Ticket Printing for East Coast Rail & Beyond
Aug 12, 2014, 6:05 am
#1
Original Poster
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Ticket Printing for East Coast Rail & Beyond
Bit of a long story here....
Bought tickets online for Edinburgh to Kings Cross and a 2nd ticket for Paddington to Cardiff.
Currently on the EDB > KGX train.
I selected the "print at home" but in a rush didn't print them but assumed that I could still collect the tickets at the train station....
But when I tried the ticket machine today it couldn't find my confirmation#.
Went to the ticket window and he couldn't find it either....because apparently "print at home" can't be collected the way I expected...similar to the airlines in the USA....so the really helpful ticket man said if I could email the PDF to an EDB station email address, he could probably print it for me.....It was only 10 minutes to departure so in the stress of the moment I forgot to have him also print the PAD > CDF ticket...so when we get to Kings Cross in a couple of hours I'll have the same problem again....
Ideas on the smoothest, most hassle free option to get my ticket into paper form for our next train? BTW that train is First Great Western but I booked it on the East Coast website.....
Bought tickets online for Edinburgh to Kings Cross and a 2nd ticket for Paddington to Cardiff.
Currently on the EDB > KGX train.
I selected the "print at home" but in a rush didn't print them but assumed that I could still collect the tickets at the train station....
But when I tried the ticket machine today it couldn't find my confirmation#.
Went to the ticket window and he couldn't find it either....because apparently "print at home" can't be collected the way I expected...similar to the airlines in the USA....so the really helpful ticket man said if I could email the PDF to an EDB station email address, he could probably print it for me.....It was only 10 minutes to departure so in the stress of the moment I forgot to have him also print the PAD > CDF ticket...so when we get to Kings Cross in a couple of hours I'll have the same problem again....
Ideas on the smoothest, most hassle free option to get my ticket into paper form for our next train? BTW that train is First Great Western but I booked it on the East Coast website.....
Aug 12, 2014, 6:43 am
#2
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
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Location: Biggleswade
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I'm pretty sure the print at home tickets on the East Coast website are only for journeys wholly on East Coast. So you should be able to get the tickets out the machine at King's Cross. Let me check.
Aug 12, 2014, 6:46 am
#3
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
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Yup, on a dummy booking, it looks like you can only get tickets to retrieve at the station for First Great Western. So you should be OK.
Should all else fail, there is an internet café (yes, old school, isn't it) right outside Paddington, opposite the main entrance to the station Hilton. Or you could try and brazen it out in one of the big hotels' business centres.
Should all else fail, there is an internet café (yes, old school, isn't it) right outside Paddington, opposite the main entrance to the station Hilton. Or you could try and brazen it out in one of the big hotels' business centres.
Aug 12, 2014, 7:14 am
#4
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Join Date: Apr 2001
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Thanks very much!
Was getting rather stressed because we're about an hour late....so what was a leisurely 2 hour connection between KGX & PAD has been cut in half........
Was getting rather stressed because we're about an hour late....so what was a leisurely 2 hour connection between KGX & PAD has been cut in half........
Aug 12, 2014, 7:34 am
#5
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
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Don't stress unduly - King's Cross to Paddington is an easy 20 minutes. And, even with separate tickets, you are covered in case of disruption (your tickets will be from Edinburgh to London Terminals and London Terminals to Cardiff). If you find you miss your connection, you can board a later train - but do go to the ticket office first to get your ticket endorsed - and you may have to insist on this (I can quote the precise regulation if you need it...)
Let me know if you need step-by-step directions to get you between the two stations - it's a journey I do a lot.
Are you on the train that came from Aberdeen? Ouch, looks like there's been some nasty problems up there today - train fault followed by flooding...
Let me know if you need step-by-step directions to get you between the two stations - it's a journey I do a lot.
Are you on the train that came from Aberdeen? Ouch, looks like there's been some nasty problems up there today - train fault followed by flooding...
Aug 12, 2014, 7:57 am
#6
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We boarded in Edinburgh for a 1130 departure and it arrived on time....however the 1030 departure had been cancelled so those pax were scrambling for seats on the 1130....quite chaotic....again thanks for the info!
Aug 12, 2014, 8:05 am
#7
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
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Oh, the 11:30 (I think it started short from Perth due to flooding) has caught up, it's now estimating only 5 minutes late into King's Cross. I'm guessing you're somewhere very flat near Peterborough at the moment... Wave to Biggleswade in about 20 minutes!
Aug 12, 2014, 8:14 am
#8
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Join Date: Apr 2001
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We were in Dundee yesterday when the remnants of Bertha blew through....heavy horizontal rain...not great walking weather which is what I was doing...
Aug 13, 2014, 4:36 am
#9
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Yes, it's important to remember on the UK rail network print at home really means what it says. It's not like a flight where you can pick up a real boarding pass even if you've already printed one.
If in doubt whether you'll be able to print always select collect at station, plus standard rail tickets are a nice credit card size not cumbersome bits of A4 paper.
Excellent work by the East Coast staff member who offered to print your tickets for you.
I hope you caught your Paddington train without issue.
If in doubt whether you'll be able to print always select collect at station, plus standard rail tickets are a nice credit card size not cumbersome bits of A4 paper.
Excellent work by the East Coast staff member who offered to print your tickets for you.
I hope you caught your Paddington train without issue.
Aug 14, 2014, 12:18 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: London
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When you're collecting tickets at a station, it's worth bearing in mind that you can get them from a ticket machine at any TOD station, not just the one you've selected - so you can pick tickets up while you're waiting for a train on another journey, rather than in a hurry on your way to catch the one the tickets are for...
