Great Western Coffee Shop

Silly question ... for the first time that I can recall, I'm doing the same commute for 4 days this week and a 7 day season ticket looks like best value.

Can I just turn up at Chippenham Station tomorrow morning 15 minutes before my train with a passport size photo and get my photocard and the ticket?  The web site seems to say that's all I need ... no other ID (utility bill, driving license, passport) but I would rather know now!

Yes that's all you need to do... ...if 15 minutes is what you normally need to allow to buy your ticket. 

Magic, thanks.  (I err on the side of safety with timing ... 10 minutes SHOULD be plenty  ;) )

Keep hold of the photocard - you'll be able to use it again in future (as long as the photo still looks like you, of course!) should you need to buy any further seasons, which ill save time at the booking office. I think that once you have a photocard, most TVMs will also allow you to purchase seven-day seasons from them, which can be handy. You just need to remember to write in your photocard number once the ticket is issued.

I'm under the impression that if you have the photocard, you can also buy certain period seasons from on train staff when using an unmanned station.

That's good to know.

Tomorrow morning, I was planning to start from Chippenham on the 06:25, as the 05:56 from Melksham ran for the last time on 8th December 2006, and the 07:20 (now the first northbound train of the day) is too late for me. Pity really - I remember being on that train with 40 or 50 others a few months before it was withdrawn.

Dont take my point as fact, I'm sure though my friend buys a 7 day ticket from the guard each week from Falmouth - Truro.

7 day seasons are available from the guard but longer ones (one month or more) have to be bought from a ticket office

Because the TVM at my local station is frequently out of action I often buy my weekly ticket on the train and have never had a problem with the TM issuing it. In fact if the ticket gets checked on the last day it is valid they often offer to renew it. I believe someone on here said the TMs get a slight bonus for this but it saves me hassle the following day so I am not complaining!

The only downside of having the ticket issued on board is that the gateline machines can't always read the stripes of the tickets printed on the TMs ticket machines - (Avantix?) but thenkfully on my route they understand this and manually operate the gates.

2% commission.  Nice little earner if you have a few season ticket renewals to add to your normal ticket sales!

I think if the new season starts the following day, you can only issue it after 18:00 on train, and 7 day season is the max we are allowed to sell.

Being a creature of habit, I travel home about 418pm and my (weekly) ticket is renewed before 5pm

Fair enough.. maybe it was 12:00.. I know I have tried to do a 7-day before and it was starting the following day and the machine wouldn't allow it due to being too early in the day (and potentially open to fraud on that day).

Well today is they day my ticket is due for renewal so if I am offered the chance I will ask the TM to see what they the think the earliest it can be done is.

Does anyone know if the Avantix will only allow a purchase of a weekly season for the following day if a certain time of day has been passed?

Thanks

According to this - http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/season_tickets.html (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/season_tickets.html) - a renewal is possible after 12 noon on the day before - or Friday 12 noon if it expires on a Sunday or Monday.

From today (17th December) you can also buy or renew annual season tickets with a start date of 1st January if you choose to go for the annual season ticket. 1st January is the final date for the old cheaper priced tickets.

What grahame fails to mention is that this was the day that he dragged various local dignitaries and the local media out of bed for one of his infamous Save The Train publicity stunts.

On any normal day you would have struggled to spot more than a handful of passengers on that particular train, if that.

While there is probably no unbiased case for improved Melksham train services that either national or local taxpayers would inevitably have to shoulder the burden of, there certainly is not a case for putting a Melksham train on at that time of the morning.

Regnir, your view clearly differs from that which National Express / Wessex trains held in 2001 when they started the service  ;)

I still look forward to your replies on the threads of 14th May and 16th September, where you've raised issues to start discussions, with elements of truth mixed with unsubstantiated views that simply don't seem to stand up.  Please help us understand where you're coming from and what your agenda is, and we'll help fill you in on what's going on in these parts.  But in the meantime - sorry - your new suggestions and comments aren't even worth challenging.

The forum will, I hope, note your reluctance to challenge the validity of my assertions, grahame.

No, reverse ringer, we just notice that you haven't yet replied to Grahame's comments dating back several months, so I can quite understand why he wouldn't want to enter any further discussion, as to have a meaningful debate requires responding to the other party's point of view, not just restating your own point over and over again.

Besides, as has been well documented, there has been a promise of state funding to get a sensible service up and running, so hopefully Melksham will soon have its service, and we'll see who's right.