What the baffling terms on your ticket REALLY mean

ANY PERMITTED

Intended to explain that a ticket can be used with any permitted route, and that passengers should check the National Rail website to see their options. Confusingly, it is also used on journeys when there is only one possible route.

ROUTE DIRECT

This can mean several different things. Passengers may be banned from changing trains mid-journey or getting off at certain stops – or from getting any trains other than the fastest ones available. Confusingly, it has also been used on tickets where passengers have to change trains.

LONDON TERMINALS

This indicates that a passenger can use several stations in the capital for the origin or destination of their journey. However, it is also used for some routes where only one London station is valid.

GROUP STATIONS

As with London Terminals, a group of stations can be used to start or end a journey, such as ‘Birmingham Group’ which includes three stations in the city. Again, in reality sometimes only one station can be used.

PLUS CONNECTIONS

This means additional transport services are needed to complete a journey – but details explaining these are not given.

OFF-PEAK

These tickets have restrictions on when they can be used. However, the complexity of the fares system means explanations of peak times can be convoluted.