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Just a matter of interest, does anyone know if the London Victoria to Brighton Fast services are DOO or do they have a Guard?

Hmm. Now I know this forum sometimes strays from FGWland, but this is stretching it a bit.

I'll guess though that Southern long distance trains aren't DOO.   

what has this got to do with FGW?

The longer distance services (such as London to Brighton) have a guard.

A gentle clarification ... this is "The Wider Picture" board, which is described as "Not 'Trains in the West', but related subjects".   And (as far as I am concerned at least) related subjects includes other things going on in the South West, and other railway things elsewhere in the UK too - typically they're related and of interest for comparison purposes at the least.


Arguable, I see your point, but it's ceranly my intent that subject like this are welcomed on this board - especially when instigated by a regular member / a member who's resident in FGW land.


It's to do with another TOC and can make an interesting comparison.  So "The Wider Picture" is exactly the right place to post it.  ;D

---OOO---

I have not asked the other moderators, but I would personally welcome more or less any UK railway topic in "the wider picture" as I feel it's useful to see (err) the wider picture. And I would welcome posts about overseas / comparable rail stuff too. Of course, this forum doesn't have a lot of LBSCR experts, so if you ask a question relating to the Brighton run you may be fishing for an answer in a very skimpy pool of knowledge, so there may be other places that will be more efficient in getting you an answer.

Also ... posts that relate to the South West area, and country news that has / could have an effect on rail users / be of interest to our members go here.  Remember also "the lighter side" for more frivellous topics, and if you're a regular poster, the "frequent posters club" which both seem to go beyond the narrow FGW demarkation.

As someone that made one of the comments, I will of course defer to the moderator's view, but perhaps I could clarify my comment.

I know often that subjects originally to do with FGW often wander on to comments about other TOCs, and that is to some extent natural, particularly when the TOC is adjacent to FGW, or is being compared to FGW.  And sometimes subjects are posted about other TOCs which have a wider relevance to the UK rail industry, such as the recent comments about NXEC.

But the post in question appeared to be neither, and nor was there any explanation of why it might be relevant. I think one of the great things about this website is that it remains focussed on FGW, and is not just a general board for railway enthusiasts. I hope, and I'm sure it will remain that way, particularly with the excellent team of moderators who do such a good job.     

   

FGW operate into Brighton !   ;D

But the great thing about this board is that there are commuters, drivers, guards, engineers - i.e. a large pool of knowledge - so a question can be answered either from a professional, or several peoples' experiences/opinions.

Besides, Brighton is in FGW land (although I assume they will axe services soon, to make better use of the stock - lots of TOCs seem to be abandoning Brighton: XC, SWT.....

As far as I'm concerned it is / will remain primarily "FGW". Of course, what we do with it when their franchise ends in 2016 (or if they give it up early in 2013 to save themselves 800,000,000 pounds or so) is a question that hasn't been addressed yet ;D

A handful of boards - no more - are designed to (and can) stray a little further afield - to other rail issues, other modes of transport, other things in the South West - and in "Frequent Posters Club" I wouldn't actually well established members (by definition, it's well established members who post there) going slighly further off topic ... discussing the origins of a word / name, for example.

For users who ONLY want to read FGW posts, there are options in their account settings to ignore the handful of boards that they prefer not to read.

Nice  ;D

Only Today have I booked a ticket to Brighton on the FGW web site going via London and back via Fratton most of the the journey will be on FGW trains.

I am sorry to cause such an Issue.

I am a regular FGW traveller and live, commute and travel round Bristol ( as the name suggests ).  All my posts are primarly to do with FGW.

Next week I am travelling to Brighton on personal business and I just thought I would ask a helpful question about my train from London Victoria to Brighton, so I could know whether I could buy my ticket on the train and get on at a smaller station, or go to London Victoria and buy my ticket there.  That is why I asked if the train was DOO or not.

I also thought the board I posted the question in was the most suitable board to post it in.

Sorry if I have been a naughty boy, and strayed of FGW land.  :'(

Ok.  Now we know the reason we may be able to be of more help.

I'm still slightly confused by your question, but the GB Timetable states that Southern operate a penalty fare system on all its routes. And unlike FGW, I suspect it actually operates, as the operators around London are much tighter on penalty fares, as they have been in place for some years.

So you would be ill advised to board a train without a ticket, with the usual proviso that if the station doesn't have ticket purchasing facilities etc, etc, you can do. Either way, at Victoria you have to pass through barriers, so even if you board at a local station and travel inwards to Victoria, when you change there, you would have to buy a ticket.

Hope that makes sense! 

Penalty fares and DDO are not related.

On the London Vic Brighton services onboard ticket checks have been done on virtually every train I have travelled on on that route which is once or twice a month

Good point. DOO means that the driver has complete charge of the train, opening and closing doors etc. It doesn't mean that they are the only member of crew.

If there is a "guard" (as most people still think of them) then their job is confined to the passenger facing side, checking tickets etc. 

Thanks, John R and Electric train  ;)


No, BristolBlogger, I don't regard you as a naughty boy for posting that question here: this board is indeed defined as being intended for posts relating to 'Not "Trains in the West", but related subjects'  :)

And - as he pointed out - while grahame did not refer this to the moderation team before he replied, I would like to say here that I agree wholeheartedly with his response.


Thanks, John!  That's just what we're working on!  ;) :D ;D