Had to go to a course yesterday so travelled Dundee to Edinburgh Park.
I didn't buy the tickets so I asked if the person who bought them made
sure they were purchased for Edinburgh Park as the tickets were only
marked Dundee to Edinburgh. The person who bought the tickets told me
that the ticket office person had said they were good for Travel to
EP. I checked the fare on NRE and it matched the price on the ticket
so I assumed it would be OK

However, curiosity got the better of me on the first train so I asked
the conductor if the tickets were valid. She checked in her machine
that the correct fare was shown and told me the tickets were valid.

Fast forward to the train from Haymarket to EP and the Conductor tells
me that I either need to buy a ticket from Haymarket to EP or travel
back by Stirling as I have already started my return journey. (I guess
my stop at EP would be a break of journey on the return leg?)

Anyway, can the collective wisdom tell me whether the ticket office
and first Conductor or the second Conductor is correct?

Thanks

Doug

"Dougman"  wrote in message 
news:ee20a8a2-d416-46ca-bc90-54a7ef2e88e2@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> Had to go to a course yesterday so travelled Dundee to Edinburgh Park.
> I didn't buy the tickets so I asked if the person who bought them made
> sure they were purchased for Edinburgh Park as the tickets were only
> marked Dundee to Edinburgh. The person who bought the tickets told me
> that the ticket office person had said they were good for Travel to
> EP. I checked the fare on NRE and it matched the price on the ticket
> so I assumed it would be OK
>
> However, curiosity got the better of me on the first train so I asked
> the conductor if the tickets were valid. She checked in her machine
> that the correct fare was shown and told me the tickets were valid.
>
> Fast forward to the train from Haymarket to EP and the Conductor tells
> me that I either need to buy a ticket from Haymarket to EP or travel
> back by Stirling as I have already started my return journey. (I guess
> my stop at EP would be a break of journey on the return leg?)
>
> Anyway, can the collective wisdom tell me whether the ticket office
> and first Conductor or the second Conductor is correct?
>

A quick check of a random 5 journeys each way in the NR planner, for next 
week, shows changes at either Stirling, Haymarket, or Waverley. All are 
priced the same, so that alone strongly suggests all 3 'via' options are 
valid, because the planner has been tweaked to show a multiple tickets 
required warning if a journey is not normally permitted.

A routing guide expert may have more to say, but I expect the second 
conductor was wrong...

Paul

"Paul Scott"  wrote
>
> A routing guide expert may have more to say, but I expect the second
> conductor was wrong...
>
I suspect that the second conductor was technically correct and that the
ticket office was wrong. As the passenger wuished to travel to Edinburgh
Park he should have been sold a ticket to that station and not to Edinburgh.
However, as the fares are the same, I can't imagine even the most officious
of conductors or RPIs trying to excess him on the Edinburgh Park to
Haymarket leg of the retrun journey.

Peter

On 26 Sep, 11:17, "Peter Masson"  wrote:
> "Paul Scott"  wrote
>
> > A routing guide expert may have more to say, but I expect the second
> > conductor was wrong...
>
> I suspect that the second conductor was technically correct and that the
> ticket office was wrong. As the passenger wuished to travel to Edinburgh
> Park he should have been sold a ticket to that station and not to Edinburgh.
> However, as the fares are the same, I can't imagine even the most officious
> of conductors or RPIs trying to excess him on the Edinburgh Park to
> Haymarket leg of the retrun journey.
>
> Peter

Well the second conductor told me I should buy a return Haymarket-EP
as I was planning to go back that way. (Going by Stirling would have
been fine but time was a factor). However I only bought a single in
the morning and with no ticket check going back EP-Haymarket got away
with it so to speak.

Thanks for the info so far.

"Dougman"  wrote in message 
news:c2138275-7ad9-4496-bbe7-2c21c1e8d3fe@m73g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> On 26 Sep, 11:17, "Peter Masson"  wrote:
>> "Paul Scott"  wrote
>>
>> > A routing guide expert may have more to say, but I expect the second
>> > conductor was wrong...
>>
>> I suspect that the second conductor was technically correct and that the
>> ticket office was wrong. As the passenger wuished to travel to Edinburgh
>> Park he should have been sold a ticket to that station and not to 
>> Edinburgh.
>> However, as the fares are the same, I can't imagine even the most 
>> officious
>> of conductors or RPIs trying to excess him on the Edinburgh Park to
>> Haymarket leg of the retrun journey.
>>
>> Peter
>
> Well the second conductor told me I should buy a return Haymarket-EP
> as I was planning to go back that way. (Going by Stirling would have
> been fine but time was a factor). However I only bought a single in
> the morning and with no ticket check going back EP-Haymarket got away
> with it so to speak.
>

Not surprising. I've found the standard of ticket knowledge among FScR staff 
to be abysmal. I'm not surprised you had trouble at Dundee - these are the 
same muppets that told my (non rail-savvy) brother that his Dundee - Glasgow 
saver, supplied by his employer and printed on Trainline ATB stock was only 
valid for the train printed on it and proceeded to sell him another one!
Asking about Excesses would probably be met the same response as a question 
about returns from Moscow - Vladivostok. I'm sure there are exceptions, but 
generally, knowledge seems to be very poor.
Another tip - don't attempt a ToD collection at a ticket office if you can 
avoid it. Utter disaster last time I tried it.

Best thing to do is book it yourself online and get it sent to a fasticket 
machine...

On Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:21:23 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be Dougman
 wrote this:-

>Had to go to a course yesterday so travelled Dundee to Edinburgh Park.

Depending on where the course was in that horrible place it may have
been just as easy to change to a stopping train somewhere and get
off at South Gyle.



-- 
  David Hansen, Edinburgh 
 I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On 28 Sep, 20:47, David Hansen 
wrote:
> On Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:21:23 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be Dougman
>  wrote this:-
>
> >Had to go to a course yesterday so travelled Dundee to Edinburgh Park.
>
> Depending on where the course was in that horrible place it may have
> been just as easy to change to a stopping train somewhere and get
> off at South Gyle.
>

I did consider it, but the venue was a two minute walk to the south of
Edinburgh Park. Next time I might just take my chances.