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• Off-Peak Day Return tickets – make a return journey on the same day during off-peak hours (see off-peak hours below).
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 What are off peak times for train travel?

Travelling into London? You can travel on any train arriving at London Waterloo (or any station in zones 1 to 6) from 10:00.

If you're travelling away from London, Standard Class and First Class tickets have slightly different rules:

Standard Class : travel on any train leaving London Waterloo from 09:00

First Class : travel on any train leaving London Waterloo from 09:00, except trains leaving between 16:00 and 19:00. You also won't be able to travel on:

• Trains leaving Vauxhall between 16:04 and 19:04
• Trains leaving Clapham Junction between 16:07 and 19:09

You can sometimes travel earlier, particularly if you're travelling long-distance - these are called easements. For the best way to find out which trains you can use your ticket on, book through our website.

 When can I buy an Off-Peak ticket?

You can buy Off-Peak tickets from 12 weeks in advance, right up until the day you’re due to travel (usually up to 10 minutes before departure).

 Are there any extra discounts on Off-Peak tickets?

With a Railcard , you can save up to 1/3 on your Off-Peak tickets. Children and young people can save even more – there’s a 50% discount for children aged 5-15, and 50% off adult Evening Out fares for anyone with a 16-17 Saver Railcard.

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 How can I buy an Off-Peak ticket?

You can buy your tickets on our website, SWR app , or at the station.

 Can I break my journey with an Off-Peak ticket?

You can break your outward and return journey with Off-Peak train tickets on most journeys, but there are some exceptions. Check the full restrictions for your journey to make sure you can break it before you travel.

 I need to travel on a different train - can I change my Off-Peak ticket?

You can use your Off-Peak ticket on any service within the eligible times (see these above). If you already have an Off-Peak ticket but want to travel at a time when it’s not valid, simply swap your ticket for one that suits your travel needs and pay the difference for the fare. We won’t charge you an admin fee for this type of change.

 > What happens if I miss my train because of a delay?

If you’ve been delayed by the railway then you can use your ticket on the next train or any other train within the eligible timeframe. If your ticket wouldn’t normally be valid on the train you end up catching you can still travel on another one without paying for a new ticket.

If you have a paper ticket: speak to the ticket office or an on-board team member to get your ticket signed or stamped to allow you to travel.

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 There are engineering works now and I don't want to travel. Can I get a refund?

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What is a break of journey?

Did you know that with many tickets in Great Britain, it’s possible to use one ticket and break up your journey as you wish? Let’s take a look at break of journey, what it means and when you can do it.

In a railway sense, a break of journey is when you interrupt your trip part-way through. For example, if you’re travelling from London to Birmingham, then choose to get off in Coventry and visit some friends for a couple of hours, then this is a break of journey.

If you’re just changing trains or using the facilities at the station, then this isn’t a break of journey. For example, you might have 30 minutes between trains and choose to visit a shop on the station concourse.

How long can a break of journey last for?

You can break your journey for as long as your ticket is valid. For example, if you have a day return , you’d need to complete your journey by 04:30 the next morning.

If you have an Off-Peak Return , then you need to complete your outward journey on the same day. You can break your journey on the way back as many times as you like within one month, so long as you don’t ‘double back’ and keep travelling in the same direction. There’s no requirement to complete your journey on the same day.

An Anytime Return has similar rules, but you can use the outward part of your ticket for five days. An Anytime Single is valid for two days.

Finally, if you can’t reasonably complete your journey within the validity of the ticket, and need to stop overnight, you can do this. However, you need to complete your journey the following day, with no further breaks allowed, other than to change trains.

Which tickets allow a break of journey?

Most flexible tickets allow you to break your journey. This includes all tickets marked as ‘ Anytime ‘. When it comes to tickets that are either Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak , it can vary. You can always break your return journey, but some tickets don’t allow you to do this on your outward journey.

You can find this out by checking which restriction code your ticket has. You’ll find this at the bottom of your ticket if it’s an eTicket:

When you follow the link , it’ll tell you what the restriction code means. If it does not mention breaking your journey, then there aren’t any restrictions.

If there is a restriction, you’ll find it in the notes section, such as here for code 3A :

Can I break my journey with an Advance ticket?

Breaking your journey isn’t possible with an Advance ticket. This is because you need to stick to the trains you’ve booked, and complete the journey in one go.

Remember, changing trains and using the facilities at the station doesn’t count as breaking your journey. If you have a long connection and want to be let through the ticket gates to pop to a shop in the station, you should be allowed to do this.

What if a member of staff writes the date on my ticket?

If you have a paper ticket, staff might mark the date on it. This usually happens if you have a return ticket where the return part is valid for a month. This doesn’t affect how long the ticket is valid for and doesn’t mean that you have to complete your entire journey on that day.

Any markings on the ticket do not change how long it’s valid for.

Is there anything else I should know?

The final thing that we’d recommend doing is booking your rail tickets with Railsmartr . We believe in keeping things simple and making rail travel easy to understand and accessible. Whether you want to know about cheap train tickets or the best First Class trains , we’ve got you covered.

We don’t charge any fees either. No booking fees, and no extra fees if you need to change your plans. Why pay more?

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International Edition

Steven Kwan’s rise from pinball wizard to the Guardians’ humble hitting savant

CLEVELAND — Steven Kwan ’s path to hitting prominence started in his grandmother’s garage, where he fiddled with a rickety, outer space-themed pinball machine.

Press the flipper. The ball shoots through a metal rail to the top of the board, where it waltzes with a pinwheel. Then go to work. With expert timing on the controls — quick fingers and a quicker mind — the game could last all afternoon.

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The root of Kwan’s rise to prominence in the batter’s box for the Cleveland Guardians is his hand-eye coordination, a trait mastered through childhood summers full of pinball.

Two decades later, Kwan is flirting with a .400 batting average and blazing a trail to the All-Star Game. He’s leaving those in his dugout saying “wow” and leaving those in the opposing one asking: “How?”

How could this 5-foot-9, 170-pound chess champion who was never a high-profile prospect, who figured his rotten freshman year at Oregon State was his baseball journey’s death knell, reside in the same stratosphere as the sport’s slugging behemoths?

“He’s a pain in the ass,” Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, complimentarily.

Kwan is the lone soul disinterested in the hype. His dad floods his phone with jarring statistics, but Kwan responds by urging him to ditch social media. He’ll entertain those facts in December, after the season and after a long-awaited, mind-cleansing vacation. He can’t be bothered with adoration. The instant he allows his focus to stray, he insists, he won’t be prepared to keep this going.

This surge, though, has planted Kwan on the national radar, even if he won’t indulge.

Steven Kwan has homered in back-to-back games. 💥 pic.twitter.com/YEeErW7i7K — MLB (@MLB) June 23, 2024

When he turns on an inside fastball and yanks it off the foul pole, he credits his “shorter limbs,” not his unparalleled contact ability. He explains every hit as a lucky bloop or the byproduct of fortunate placement. When he received a smattering of MVP chants as he approached the plate on Saturday, Kwan considered it nothing more than fans’ beer-fueled babbling.

“He’s the humble king,” said teammate Will Brennan .

That grounded attitude has guided Kwan to this point, in which he rivals the league’s luminaries on every leaderboard. So have a rigid commitment to mental preparation, a determination to prove his mom wrong and, of course, pinball.

When he was four, Kwan told his mom he wanted to be a baseball player. Her response, as Kwan recalls?

Probably not. Let’s focus on something else.

Jane was playing the odds, and Kwan still teases her about her errant projection during their weekly catch-up sessions. She never intended to doubt him. She just aimed to offer a dose of reality.

He understands her position.

“Small kid. Barely any athleticism in our family,” he said. “My name is freaking Steven.”

He refused, however, to ponder the future or shore up a plan to enter the business world once the baseball dream fizzled. He entered what he described as “survival mode,” a one-year-at-a-time approach to an athletic career that figured to slam into a dead end before long.

In his first college game, he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, a missed sign, a botched bunt attempt and a misplayed ball in the outfield. He was convinced he had no future on the diamond. But, he said, he wouldn’t quit “until someone rips the cleats off of me.” That never happened, and Kwan adopted his mom’s hyper-realistic approach as he pushed forward.

He didn’t expect to break camp with the Guardians in 2022, especially with a shorter audition because of the lockout. But he started in right field on Opening Day. He was certain he’d head to Triple A after a week or two, once Josh Naylor returned from injury. He hasn’t been back to Columbus, aside from a rehab assignment. And Kwan and Naylor are now two pivotal cogs in Cleveland’s lineup. They sat in the Guardians’ postgame interview room on Sunday and lauded each other for their power displays.

As Naylor waxed poetic about Kwan’s evolution as a hitter, Kwan stared down at the table, almost humiliated by the praise. Anytime someone mentions a Kwan surge, he’s quick to stress the law of averages will soon rear its head.

Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan talk about the growth of this team, and how they've been building on last year and just getting better every day. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/J8aAQQALNn — Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) June 23, 2024

And so, no, he won’t get caught up in the hysteria surrounding his .390 average.

“Hitting like this just isn’t very common,” he said, “so I’ve never really thought about something like this.”

Scott Barlow allowed Kwan’s first big-league hit, a sinking liner past the second baseman on a fastball at the top of the zone. When the two became teammates this season, Barlow had Kwan sign a bat for him. It rests in the back of the reliever’s locker.

Barlow was the first of many who have struggled to unearth a formula to quiet Kwan’s bat. The best tactic isn’t some 98 mph heater or wipeout slider or funky, left-handed arm slot. It’s prayer.

When Kwan swung and missed for his 15th strikeout of the season one day last week — for perspective, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz has 103 — manager Stephen Vogt and bench coach Craig Albernaz looked at each other and gasped.

“It’s like a glitch,” said catcher Austin Hedges .

Vogt remembers game-planning for Kwan last year as Seattle ’s bullpen coach. The strategy was to throw it down the middle and let him either slap a single somewhere or, ideally, shoot it toward a fielder. There was no use in wasting pitches against a guy who has a better handle on the strike zone than the umpires and who can recognize and make contact with anything, anywhere.

“You can have a scouting report on him,” Barlow said, “but he covers so much. You can do soft away, hard in and mix and match, but his ability to make an adjustment in the middle of a pitch and time it up, whether it’s to foul it off or rifle a line drive off you real quick, it’s crazy.”

He ranks at the top of the leaderboard in strikeout rate and whiff rate, and he rarely chases pitches out of the zone. If he does, it’s for one of those short-limb-driven fastballs that he converts into a souvenir.

Kwan spent his winter seeking ways to hit the ball with more authority. More muscle and better bat speed weren’t the remedies. He’s still that scrawny kid named Steven.

No, the key was in his approach. He stepped into a Chicago batting cage and practiced swinging and missing more. He needed to reach a point of acceptance. He’d stand in, spot the ball, take a healthy hack and if he missed — which goes against every cell in his body — he had to learn to shrug it off.

The plan was to take more chances in advantageous counts when a whiff would be less detrimental than weak contact. He strived to alter his bat angle and to elevate a pitch he knew he could damage, to target the outfield gap or the fans in the third row instead of the Bermuda Triangle between the shortstop, third baseman and left fielder.

On Sunday, Kwan turned on another fastball and pulled it into the right-field seats. He has already hit a career-high seven home runs, in one-third of the plate appearances of a normal season. He’s jockeying with Shohei Ohtani for second place behind Aaron Judge in the league’s slugging ranks.

Just don’t tell him any of these facts until December.

Steven Kwan is putting together a truly remarkable season so far! 🤯 #MLBTonight breaks down the @CleGuardians hitting maestro and some of his mind-boggling advanced metrics. pic.twitter.com/mPCVw8nNJi — MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 21, 2024

When Kwan showers after a game, he watches the shampoo, soap and water funnel down the drain. In his mind, everything that transpired on the field goes with it.

There’s no hitting streak at stake. There’s no slump weighing him down. Every day is a clean slate.

“A lot of us can learn from that,” Brennan said.

Each day, Kwan jots down in his journal three things he did well, a way to practice gratitude after partaking in a game based on failure. When he was twice thrown out on the bases in Atlanta earlier this season, he scribbled about the thought process that prompted each mistake. He couldn’t punish himself for taking a chance he assumed would pay off. And he was reminded he should work on executing a steal of third. Any silver lining is a worthwhile takeaway. When he spent four weeks on the injured list in May, Kwan wrote about being thankful the injury wasn’t worse, given his history with finicky hamstrings.

Most mornings, Kwan meditates for 10-15 minutes. It centers him and helps him dismiss any intrusive thoughts and block out noise, though he admits that’s been more difficult lately, given the increased attention on his every swing.

Hedges took Kwan under his wing in 2022 and said it was the easiest mentorship he’s ever forged. Kwan was curious and caring, eager to learn how to stick in the majors and how to foster a healthy clubhouse culture. Hedges has watched him blossom into a leader — he’s the Guardians’ union rep at 26 years old. Now, he finds himself learning from Kwan and marveling at his influence on a first-place team.

“He inspires the hell out of me,” Hedges said.

His parents are savoring every moment of this ride, too. Most nights, they schedule dinner around the Guardians’ first-pitch time. On the West Coast, that often means a 4 p.m. meal. They wouldn’t dare miss the game’s most lethal leadoff hitter take his first cuts.

Kwan owns a 1.023 OPS. In his last 33 games, he has 16 multi-hit affairs and only five strikeouts. He has more walks (19) than strikeouts (16) this season.

And it all traces back to that pinball prowess. Kwan’s parents met while playing pinball in the ’80s. Kwan remembers asking for their permission to use the family computer so he could play a pinball game. He’d spend hours pushing Z with his left index finger and comma with his right index finger to trigger the flippers, and to cultivate the skills that would eventually make a kid named Steven one of baseball’s most imposing hitters — even if he refuses to embrace that title.

“It feels lazy to be like, ‘It’s baseball. It’s lucky,’” Kwan said. “But I think sometimes it has to just come down to that.”

(Photo of Steven Kwan: Ken Blaze / USA Today)

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Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Zack Meisel is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball. Zack was named the 2021 Ohio Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association and won first place for best sports coverage from the Society of Professional Journalists. He has been on the beat since 2011 and is the author of four books, including "Cleveland Rocked," the tale of the 1995 team. Follow Zack on Twitter @ ZackMeisel

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What actually constitutes a break of journey

• Thread starter OhNoAPacer
• Start date 12 Oct 2016
• 12 Oct 2016

I know this may seem like a stupid question, but is there any actual wording that defines what break of journey actually is? Perhaps it would help if I give the reason why this seemingly bizarre question came to me. I am going to travel Whitehaven to Northampton starting from Whitehaven on the 09:04 train to Carlisle, and, for reasons to do with needing to arrive in Northampton as early as I can using that journey start time. I have a wait at Carlisle from 10:13 until the Euston train at 11:50. Now the ticket restriction is 3A, so no break of journey allowed (other than to change trains) on the outward leg. I am clearly going to be changing trains, now my understanding is that I was to head off into Carlisle then this would constitute a break of journey. If I were to set off on a train from Carlisle, and then get off at say Preston, go for a wander, then restart my journey from Preston on a later train, then clearly I have broken my journey, but it is less clear cut as to why filling in time at Carlisle by going for a wander whilst waiting for the train I have a reservation for constitutes a break of journey. As I said initially, seems a silly question, but my limited ability on such things has failed to supply me with an answer.  

RailUK Forums

Veteran Member

There is no specific definition of a Break of Journey in the Conditions of Travel that I can see. I cannot possibly imagine anyone will challenge you on this though.  

Established Member

If in doubt show your ticket at the gates when exiting Carlisle station, and ask if it's ok to leave the station and come back in. If they say it's fine, then if you are challenged on the way back in you can truthfully say that you were told it was ok by another member of staff. In practice I'd be very surprised if you had a problem. I do this all the time on outward legs of offpeak tickets, and sometimes break the journey for a couple of hours at a station where I don't have a need to change trains. I've never ever been questioned on it. In my mind, breaking a journey means breaking it overnight, although that may not fit with the technical definition.  

OhNoAPacer said: I know this may seem like a stupid question, but is there any actual wording that defines what break of journey actually is? Click to expand...

An interruption of continuity in a course of action or time Click to expand...

an excursion or expedition to some distance Click to expand...

Could you say a BoJ is not getting the 1st available train that you could.  

Whilst it is not a definition, break of journey in the context of the ticket being used effectively means stopping short to avoid a higher fare. It would be difficult to argue that you have that intention when you have travelled from Whitehaven to Carlisle with a ticket for a significantly longer journey. And I doubt anybody will object to you going for a stroll during a lengthy change between trains so, unless Carlisle has recently acquired barriers, I wouldn't even worry about asking first.  

ainsworth74

Forum staff.

BRX said: If in doubt show your ticket at the gates when exiting Carlisle station, and ask if it's ok to leave the station and come back in. If they say it's fine, then if you are challenged on the way back in you can truthfully say that you were told it was ok by another member of staff. Click to expand...

Adam0984 said: Could you say a BoJ is not getting the 1st available train that you could. Click to expand...

ainsworth74 said: There are no gates at Carlisle. Click to expand...

Bletchleyite

najaB said: No. That is definitely not accurate. Click to expand...

Most Tickets allow you to break your journey. This means that you do not have to make the whole of your journey at the same time or, where allowed, on the same day. Click to expand...

WelshBluebird

tony_mac said: Can you say why? This, at least, implies that a break of journey is where you do not make the whole journey at the same time. I would take that as meaning there is a time gap during the journey - i.e., not taking the next suitable train. Click to expand...

I think common sense would say that if you decide to not take the next train, but to visit a pub and have a couple of pints instead, then you are breaking your journey. Whether the pub is / is not on station premises doesn't really change the meaning of the term.  

Given that the term "journey" doesn't even have a definition itself in the NRCoT I think "break of journey" is an even more difficult term to define! I would personally define it as leaving railway premises for any reason OTHER than travelling by train, or travelling by rail replacement road transport or travelling via any other recognised method as defined by NRE (including walking connections, through-conenction buses and ferries).  

wingsoveryorks

It's a stupid restriction that is pretty much unenforceable. I can't for the life of me as a conductor even getting involved in that nonsense.  

As noted, it's not defined anywhere specifically. In this instance, I can't see you having a problem and I think tony mac's common sense definition can operate. I think in practice AlterEgo's definition is broadly correct, with the caveat that this doesn't apply if you're between connections on booked journey. It is widely accepted that you've not broken your journey if you don't leave the station (I'm sure Yorkie has offered evidence in the past that this is an accepted industry standard?) - which yes, does create some small scope for bending regulations slightly (eg you could hold a meeting in a station cafe/pub for several hours) but reflects the slight impracticality of doing it any other way!  

tony_mac said: Can you say why? Click to expand...

cuccir said: As noted, it's not defined anywhere specifically. In this instance, I can't see you having a problem and I think tony mac's common sense definition can operate. I think in practice AlterEgo's definition is broadly correct, with the caveat that this doesn't apply if you're between connections on booked journey. It is widely accepted that you've not broken your journey if you don't leave the station (I'm sure Yorkie has offered evidence in the past that this is an accepted industry standard?) - which yes, does create some small scope for bending regulations slightly (eg you could hold a meeting in a station cafe/pub for several hours) but reflects the slight impracticality of doing it any other way! Click to expand...

najaB said: Because a requirement to catch the first possible train removes flexibility from the ticket once travel has commenced. Click to expand...

Neil Williams said: It was defined as such in the old NRCoC, wasn't it? Click to expand...

tony_mac said: Personally, I don't see why hours spent doing something else instead of trying to travel should count differently depending on who owns the premises, but it's not exactly a big issue in practice. Click to expand...

tony_mac said: You may need to spell it out, I still don't know point what you are trying to make . A ticket with a break of journey restriction does remove flexibility from the ticket, that's rather the point of having a 'restriction'! Click to expand...

"Break of journey"? Getting off the train that you originally joined en-route and boarding another one to continue the journey to the same destination? e.g Making a Nottingham - St. Pancras journey. Board at Nottingham, detrain at Leicester, have a cup of something stupid then join another train to St. Pancras. That seems like breaking a journey to me.  

I suspect if you asked most people what you could do on a walk-up, they would think it was OK to wander into town between changing trains (as it de-facto is, whatever ticket you hold, walk-up or not), but wasn't OK to stop overnight.  

Failed Unit

What is the definition of leaving the station as well. Extreme example you change trains at Birmingham New Street and have 30 minutes on a booked connection- you want a smoke you need to leave the station. Don't smoke so not needed to try but I assume that is ok. I have passed the gateline and not left the station for something to eat before with no issue, but upon return the staff have no way of knowing how long I have gone for. Personally it is back to what is the railway losing. In the posters example, nothing if they take a wander around Carlisle. To me that is no worse than a mini detour if you change stations in Newark.  

OhNoAPacer said: It was a hypothetical question, well for this journey anyway. I was just trying to see if there was an actual 'railway' definition, as opposed to a dictionary one, of what is meant by break of journey. Click to expand...

NRCoC Condition 16 said: For the purposes of this Condition [...], you will be treated as breaking your journey if you leave a Train Company’s or Rail Service Company’s stations after you start your journey other than to: (i) join a train at another station, or (ii) stay in overnight accommodation when you cannot reasonably complete your journey within one day, or (iii) follow any instructions given by a member of a Train Company’s or Rail Service Company’s staff.​ Click to expand...

NRCoT Condition 16.2 said: Most Tickets allow you to break your journey. This means that you do not have to make the whole of your journey at the same time or, where allowed, on the same day. Click to expand...

BoJ bars are normally to prevent ticket reuse or starting/finishing short. The former can be prevented by barring overnight BoJ as few will reuse a ticket on the same day. The latter, well, you could check people going out of the barrier line where this is relevant. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk  

• 13 Oct 2016

ainsworth74 said: The problem is that one no longer exists! Until 1 October 2016 within the National Rail Conditions of Carriage the definition was as follows: Clear, simple and easy to understand I would have said. However since 1 October 2016 the National Rail Conditions of Travel replaced the old conditions and now have this to say: There is no further definition of the term. There are a few bits about how many times you break your journey and about starting/finishing short but there is no clear definition any more. So we cannot give you the 'railway definition' as there is no longer such a thing! Click to expand...

OhNoAPacer said: So, they have fixed it worse then Click to expand...