Freedom pass usage around 9.30am

Hi James,

This is a somewhat complicated issue, but I’ll do my best to explain. First thing you need to be aware of is that there are no off-peak paper or e-tickets within zones 1-6, apart from the off-peak day travelcard. The travelcard says that it is not valid on trains timed to depart after 0430 and before 0930, which means that it is definitely valid on the 0930 service. The freedom pass website says that it is valid after 0930. As it doesn’t specify by how much I would say that 0930 and a fraction of a second is fine, so to all intents and purposes it is valid on a 0930 service. I’d be even more confident given that trains rarely leave London Bridge early, especially at the end of the morning peak. The freedom pass doesn’t mention trains timed to depart, so if a late running train leaves after 0930 then you are fine.

The fares quoted on the National Rail website are contactless fares which are decided by touch in time rather than the time of the train. There is a small grace period of 3 minutes at the end of the morning peak, so in theory you would be able to catch a train at 0930, but London Bridge is quite a large station so they are probably erring on the side of caution by saying you’ll be charged a peak fare. I notice that the next train is at 0931 and they claim that will be off-peak. My worry is that people will touch in in good time and end up getting charged the peak fare anyway, but that’s not relevant to your enquiry.

I hope this helps.

Just to add here that although your Freedom pass would be perfectly valid if the scheduled train was late running and originally should have left when your pass was not valid as Mike has mentioned.
The same isn’t true if you had a traditional paper style ticket as with those the validity on the train you wish to travel on is dependant on the timetabled departure time and not actual departure time so your ticket must be valid at the time for the train you wish to use.

The problem is that the whole journey is from Finsbury Park to East Croydon. The 0930 from London Bridge has come from Finsbury Park at 0907 and the disabled Freedom Pass is valid on that service from Finsbury Park. The next train from Finsbury Park through the core isn’t until 0922.

That’s good actually. They state that it is valid at 0930 which is what you need to know. They are probably mainly there to deal with admin issues like renewals, lost passes, etc. Don’t worry any more, you’re fine.