Great Western Coffee Shop

Can anyone on "the inside" answer my question...?

There's weekend engineering work between Didcot and Swindon for the next few weeks, meaning bus replacement between these two stations. An alternative way to travel is via Reading and then catch the Bristol service that is diverted via the Berks and Hants.

The cheaper tickets (CDR and lower fare SVR) are routed "not Reading". However, in the past I have often been told by station staff to take this route rather than the bus replacement. Only once have I been challenged by a train manager in this situation, and he eventually backed down. Equally often though I have been told that I must take the bus.

So, my question is, what's the official ruling on use of this route during engineering work? It's never been consistent in the past!

If I remember right, if there was no replacement service offered you would be okay using ticket via Reading, but as replacement provided you should use that.

Ollie's advice agrees with what I was told in a FGW customer service letter.   I suppose you better stick to the rules unless someone on the ground is prepared to bend them for you.

FGW is of course able to enact temporary ticket easments if it so wishes, and it is fairly disgraceful that it doesn't in situations like yours (but perhaps things are not so simple as I assume because of the impact on XC?)

If it is quicker via Reading then I usually allow it.  However last weekend for example due to the timings it was quicker to go via Swindon so I told everyone so and they took the train / bus option via Swindon.  The diverted train was very busy and by telling the didcot / oxdford passengers to go via Swindon everyone did have a seat.

I think you'll find actually you are supposed to take the correct route and anything else is up to the discretion of the TM / Conductor.

You're absolutely right, for the last few weeks the Reading route has actually been slower than using the bus via Swindon, because the service between RDG - OXF has been reduced by engineering work as well.

Fair enough, use of the ticket may be down to the discretion of the train manager but you won't find that out until you get on board and potentially find yourself faced with a hefty excess fare (esp if using a CDR!). It's not always straightforward to ask the TM before getting on board since they may be 8 carriages away from where you're waiting and I don't like disturbing safety-critical staff when they're busy trying to get a train out.

Sometimes booking office staff have told me to travel via Reading without me asking, other times they have refused when I did ask and one booking clerk even threatened me (erroneously) with a penalty fare if I did so!

I guess my main point is that this has been an FGW blind spot for years that has come up every time there's engineering work between DID and SWI - some consistency and a bit of advance-notice advertising about what routes will/will not be permissible during the engineering work would be muchly appreciated!

why doesn't FGW lift just the ticket restriction during engineering work and make it simpler for all concerned? 

I asked customer services that. Their logic was brilliant - because that wouldn't be fair to passengers who had paid for the dearer ("not London" rather than "not Reading") tickets. Although of course, if they lifted the restriction then no-one would have paid that much...

It's always struck me as a bit of a cheek that FGW charge you extra (in some cases hugely more, for example OXF - BRI not Reading off-peak day return is ^17.80 but the cheapest fare for travel via Reading is an off-peak return at ^43.00) for the privilege of actually travelling on a train when the journey is taking an hour longer than it would normally. It's almost as if they are charging you more for the privilege of spending more time on the train!

Under normal circumstances of course no-one in their right mind would travel via Reading on this journey unless they actually had business there because it takes so much longer.

The man is correct. Take this as an Example.

Bath Spa - Bournemouth.

Anytime Single ^28.00 routed either via Yeovil or via Salisbury.

Off Peak Single ^55.00 routed Not London.

Yet whenever you put this journey into www.fgwtickets.co.uk it will only show a journey Changing at Southampton Central or Dorchester West then walking to Dorchester South.

How in their right mind will buy the less flexible "Not London" ticket. I know, the passenger who walked up to the ticket machine, not a regular passenger. doesn't understand the routes. or even know where to change to get to bournemouth!! I know this for a fact because a young lady I met at Bath Spa station was indeed about to buy the "Not London" ticket at 20:00 at night with nobody to ask... turned to me because I looked intelligent 8)

Ok heres a challenge. Name me a route that does not go via Salisbury or Yeovil. but is valid for the "NOT LONDON" ticket?? I bet you it takes much much longer ::) which proves it wouldn't be worth buying. Not to mention it is less flexible :P

In what way would it be unfair to those people?  They pay X and get the service priced at X. 

Surely the fareness or otherwise of your ticket is derived by comparing what you paid with what you got for your money.  I don't understand this looking at what the person next to you paid in order to decide if your fare was fair.  By the same logic, cheap advanced tickets are unfair on those who pay full price.  So long as all tickets are available to everyone on a non-discriminatory basis it can't be unfair.

I guess the via Reading option is more expensive to discourage people using it to travel to Reading, but the restriction could and should be lifted for a single weekend engineering work without cutting into FGW's revenue.   

I've gone 'off topic' to answer that one, Tim ... split thread:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4331.0

Keeping on topic, the two tickets discussed here (via Reading and Not via reading) are of course offered to everyone.