I wonder if the Romsey-Southampton-Romsey-Salisbury rounders could be covered in this way. It would free up some stock. I'm not sure how much real-time charging would be possible on the Redbridge to Eastleigh section, but they do get a decent layover in Salisbury.

Please excuse me, whilst I pick myself up off the floor.

I think a lot of people are saying this. With the Eastleigh works drawing to a close soon, seems incredible that there will not even be a Romsey "0" until the end of March. Then again, nothing about SWR shocks anyone any more.

One important element of the delay repay system is the ability to make a claim for the overall delay caused by a missed connection.

It seems SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) have a novel solution to reducing claims made on this basis - they have removed the journeys involving the tighter connections from the inbuilt journey details selector on the online delay repay form - despite them continuing to be advertised as valid journeys on the national rail route planner.....

What happens if a season ticket holder is making a journey only as far as an intermediate station, rather than using the full end to end validity on the ticket, and encounters a delay or cancellation?

Presumably there is no compensation at all? Or is the compensation paid as if the full route was being taken?

You mean something like this?

http://www.railroadforums.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/11430/title/wildenrath-test-track/cat/566

I recall some time ago being on one of the wessex trains class 153s (I think it was a Southampton to Swindon) where the failure of the leading cab just prior to departure from Soton meant that the driver had to swap ends and the train was diverted via Eastleigh, using the tunnel in the process. I think this mave been around 2002/2003.

In the end, I popped down to my local station this afternoon and coughed up the ^2.70 to have the route excessed to via Honiton, since for the time of day I was travelling it would have resulted in the same arrival time at my eventual destination anyway and saved me the bother of the potential arguement on the train later. But I would tend to agree with Grahame that if a machine issues it, it should be valid- theres there potential for less experienced travellers to get in a real pickle here.

It is not as if it is the only software fault associated with use of a Network Card, some of the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) machines allow you to select the card for fares that were originally under ^13 in the first place- resulting in the fare being automatically raised to that minimum level, a bit of a nasty trick really. I dont know if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) machines do the same thing.

Thanks for your swift reply.
Slightly concerning I suppose that it is possible to purchase a ticket that can never be valid, but hardly suprising given the current fare structure.
If I wanted to now pay the couple of quid excess to have the ticket valid via Honiton instead, do I have to elect to do this before I commence the journey at Winchester? Or could it be done by the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) guard on the train between Winchester and Southampton? On the other hand could the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) guard on the train between Soton and Westbury do an excess for the Honiton route if the train had not reached salisbury yet? Im potentially in an awkward situation if I get to Winchester and theres a long queue at the ticket office.
 

On the subject of splitting tickets I have found a strange anomaly in the system.
I wanted to make a journey from Winchester to a station in Cornwall, so I decided I would split between Winchester and Exeter St Davids in order to use my Network Railcard discount. However, if the route chosen for this element of the journey is Westbury/Southampton, it seems the guards ticket machines and the self service machines are still applying the nc discount, even though the journey between salisbury and exeter st davids is presumably outside of the published boundary- I therefore now have a ticket costing 24.90, marked as NSE^▸ (Network South East) discount, but the route is marked as 'Westbry Shampton'.
So really what I am asking, is the ticket valid on the route via Castle Cary or not? It doesn't state 'Honiton Shampton', that particular option was actually a couple of pounds more.
When I get to Westbury and join a HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) what is the guards reaction likely to be?

Im not so very sure that the link between rising ticket prices and fare evasion is as strong and direct as some people think.
Many of the regular hardcore evaders would probably freely admit that they simply wouldnt travel by train if it meant paying for it.
I heard it rumoured that the reason there are no ticket barriers at Fratton station is because South West Trains are well aware that it would not for that reason have any significant effect on revenue.

On a moral basis of course, it does make me angry that somebody is receiving the same service and travelling opportunity as me without paying for it, but then it could equally be said that it is not fair that others pay slightly less simply because they are of an age that permits them to use a 16-25 RC or a Senior one.  Just because something is legitimate does not mean it is therefore fair.

This thread has become subject to a bit of misdirected friendly fire largely due to one or two people getting a bit overexcited. Theres no need for anybody to give themselves a nosebleed, afterall most of us are working towards the same end.

Well Ive read through a few of the issues online and I have to say it does seem very negative and vitriolic. Yes its true that SWT^▸ (South West Trains) have misled passengers, but there are plenty of completely disproportionate statements in the newsletter as well.

One thing that caught my eye was the silly claim that not being able to use the station as a right of way whilst the nearby footbridge is being refurbished has resulted in a 1 mile detour for a group of elderly people... It is actually barely half a mile and repeating those kinds of letters published in the Daily Echo doesnt really do any one any favours.

To be honest the formatting is a little odd. I wonder if the use of capital letters for words like DUFF STOCK and OPERATIONAL CONVENIENCE in the daily reports are meant to actually indicate anger and shouting on the part of the editor.

I dont think it is possible to buy a network card online or over the phone, but I could be wrong.

Having said that, the way some people go on you would think that having a ticket office was the be all and end all of everything. If people need guidance on ticket types they can also look online first, post a question in a forum etc, and often get guidance that is just as good as that provided by a ticket office.

I would have said that the worst side effect of a ticket office being unexpectedly closed is when the people who normally buy their tickets at the windows end up causing a terrible queue at the machines as they gingerly press at the touchscreen, as if they are trying to defuse a bomb. Are these the same people that cause queues in banks?

Hi, Yes this is prior to 1745, I usually arrive at the station just after 17.30. There are no manual annoucements regarding the missing service either, it is most purplexing.