The Bristol Railway Archive

A friend has asked me:

I have an off-peak return from London to Temple Meads. Can I commence my return journey from Parkway instead of Temple Meads?

My hunch is 'yes', but I'm struggling to verify this online.

-this question is not in GWR online FAQs

-the Rail Delivery Group Index of Stations http://iblocks-rg-publication.s3-websit ... _pages.pdf lists both TM and Parkway as 'Bristol Group Routeing Point Members', which sounds as though the two are interchangeable, but doesn't explicity say so.

-unhelpfully, the National Routeing Guide Glossary http://iblocks-rg-publication.s3-websit ... ossary.pdf does not define what a 'Group Routeing Point Member' is.

-I think there are some TM to Paddington trains that actually stop at Parkway en route, but if so would this necessarily entitle the holder of a ticket from TM to actually start their journey at Parkway? I'm not sure.

Help!

As I understand the situation, the ÔÇ£routeing pointÔÇØ is not relevant. What is relevant is whether a break of journey is allowed with the ticket (an off peak ticket generally will allow break of journey but an advance ticket wonÔÇÖt). The other relevant point is whether the routeing on the ticket says ÔÇ£via Bath SpaÔÇØ or ÔÇ£any permittedÔÇØ Logic would suggest that an off peak return PAD to BRI is valid via both Bath and Hullavington (the actual route being marginally shorter via Hullavington than via Bath)

The BR fares website gives all the various ticketing options between Paddington and Bristol, and the relevant data is here:

https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=PAD&dest=BRI

So the answer is that if your friend was to return from Parkway then they can, as it is essentially the same as starting from Temple Meads and ÔÇ£legallyÔÇØ breaking the journey at Parkway

PS ÔÇô I would also recommend that they split the ticket at Didcot because that should knock a few quid off the total!

Thank you Robin, much appreciated.

Something has just dawned on me like a ton of bricks!

I have done this sort of thing umpteen times. When going to Bath Hospital or for a walk down the S&D towards Wellow via the Two Tunnels route, I always buy a ticket Chippenham to Oldfield Park. Nine times out of ten I start the return journey from Bath Spa, with no problem whatsoever.

Not only that, but the gatelines at Bath Spa don't like Oldfield Park tickets at all, and will always in my experience reject them, therefore requiring a manual ticket check. I have never ever been challenged about the validity of my OLF ticket at BTH.

Presumably th gatelines are set this way to catch any blighters who have booked to OLF for a cheaper fare from the Bristol direction and then find themselves "accidentally" overcarried...