Today I had to travel from Redhill to Ealing Broadway. Cost me £23, which was bad enough but my return journey was interesting. I was in no rush to get back as wife was collecting the kids, so I walked from the Broadway to Chiswick just to have a nose around. It was a pleasant day, so why not? I work in London out and about, so from time-to-time I walk odd areas so as to get to know them better. Guarantee I'll be there within the next 6 months again, so why not.
So there I am, at Chiswick and my ticket does not work at the automated barrier. Odd thought I; says all reasonable routes on the front, Chiswick is on a direct link between the Broadway and Victoria, so why not?
London Underground Jobsworth [LUJ]: That ticket is from the Broadway. Won't work.
Me: Why? It says all reasonable routes on the front?
LUJ: It's a "point to point" ticket. You'll have to go back to the Broadway to use it. It'll cost you £4.20 that.
Me: But this station is on the route. I'm not deviating.
LUJ: £4.20.
So I walk off a bit bemused. Now I'm a bit slow witted sometimes, especially when faced with jobsworths, but it took me all of a minute to think of a plan so I returned to the station. Jobsworth had gone, and had been replaced by a clone. My plan was to buy a £1.20 ticket to the next station, but seeing as original LUJ had gone......
Me: Excuse me, I've been silly. It was a nice day so I walked from the Broadway to here but my ticket doesn't seem to work. I paid £23 for it, so it should be fine.
Clone LUJ: That's a point-to-point. You need to give me £4.20.
Me: What for?
Clone LUJ: For travel from here to Broadway.
Me: But I just walked it. I'm here. Could I not just get on a tube?
Clone LUJ: No. £4.20.
Me: So what you are saying is this; I have to buy a £4.20 ticket to go back to the Broadway so as to use a ticket to catch a train that comes through here? In all probability the same train. I'm already here though. Seems..... well, pointless.
Clone LUJ: ........er, yes.
Me: Well that seems a bit daft. What would stop me from just catching a train to Victoria once on the platform? My ticket is valid. It cost £23.
Clone LUJ: Nothing.
Me: ............
Clone LUJ: Oh go on then. Just this once!
And just like that he let me on. In case it was me being dim, I looked up the definition of point to point on their website:
"If you have a specific journey to make between 2 selected stations, then a point to point ticket is right for you! One of the great features of a point to point ticket is there are no restrictions as to the day, time or train so you have the flexibility to change your itinerary as you please. And the best part is stopovers are allowed en route so you can hop on and off the train as often as you wish in the direction of your destination."
I guess the key point here is that stopovers are allowed. Point proven in my favour I think. However, in future a travelcard will be bought instead of a stupid ticket that is open for challenge by jobsworths!
So there I am, at Chiswick and my ticket does not work at the automated barrier. Odd thought I; says all reasonable routes on the front, Chiswick is on a direct link between the Broadway and Victoria, so why not?
London Underground Jobsworth [LUJ]: That ticket is from the Broadway. Won't work.
Me: Why? It says all reasonable routes on the front?
LUJ: It's a "point to point" ticket. You'll have to go back to the Broadway to use it. It'll cost you £4.20 that.
Me: But this station is on the route. I'm not deviating.
LUJ: £4.20.
So I walk off a bit bemused. Now I'm a bit slow witted sometimes, especially when faced with jobsworths, but it took me all of a minute to think of a plan so I returned to the station. Jobsworth had gone, and had been replaced by a clone. My plan was to buy a £1.20 ticket to the next station, but seeing as original LUJ had gone......
Me: Excuse me, I've been silly. It was a nice day so I walked from the Broadway to here but my ticket doesn't seem to work. I paid £23 for it, so it should be fine.
Clone LUJ: That's a point-to-point. You need to give me £4.20.
Me: What for?
Clone LUJ: For travel from here to Broadway.
Me: But I just walked it. I'm here. Could I not just get on a tube?
Clone LUJ: No. £4.20.
Me: So what you are saying is this; I have to buy a £4.20 ticket to go back to the Broadway so as to use a ticket to catch a train that comes through here? In all probability the same train. I'm already here though. Seems..... well, pointless.
Clone LUJ: ........er, yes.
Me: Well that seems a bit daft. What would stop me from just catching a train to Victoria once on the platform? My ticket is valid. It cost £23.
Clone LUJ: Nothing.
Me: ............
Clone LUJ: Oh go on then. Just this once!
And just like that he let me on. In case it was me being dim, I looked up the definition of point to point on their website:
"If you have a specific journey to make between 2 selected stations, then a point to point ticket is right for you! One of the great features of a point to point ticket is there are no restrictions as to the day, time or train so you have the flexibility to change your itinerary as you please. And the best part is stopovers are allowed en route so you can hop on and off the train as often as you wish in the direction of your destination."
I guess the key point here is that stopovers are allowed. Point proven in my favour I think. However, in future a travelcard will be bought instead of a stupid ticket that is open for challenge by jobsworths!
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