Can the Experts check for me please ...

[whole diary]

[grahame]

On Wednesday and on Thursday I am commuting from Melksham to Farnbourough Main - to arrive there for 09:00 and return after 17:00.  06:38 from Melksham looks ideal, getting me back at 19:47, via Salisbury and Basingstoke.

Cheapest return I was offered was 110.00 ... and when I put "via Salisbury" it said "no fares available".  However, there's a 26.70 day return from Trowbridge to Farnborough Main, and a 4.00 return from Melksham to Trowbridge.   As both trains call at Trowbridge - (a) I can use those tickets and (b) can I buy them both from the conductor as I'm joining at Melksham where there are no ticket facilities.

Question (b) is my concern - can I be told to get off at Trowbridge and buy the second ticket there as I don't have it ahead of time and must have tickets from Trowbridge before I board, or can I be told I have to pay the 110.00 fare (at that price, I would drive!)

[JayMac]

You should have no problem asking for split tickets on your first train. It'd be a pretty heartless conductor who refused to sell you the second ticket or forced you to get off at Trowbridge. I'd go so far as to say it will be okay to purchase your split even if the conductor doesn't get to you until after Trowbridge.

There are no specific rules for this scenario, but the National Rail Conditions of Carriage permit both the purchase of split tickets and purchase at the earliest opportunity if no facilities exist at your start station. Where you are splitting (provided train calls) and where you decide to change (provided minimum connection time is adhered to) should bear no relevance.

[JayMac]

On another forum, folk are debating the biggest savings to be had from split ticketing. Thanks to this example grahame I now have the current record. A saving of 73% with a similar journey - Melksham to Basingstoke peak day return, splitting at Trowbridge.

[eightf48544]

It's no wonder people are put off rail travel with anomolies (stupidities) like this!

Presumably EGW sets the Melksham fares so could easily make the fare ^30.70 and because Melksham has such a poor service make it via Bath as well if that fits.

It's a bit like the Coventry Nuneaton fares that came up the other day reasonable direct excessive via Rugby with double the journey time as well!

[Jason]

The one that nearly bit me once was a 1st class ticket from Reading to Kidderminster on a Saturday.

For example, booking on this Saturday's 10:54 departure, changing at WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains), quotes me ^108 for an end to end ticket.
Compare with the quoted ^48.50 for RDG^‡(resolve)-WOS and then ^5.60 for WOS to Kidderminster.

[grahame]

You should have no problem asking for split tickets on your first train. It'd be a pretty heartless conductor who refused to sell you the second ticket or forced you to get off at Trowbridge. ....

The conductor was more that helpful, thank you - had a good chat.   But glancing at the rear of my TROWBRIDGE to Farnborough Stns ticket, it bore the message "If an Authorised Penalty Fares Collector had been checking tickets you may have been charged a 20 pound Penalty Fare, or twice the single fare to the next station stop, whichever is the greater."   Trowbridge is a penalty fare station, and the ticket counter would have been open ... I find myself wondering if the SW Trains conductor who checked my ticket when I got into leccy land might have wondered if I had been caught committing a penalty fare offence, but not by an RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) ... but that's a story from another thread!

[swrural]

Graham E (apols for calling you Grahame, I've now sussed that you must be Graham Ellis).

What is 'leccy land' please?  I looked in the abbreviations (this time) but there was no entry there.

Congratulations on all the work you do in Wilts, by the way.

[grahame]

"Leccy land" - land of electric trains.  Probably not a standard abbreviation anywhere, but I was brought up in the south London suburbs on the British Rail / Southern electric so I'm allowed a caring personal abbreviation for them. Looking through rosy tinted spectacles at the 444 I was on this morning, everyone seated, fast acceleration, only five minutes to wait to connect into it at Basingstoke, and I thought "I wish we could have a train service like that".  Who knows - one day ... after all, Melksham substation is a major feeder point for the GW^▸ (Great Western) electrification:



Now I chose the handle "Grahame", so I'm not unhappy to be addressed in that way ... tells me apart from the "Graham"s who inhabit other online places and it's a sort of standard handle.  And thanks for the note about what we do - of course I'm just the noisy one so I tend to get more than my share of limelight sometimes.

[swrural]

Thanks, Graham. I'm replying to this seeking a thread that is about 'your line'.  At least, I will when I see which that should be.  Amazingly (unless I have misunderstood) I don't see one.  I looked at the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website timetable section and finding out where Melksham is likely to be, and where the miserable number of trains that call at it go to or come from, it was like 'hunt the thimble'.

So just tell me (and us) where I should put my comments on the south to north line through Wilts please.  I would like to contribute.

[bobm]

after all, Melksham substation is a major feeder point for the GW^▸ (Great Western) electrification:

Never mind the GW electricfication, it is a pretty important place in the National Grid supplying all of our homes and offices.   

[grahame]

I looked at the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website timetable section and finding out where Melksham is likely to be, and where the miserable number of trains that call at it go to or come from, it was like 'hunt the thimble'.

So just tell me (and us) where I should put my comments on the south to north line through Wilts please.  I would like to contribute.

We've adopted the "TransWilts" brand name (if you'ld like to call it that) for the North - South line through Wiltshire; that's Swindon to Salisbury via Westbury, and it has its own board at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?board=18.0 .  It's not as busy as (say) the London to Bristol board, but then we're only graced with a very limited train service compared to almost every other line. I think the only line in the FGW area with less trains is the Rhubarb Loop.

In FGW timetable terms, take a look at table 25.  Trains from Chippenham to Trowbridge are listed in the Cardiff to Portsmouth table, and if you want to go from Melksham to London, look under Portsmouth to Cardiff.   If you want to go to Bristol, look at table 25 (in both directions because you double back at Trowbridge) for the 06:38 and 19:11, and at table 25 then table 1 for the 07:20 and 19:47 departures, via Chippenham.

It's generally acknowledged that better information is needed so that people know about improved services when they come, and we've already done a fair chunk of background work in working out what's needed.  I'm limited in what I can/will publish as many parts of the detail are to be resolved and if we started putting timetables about then it would be concluded that decisions have been made, whereas in reality we've had excellent discussions with all companies hoping to run services on the line in the future and they're now very fully informed as to the local thoughts on some of the compromises that need to be made.

[JayMac]

thank you 

Glad to be of assistance. I was half expecting to see you today at Westbury waiting for the 1932 to Melksham. I came up from the south coast and killed a bit of time at Westbury before heading on to Bristol.

[grahame]

thank you 

Glad to be of assistance. I was half expecting to see you today at Westbury waiting for the 1932 to Melksham. I came up from the south coast and killed a bit of time at Westbury before heading on to Bristol.

In an adjustment of plans, I bought single rather than day return (same split, still a good saving) ... and stopped overnight in Farnborough. A repeated 06:10 departure from home to walk to the station, and getting home around 20:10, would potentially have left me too tired to be presenting a superb Perl course by the latter part of the week.