Evening all! First post, so be gentle...
I'm aiming to go from Hockley to Lowestoft via Shenfield on the 8th August, arriving about 10.30am. If I enter these journey details into either the National Rail journey planner, it'll tell me that I need to catch the 07.35 from Hockley.
That seems fine, but closer inspection reveals that that would give me just four minutes to make the connection at Shenfield, so even slight delay to the first leg of the journey could cause me to miss the 08.02 Lowestoft train.
Here's the part that seems odd to me : even though there are a couple of Hockley>Shenfield trains *before* the 07.35, including the 07.19 which would give me a comfortable 15-minute connection with the 08.02, the journey planner won't show them to me. If I click the "earlier journey" button, it gives me a much earlier Hockley>Shenfield train that connects with a much earlier Shenfield>Lowestoft train.
Does anyone know why this is? Is it just because the journey planner is designed only to show the shortest connection for each query?
Secondly, I'm aiming to get the cheapest advance-purchase return ticket (£12), which as I understand it, requires that I use specific timetabled trains rather than any service. What happens if you've got such a ticket and delays cause you to miss a connection? Surely they don't make you buy a new ticket... do they?
Any advice greatly appreciated
