The Student Room Group

Return train ticket valid for a month, can i use it twice?

I purchased a return train ticket to london the other day and it says valid until 3 november, so as i am going to visit my dad on friday i was wondering am i able to use it again?

it went through the ticket barrier at victoria, i'm a student with a tight budget so of course i'm looking for ways to save money on traveling.

is this possible/allowed??

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Reply 1
if it's single use you can't use it again
Reply 2
its not a single its a 2-part return i think :wink:
Reply 3
Original post by rachey93
I purchased a return train ticket to london the other day and it says valid until 3 november, so as i am going to visit my dad on friday i was wondering am i able to use it again?

it went through the ticket barrier at victoria, i'm a student with a tight budget so of course i'm looking for ways to save money on traveling.

is this possible/allowed??


If it's been used in any barrier, then it'll be invalidated.
If someone checks it on your journey then they will clip it/punch a date on it, so this will invalidate it. I don't think you're supposed to use it twice, otherwise everyone would do it :tongue: sorry!
Reply 5
Have you already used it? Or is this hypothetically saying can you use it twice? If the stations you leave at have ticket barriers they may swallow your ticket. But provided the conductor doesn't stamp or mark your return ticket, you should be able to use it again as the next conductor wouldn't then be able to tell its been used. A ticket barrier may flash up 'seek assistance' but 99% of the time they'll just look at your ticket and open the barrier for you.

It shouldn't be done, but if they're not checking and validating tickets correctly then they're loss afaic.
Reply 6
Original post by rachey93
I purchased a return train ticket to london the other day and it says valid until 3 november, so as i am going to visit my dad on friday i was wondering am i able to use it again?

it went through the ticket barrier at victoria, i'm a student with a tight budget so of course i'm looking for ways to save money on traveling.

is this possible/allowed??


:no: You can't reuse it then sorry.
Reply 7
I'm pretty sure that it won't let you through the barrier if you've already used it on a previous journey.
Reply 8
okie doke :smile: i dont think i can but ah well i'm gonna try anyway! haha

thankyouuuu
Reply 9
if the ticket hasn't been through the machine, and hasn't been stamped by a conductor, then you *can* use it again.

It's technically still illegal, of course, but unenforceable, as they've no way of knowing you've already used it.
Reply 10
depends on the barriers, I used to re-use mine all the time as a student :ninja: when I could get away with rubbing the markings off and it didn't get swallowed by a machine - but they were only at the end so I either had a ticket eaten or had it to use again (if I went after ten or something when they open them)

Trains are stupid, I don't know how they can get away with charging £3.50 for my trip to work when it takes less than 3 min from stop to stop!

Its cheaper for me to try skive off it and pay the £20 fare for getting caught if I get caught less than once every two weeks...
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Mad Vlad
If it's been used in any barrier, then it'll be invalidated.


Not really true.
Many tickets allow break of journey, so you can go through a barrier at any station on the way and your ticket is still valid (as you would be allowed to break your journey anywhere on the journey as many times as you like).
Reply 12
Original post by WelshBluebird
Not really true.
Many tickets allow break of journey, so you can go through a barrier at any station on the way and your ticket is still valid (as you would be allowed to break your journey anywhere on the journey as many times as you like).


If it's been used at the station the journey commenced, though - surely that wouldn't be considered break of journey? (admittedly, my original reply wasn't entirely accurate).
If you re-use and haven't broken your journey you are a thief.
Open returns aren't reusable unfortunately :nah: if they were, I'd save a lot of money :huff:
Reply 15
If you could; why would people pay tens or hundreds of pounds for monthly passes?
@rachey93 - did it work out of interest, I'm in a similar situation. I've used it in a ticket machine, but it is in tact and hasn't been stamped on the train.
Ticket validity is dictated by whether your ticket will open the barriers at the starting station and the destination. Using your open return ticket to open the starting station barriers does nothing to the tickets validity as you might walk out again deciding to travel the next day or leave the station to smoke a cigarette. The ticket is only flagged by the system as used once its swallowed by the destination station. If the barriers at the destination are already open and you can keep your ticket without javibg it checked and signed during your journey then the train company is SOL as its still valid and your only obligation is to present a valid ticket when asked. They should invest in tickets using long range NFC
As long as the ticket hasn't been swallowed by the destination barrier then the ticket as far as the train company is concerned is still valid. Unfortunately for the train companies they allow machines to enforce ticket rules. Ticket validity is all that matters. After all you're only obligation is to present a valid ticket when asked.
Reply 19
With an anytime/any route ticket or such as the rtn of an open return, you can break the journey up. I haven't tried passing through barriers of a station that is not the same as marked on the ticket though. You might ask someone manning the barriers - they could tell you and you wouldn't get in trouble. My station has no ticket barriers so I think I will be fine to make an unscheduled visit. I haven't tried that before but according to the ticket type that shouldn't be an issue, as as far as they're concerned I could have just stopped off on the platform.