Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on the rules of Advance rail tickets

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An advance ticket to Newcastle won't work on the barriers at York (Shutterstock)

Q I recently booked an Advance ticket from Manchester Victoria station to Newcastle upon Tyne in July. Because of changed circumstances I asked about using my ticket to travel to and from York instead, which is on the same route to Newcastle. I was informed that I would not be allowed through the barriers at York with this ticket. I cannot understand why I cannot make shorter journey on the same route with my ticket.

Robert Taylor

A I agree that the rules attached to rail (and air) tickets can seem ridiculous. What possible difference can it make to a train operator if you decide to use your ticket for only the first 75 miles of a 160-mile journey? Well, you bought an Advance ticket - I'm guessing for £15.50, about a quarter of the Anytime fare. Had you read the small print, you would have discovered the rule that "You may not start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station." So you have been correctly informed that your ticket would not be valid for anything except a Manchester-Newcastle journey.

Why have such a strict rule? Because of concerns about "tariff abuse", when travellers use tickets that are ultra-cheap for journeys that are more expensive. For example, I've just checked a Leicester-London train for 19 July through megatrain.com and found a fare of £1 (plus a flat 50p booking fee, regardless of the number of tickets booked). The train will stop at Market Harborough and Luton. Because the link between those two stations is not subject to the same competitive pressures as Leicester-London, fares are significantly higher - £25.70 is the lowest I could find. A tariff-abuser could save over £24 by going for the longer journey.

That is an extreme case, and no such opportunities exist between Manchester and Newcastle. But rules, as they say, are rules. So while in the past some ticket staff have turned a blind eye to such travellers, the only legitimate way to get to York is to trade in your Advance ticket to Newcastle and put the modest amount of cash you get back into an Advance ticket to York.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader's question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder