bramley (Hampshire) and commute daily to London Waterloo by train. I’m about to renew my season ticket and think I’ve discovered a loophole that will save me money.

As you would expect, my standard option is to buy an annual ticket from Bramley to London Terminals (Valid only for travel via Basingstoke). This costs Ј4,252. I don’t want to go via Reading because I work right next to Waterloo.

If I buy a season ticket from Basingstoke to London Terminals (Travel is allowed via any permitted route) it costs Ј4,088.

The small print says that with the Basingstoke to London Terminals ticket I can travel to / from the following London stations: London Bridge [LBG], London Cannon Street [CST], London Charing Cross [CHX], Vauxhall [VXH], London Blackfriars [BFR], London Waterloo East [WAE], London Victoria [VIC], London Waterloo [WAT], London Paddington [PAD], City Thameslink [CTK].

Because this ticket covers any route from Basingstoke to London (i.e. via Reading) it is valid on the route through Bramley. Due to rail ticket terms and conditions, you are allowed to break a journey at any station on the route.

The ‘Break of Journey’ description says: “You may start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station along the route of travel”.

Therefore, by my understanding with an annual season ticket from Basingstoke to London Terminals (where travel is allowed via any permitted route), I can travel from Bramley to London Waterloo.

Any rail ticket / routing experts agree with me?

It could save me Ј164 and also allow me to travel to either Reading or Basingstoke at the weekends from Bramley.

Thanks,
Chris

Best answers:

• I was always under the impression that you had to actually start the journey, originally, at the station the ticket is from. Though, obviously, there is no way of anyone being able to verify this.
  But I think your plan has another problem - you would have to go via Reading, which you don't want to do. If you start at Basingstoke and go through Bramley to London you don't end up at Waterloo.
  Hold on, unless you are suggesting that you use your ticket as a return first thing in the morning and come "back" to Basingstoke from London via Reading having broken your journey at Bramley. Then use your outbound ticket to go from Basingstoke to London. Then in the evening use your return ticket (again) to come straight back to Basingstoke. Then use your outbound ticket to go into London via Reading but break your journey at Bramley.
  Is that your thinking? If so you are doing two outbound and two return journeys every day. I can't imagine that that is allowed!
• Thanks both for your views.
  The idea is that with the Basingstoke to London ticket, I can travel from Bramley to Basingstoke on the outward journey in the morning, because it's effectively the return route coming via Reading.
  Then Basingstoke to Waterloo and back is obviously covered. The evening return to Bramley from Basingstoke is then covered by the outward route to London via Reading.
  I've just spoken to the ticket office in Basingstoke and the chap behind the glass said this was ok without hesitation!
  I've email NRE and south west trains to get this in writing, so if it's true, I can't believe it! Rail ticket pricing gone mad again.
• Nice one. Well spotted.
• Yes, it appears valid.
  It's probably not the best idea to alert SWT in writing as you may find the loophole is closed next year.
• Definitely valid, no reason to be so circumspect!
  It's not uncommon for there to be price differences like this - the fact that there are so many different routes possible for any given ticket, and that there are many different companies determining the prices, makes it practically inevitable. I'd not call it a loophole - the Basingstoke-London Any Permitted ticket is intended to be valid either way. You get a lot of choice with that ticket - into Waterloo, Victoria, London Bridge etc, or Reading and thence Paddington, or from Reading to Waterloo via Ascot. Valid to leave/start anywhere on those routes of course.
  Thus it's always worth checking the price for season tickets from nearby stations - even if it's no cheaper, you may be able to cover a bit more ground for the same price - when I was travelling from London to Didcot I bought a ticket as far as Oxford, since it's the same price and means occasional trips there were free.
  Quote:
• And don't forget your yearly delay repay compo for late/cancelled trains, as its an 'any permitted' route u can claim off either swt or fgw Your compo will normally come in a discount off next years season ticket.
• I've never had one before. Just assumed that it was only valid once a day.