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I'm looking at a trip from Worcester to London on Saturday (July23), returning on Monday (July 25).

On the Saturday the section from Moreton to Charlbury is being operated by a bus. I've been let down twice by such buses not operating, so I'm minded to travel via Stroud instead.

The National Rail website is offering me the attached combination. The 14:57 from Shrub Hill to Paddington involves a change at Gloucester.

The website is offering me a Super Off-Peak Return, price £61.80, but with the note "Valid only for travel via (changing trains or passing through) Evesham".

Question - is this right?

There's a specific easement in the Routeing Guide allowing that:

"700995 (Fare route) During engineering works over the weekends of the 16/17 and 23/24 July 2022, customers travelling from Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern, Malvern Link, Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill and Worcestershire Parkway to Didcot and beyond. With tickets priced on routes (00799) LONDON EVESHAM, (00805) VIA EVESHAM and (00433) AP EVESHAM, may travel on trains via Stroud or Cam & Dursley. This fare route easement applies in both directions.​"

It's fairly common for this to happen when an RRB is involved and there's an alternative route (and, to be honest, I suspect most guards would let you travel that way to avoid a bus even if there wasn't a formal easement).

Thanks for that.

I'd consider myself to be knowledgable about a lot of the intricacies of the fares system - but I would never have found that one!

That's very interesting and I note no restriction on break of journey.  So for £61.80 you could travel from Worcester to Bristol Parkway, stop there (last weekend to attend the RailFuture Severnside meeting from 9 to 10 a.m.) and carry on to London, spend the afternoon in London and travel back the same route.  Not bad when a SOP return Parkway to London costs £67.20.   

Looking at that fare, it is subject to restriction XC, which may be a candidate for the longest text on restrictions. There's a huge list of "not valid for trains timed to depart before...", covering 34 stations, but only a single entry for "not valid on trains timed to arrive at Birmingham New Street before 10:15." Question - couldn't the long list of departure times be simplified into an arrival time at Paddington?

And you do wonder whether anyone proof-reads this text. Restriction XC includes "not valid for trains timed to depart before ... 09:40 from Nailsea & Backwell;" AND, further down the list "09:10 from Nailsea & Backwell;".

There's also a note about "Seasonal variations" : "Due to Improvement work between Exeter St Davids and Taunton from Monday 28 September to Friday 02 October, some services will be diverted. As a result amendments will be implemented to this code." Those dates must be from 2020.