Great Western Coffee Shop

The simplistic old adage that "a ticket may only be used by the person who buys it" is clearly incorrect - the who groupsave concept where one person buys three or more tickets fails that rule, and I can just see Mum, Dad, Colin (aged 8) and Rebecca (aged 6) each buying their own tickets for their trip from Maidenhead to visit Granny in Clynderwen. Rebecca doesn't even have a credit card yet ...

National Conditions of Travel say


And I have been asked ... if my friend Bob is travelling from Bristol to Barnstaple, and the following day my friend Chris is travelling from Barnstaple to Bristol later the same day, can I buy a return ticket on their behalf and have Bob meet Chris at Barnstaple and pass the ticket over?

The question has been asked of me in a wider (buses too) context, for return tickets and for Bath Outer Zone tickets. In the latter case, if the ticket is bought with the intent of me using it in the morning, then Lisa using it in the evening ... (no, we have not done it - just asking!).

Strictly, the answer is no, you can't.

One separate ticket required for each person.

I'm not commenting in whether this is sensible/right etc, except to say that by buying a ticket you are actuallyaccepting the T&Cs associated with it, and they're non-negotiable. You accept all the conditions, or none (by not buying)

This is likely to turn into a pedantic discussion thread  :D

Can't agree with that fully ChrisB - I have tickets issued on Avantix machines for multiple people (e.g. 3 adults) and that is NOT a separate ticket for each person.

I agree it could get pedantic - but then almost anything about T&Cs tends to be.

In your example I expect it is covered in 5.1 quoted earlier

I think probably not, though NRCoT could be more explicit.

A return ticket is described as having an "outward portion" and a "return portion" (e.g. NRCoT 12.3). One ticket, two portions.

So when the NRCoT say


the Ticket (i.e. both outward and return) may only be used by "the person" (singular).

In reality it's very unlikely to cause any problems unless you get the same Desperate Golden Gripper™ on both legs and he/she notices the discrepancy!

Totally pedantically then....you are referring to 3 tickets - for just three people. Still separate tickets on one piece of paper!

Sounds like something fat and unhealthy that I could eat :D