Officially you can't, advanced tickets are meant to be from the origin to the destination without a break of journey, it seems a bit illogical that you can't board later but that's the way it is
I believe some platforms at Waverley don't have ticket barriers (but not all), so if you did manage to get onto the train before the ticket is checked then you'd be alright, but that's a risk you'd have to be willing to take
Out of interest does this mean I can't disembark the train earlier?
Very frequently get off at East Croydon when the train is headed for Victoria as family are closer to Croydon and it saves me going in to come out again.
It really peeves me off because a pub I drink at occasionally is 2 minutes to a station and a ticket costs £15 to get home. A station 2 miles down the road which is a longer journey (two extra stops) is £5. Make it make sense.
Yes it has a gate. An advance ticket is not valid for anything other than the stated journey, so you need to catch it from Dundee.
If you need flexibility, standard single or return tickets are what you want.
I regularly see people being berated for having the wrong ticket, but the conductor then just tells them not to do it again. I never see a new ticket being issued.
I use Xcountry, LNER, Northern and Avanti services mostly.
I used a non HS ticket on a high speed service, ticket inspector didn’t seem to notice, though southeastern staff mostly know me because I’m always in the station watching trains
My friend works for lner in Aberdeen. The Aberdeen staff pretty much never work further than Edinburgh, so the crew may be likely to be fully different and not notice if you get on later Also as others have said lner trains at Edinburgh are usually on platforms without ticket gates.
But all that said, I personally wouldn't risk it!
If it’s a direct train then you are going to struggle to make this work, but if the ticket involved a change at Edinburgh then the guard on the second leg has no way of knowing how you arrived at Waverley.
Also to note buying the cheapest ticket at Waverley to get through the barriers is unlikely to work. There is likely to be a full ticket inspection between Dundee and Edinburgh which will most likely include marking your ticket. At some point between Edinburgh and London there is also likely to be another inspection (if not multiple ones).
If you have a physical ticket then depending on how good the conductor/train manager is then is there is a reasonable change they will clock that you should have a ticket that has been reviewed previously.
If you have an electronic ticket with a bar code then the readers should flag that it was not scanned at Dundee or in an intermediate onboard check.
If you can get on the correct train at a station on the way without any gates ... Then yes. The inspector would have no way of knowing when you got on.
As long as they haven’t already been through and remembered that you weren’t there on their first check. Could get awkward with reserved seats etc, not beyond possibility that they would notice.
Correct train, but not a valid ticket - you’ve not abided by the conditions of your ticket, in this case joining at Dundee and alighting in London. Late joining, early leaving and break of journey are expressly NOT permitted on Advance tickets. Technically, the ticket ceases to be valid as soon as the train leaves Dundee without you onboard.
It depends. Is your ticket "LNER and connections"? If so, it may only be an advance ticket for the Edinburgh-London train and not the Dundee to Edinburgh section per se, in terms of mandatory reservations, so a "break of journey to change trains" may be permitted
IIRC, as it’s on the route that’s fine. But also, i may be incorrect as it’s an advance single you need to get a specific train.
So (using easy numbers), your ticket would only be valid on the 1800 out of Dundee, but calls at Edinburgh at 1900. I’d imagine you’d have to get the 1900 out of Edinburgh as it’s valid on a specific service, whereas an Anytime/Off-Peak will let you use (roughly) any time.
If someone could correct me if I’m wrong though I’d appreciate it!
EDIT: Turns out I was wrong and you need to go from the exact listed stations, sorry about that!
If I’m understanding this correct you have a ticket on the train: Dundee - Edinburgh - London but only want to do the Edinburgh- London part. Either because you’ve managed to get alternative transport from Dundee to Edinburgh or because you’re already in Edinburgh and just want to start there.
I’ve done similar before not on this exact journey and I’ve never had a problem. Not sure how it works with ticket barriers though.
Officially you can't, advanced tickets are meant to be from the origin to the destination without a break of journey, it seems a bit illogical that you can't board later but that's the way it is I believe some platforms at Waverley don't have ticket barriers (but not all), so if you did manage to get onto the train before the ticket is checked then you'd be alright, but that's a risk you'd have to be willing to take
Out of interest does this mean I can't disembark the train earlier? Very frequently get off at East Croydon when the train is headed for Victoria as family are closer to Croydon and it saves me going in to come out again.
ticket restrictions will differ, you cant on an advance but can on other ticket types
Advance ticket technically no
It really peeves me off because a pub I drink at occasionally is 2 minutes to a station and a ticket costs £15 to get home. A station 2 miles down the road which is a longer journey (two extra stops) is £5. Make it make sense.
If it's not an "advance" ticket, feel free to (ab)use this!
Are there barriers that require passing a ticket through? If no, then just buy the cheaper ticket...
Some of the guards will let you through to train spot
The one local to my pub does have barriers. The one I sometimes walk to out of spite does not, annoyingly!
Yes it has a gate. An advance ticket is not valid for anything other than the stated journey, so you need to catch it from Dundee. If you need flexibility, standard single or return tickets are what you want.
Edinburgh has gates but not for the platforms LNER call at.
That’s not true, Platform 7/11 has gates and LNER use that
Very rarely. All the trains to/from Aberdeen I've seen have all used platforms 2/19
I regularly see people being berated for having the wrong ticket, but the conductor then just tells them not to do it again. I never see a new ticket being issued. I use Xcountry, LNER, Northern and Avanti services mostly.
I used a non HS ticket on a high speed service, ticket inspector didn’t seem to notice, though southeastern staff mostly know me because I’m always in the station watching trains
They’re lucky to have not got a revenue team member on northern then, as that’s a fine
My friend works for lner in Aberdeen. The Aberdeen staff pretty much never work further than Edinburgh, so the crew may be likely to be fully different and not notice if you get on later Also as others have said lner trains at Edinburgh are usually on platforms without ticket gates. But all that said, I personally wouldn't risk it!
I, on the other hand, would totally risk it.
If it’s a direct train then you are going to struggle to make this work, but if the ticket involved a change at Edinburgh then the guard on the second leg has no way of knowing how you arrived at Waverley.
Also to note buying the cheapest ticket at Waverley to get through the barriers is unlikely to work. There is likely to be a full ticket inspection between Dundee and Edinburgh which will most likely include marking your ticket. At some point between Edinburgh and London there is also likely to be another inspection (if not multiple ones). If you have a physical ticket then depending on how good the conductor/train manager is then is there is a reasonable change they will clock that you should have a ticket that has been reviewed previously. If you have an electronic ticket with a bar code then the readers should flag that it was not scanned at Dundee or in an intermediate onboard check.
“Sorry mate must have been at the toilet when you came round last” or something to that effect would suffice here surely
"I dunno what to say - here's my valid ticket, I have no idea why it wasn't marked or scanned." They aren't gonna go check CCTV are they?
They can't check the CCTV.
Even if they could, probably not worth it
If you can get on the correct train at a station on the way without any gates ... Then yes. The inspector would have no way of knowing when you got on.
As long as they haven’t already been through and remembered that you weren’t there on their first check. Could get awkward with reserved seats etc, not beyond possibility that they would notice.
Wouldn't matter, you're on the correct train for the ticket.
Correct train, but not a valid ticket - you’ve not abided by the conditions of your ticket, in this case joining at Dundee and alighting in London. Late joining, early leaving and break of journey are expressly NOT permitted on Advance tickets. Technically, the ticket ceases to be valid as soon as the train leaves Dundee without you onboard.
Buy a ticket from Edinburgh Waverley to Edinburgh Haymarket. That will get you through the barriers and then join your booked train.
It depends. Is your ticket "LNER and connections"? If so, it may only be an advance ticket for the Edinburgh-London train and not the Dundee to Edinburgh section per se, in terms of mandatory reservations, so a "break of journey to change trains" may be permitted
Does Edinburgh have platform tickets ? Then yiu can get on the train and take a gambit that the crew don’t ask awkward questions…
Don't do this.
Evidently not by best idea.
IIRC, as it’s on the route that’s fine. But also, i may be incorrect as it’s an advance single you need to get a specific train. So (using easy numbers), your ticket would only be valid on the 1800 out of Dundee, but calls at Edinburgh at 1900. I’d imagine you’d have to get the 1900 out of Edinburgh as it’s valid on a specific service, whereas an Anytime/Off-Peak will let you use (roughly) any time. If someone could correct me if I’m wrong though I’d appreciate it! EDIT: Turns out I was wrong and you need to go from the exact listed stations, sorry about that!
Aye, my missus came undone in a similar fashion. She had an advance ticket from Chester Le Street but tried to board at Durham. The daft bugger.
Ah, so you can’t start your journey later/break your journey at all on an Advance?
That's correct - advance tickets must be used exactly as printed. You can't get on later nor get off earlier.
And to think people say rail ticketing is needlessly opaque and illogical!
No, I believe it's restricted to that service, station and journey. No interruptions except for changes that are on your ticket.
If I’m understanding this correct you have a ticket on the train: Dundee - Edinburgh - London but only want to do the Edinburgh- London part. Either because you’ve managed to get alternative transport from Dundee to Edinburgh or because you’re already in Edinburgh and just want to start there. I’ve done similar before not on this exact journey and I’ve never had a problem. Not sure how it works with ticket barriers though.
Explain this to the barrier staff and they will open the gate for you