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Rail Travel Procedure

In order to get a layover in Birmingham New Station I felt comfortable with (and as it turned out got a price savings over through ticketing) I got two separate advance fare bookings with print-at-home tickets.

Question: In the UK are tickets scanned entering and exiting or on the train by the conductor? If on entry/exit, in Birmingham will I need to exit using ticket #1 and reenter using ticket #2? I just had this thought pop in my head that should tickets be scanned at the station I might have issues exiting at the destination if the system doesn't show an entry.

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Birmingham New Street - a grand reopening this weekend including a large new John Lewis department store which opens next week - now has Virgins manning (and womaning) new electronic gates on entry (and exit) to the dispersal halls before going down to the platforms.

You'll need to have the correct ticket to exit, if printed on paper instead of a real ticket you need to show the paper to the staff member. Be patient, if you can't put your ticket through the machine, you will be in a queue to see the staff member at her or his manual gate. You will also need the correct ticket to continue your journey, and expect these tickets to also be examined on each train.

Birmingham New Street is host to Virgin West Coast, Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry, London Midland, and various charter trains. As Emma said, it is very important to match the train you join to the ticket you hold.