| NRCoT 2025 - omitted clauses Posted by Trowres at 22:33, 26th March 2026 |     |
I was looking for clauses on excess fares in the current (2025) National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT). I noticed that, compared with the 2024 version, a couple of significant clauses were missing from my PDF download. They are part of The Routes You May Use and are:
13.1.3 any other routes as shown in the ‘National Routeing Guide
13.2 If you make a journey by a route that is not valid you will be liable to pay an excess fare. The price for this will be the difference between the amount paid for the Ticket you hold and the lowest price Ticket available for immediate travel that would have entitled you to travel by that route
13.2 If you make a journey by a route that is not valid you will be liable to pay an excess fare. The price for this will be the difference between the amount paid for the Ticket you hold and the lowest price Ticket available for immediate travel that would have entitled you to travel by that route
In the 2025 version, 13.1.2 is followed by two information boxes, then 13.3.
Firstly, would someone like to confirm that the omission is general, and not restricted to my copy of NRCoT?
| Re: NRCoT 2025 - omitted clauses Posted by grahame at 04:33, 27th March 2026 | |
In the 2025 version, 13.1.2 is followed by two information boxes, then 13.3.
Firstly, would someone like to confirm that the omission is general, and not restricted to my copy of NRCoT?
The copy I see / and have just downloaded from https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/NRCOT/ is also missing 13.2
The refund of unused tickets issue from 1st April has been heavily flagged - not that the news will have reached everyone who may have made use of the facility in the past. However, I have not been able to find a new NRCoT document, nor seen any re-assurance that there won't be other changes quietly slipped in - such as this omission of 13.2.
It strikes me that it's normal for changes and official documents such as agenda items for meetings to be published at least a week ahead, and I find it extraordinary that I can't read what conditions will be applied to rail tickets I purchase from next Wednesday!
| Re: NRCoT 2025 - omitted clauses Posted by grahame at 05:48, 27th March 2026 | |
From current conditions of travel:
14. Using a Combination of Tickets
14.1 Some Tickets specifically exclude their use in conjunction with other Tickets. This will be made clear in the terms and conditions when buying such Tickets.
14.2 Unless Condition 14.1 applies, you may use a combination of two or more Tickets to make a journey provided that the train services you use Call at the station(s) where you change from one Ticket to another.
14.3 Unless Condition 14.1 applies, if you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger, or rover, in conjunction with another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not need to Call at that station for your combination to be valid.
14.1 Some Tickets specifically exclude their use in conjunction with other Tickets. This will be made clear in the terms and conditions when buying such Tickets.
14.2 Unless Condition 14.1 applies, you may use a combination of two or more Tickets to make a journey provided that the train services you use Call at the station(s) where you change from one Ticket to another.
14.3 Unless Condition 14.1 applies, if you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger, or rover, in conjunction with another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not need to Call at that station for your combination to be valid.
Bolding and capitalisation as per current NRCoT
Announcement by the train manager on the 15:30 ex Paddington on 24th March (2026) which I was travelling on "This train does not call as Didcot and if you are travelling on split tickets changing from one ticket to another there, your tickets will not be valid. There is revenue protection on this train".
Has clause 14.3 been withdrawn? The announcement by the train manager seemed to ignore it.
If making 2 return trips, both at peak times and using trains that do not call at Didcot, from Melksham to Paddington within a week, the lowest cost way has been a single to Didcot, a weekly season to Cholsey, a return from Cholsey to London an a further single Didcot to Melksham. My understanding is that's within 14.3, but is contradicted by what the train manager said.
Yes - revenue protection did come through; I was not making use of this clause and did not feel inclined to raise it with them.
| Re: NRCoT 2025 - omitted clauses Posted by JayMac at 11:45, 27th March 2026 | |
Conditions right, train manager wrong.
14.3 has not been withdrawn.
| Re: NRCoT 2025 - omitted clauses Posted by Oxonhutch at 20:20, 27th March 2026 | |
13.2 Worries me. And I have to wonder why?
Reading Exeter has two routes, via Honiton or Taunton - there is no 'Any permitted'.
The Man in Seat 61 uses this as an example as an on-train solution - Honiton is cheaper: if routing Taunton - just pay the excess.
If travelling Honiton with a Taunton fare, simply excess the difference - in this case an excess ticket with price £0.00.
The lack of 13.2 makes both ticket invalid. Bad move.
