What are your chances of getting the cheapest tickets

[whole diary]

[basset44]

Hi All,

Decided to go Cardiff to Bristol Parkway ( No Ticket check) barriers at Bristol Parkway did not accept ticket Cardiff did, went for a Cig.

When waiting for Cross country to Taunton a 150 to Weymouth came in little did i know I would see this again.

Bristol to Taunton on Cross Country nice plenty of seats, ticket checked just past Bristol, quick cig break at Taunton open Station by Taxi rank.

Taunton to Castle Cary 8 carriage train with a grey coach at the front could not see seats has i was towards rear, no ticket check.

Castle Cary to Dorchester on the 150 that came past me at Bristol was glad i chose the other route Ticket checked.

Walked from the Dorchester stations and caught a SWT^▸ (South West Trains) train to Bournemouth, ticket checked.

Arrived Bournemouth on time and I got to say i enjoyed the trip, nice to see parts of the network i not been on, plus if I have the time I have a day to see some more, a excellent ticket.

Bassset

[JayMac]

Taunton to Castle Cary 8 carriage train with a grey coach at the front.....

That would've been Mk 3 coach 42353 TSO^▸ (The Stationary Office (now OPSI))-D (Trailer Standard Open-Disabled), renumbered as E12002 which was one of the original High Speed Train prototype coaches and as such one of the oldest Mk3's running, having recently passed 40 years in service. It was recently painted by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) in the original HST^▸ (High Speed Train) prototype livery for its visit to Railfest 2012, were it was displayed alongside HST prototype power car 41001. Nice to see FGW running it round the network in service with the historic livery.

A picture of a prototype HST coach from 1972:

http://www.traintesting.com/images/MK3_coach_1972_small.jpg

[grahame]

Depends on where these guards cover etc, you cant expect everyone to have all the knowledge surely?

The system is so complex that, no, you can't expect it.  But you should be able to expect it, as the system (in my personal view) is needlessly complex.

I've not studied the current fares consultation in detail, and I listened to a precise of what's in parts of it with increasing dismay at a meeting I attended last Friday night (MRDG^» (Melksham Railway Development Group - about)). My understanding is that it's suggested that peak be split into high peak and lower peak in order to reduce the fare jump from peak to off peak, and to balance out the fares so that the optimal amount can be charged at each step to minimise the cost to the taxpayer of the railway.

There's a suggestion that part-time season ticket facilities need to provided somewhat more (routinely?) - there's certainly an issue that's been reported here, but whether a part-time season is a proper solution, or just a sticking plaster on a system that needs something more radical.

Finally, my understanding is that the consultation acknowledges that the general public finds it difficult to understand the current fares system, and tells the train operating companies that they'll have to explain it better in the future.

Now - I may be passing on a partial view - I would welcome comments / feedback / discussion  

[bobm]

Taunton to Castle Cary 8 carriage train with a grey coach at the front.....

That would've been Mk 3 coach 42353 TSO^▸ (The Stationary Office (now OPSI))-D (Trailer Standard Open-Disabled), renumbered as E12002 which was one of the original High Speed Train prototype coaches and as such one of the oldest Mk3's running, having recently passed 40 years in service. It was recently painted by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) in the original HST^▸ (High Speed Train) prototype livery for its visit to Railfest 2012, were it was displayed alongside HST prototype power car 41001. Nice to see FGW running it round the network in service with the historic livery.

A picture of a prototype HST coach from 1972:

http://www.traintesting.com/images/MK3_coach_1972_small.jpg

I saw the same set today at Reading on the (late running) 15:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central (I suspect basset44 viewed it on the inward working from Paignton).  When I came across it it was marshalled between Coach H and the rear power car and appeared to be locked out of use.  The departure board showed it as an 8 coach train but I don't know if that included the locked out coach as it was already on the platform when I arrived to catch the following train.

[Milky Bar Kid]

why would not having said knowledge of a rover ticket have anything to do with whether or not they have the ability to run a train? selling and checking tickets is secondry to their main duties which is safety of the train!! You also wouldnt expect guards in scotland or far cornwall to know of or need to know of such FOSS^▸ (Freedom of Severn & Solent Rover) tickets.

[Southern Stag]

I saw the same set today at Reading on the (late running) 15:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central (I suspect basset44 viewed it on the inward working from Paignton).  When I came across it it was marshalled between Coach H and the rear power car and appeared to be locked out of use.  The departure board showed it as an 8 coach train but I don't know if that included the locked out coach as it was already on the platform when I arrived to catch the following train.

It was in an otherwise 2+7 set, but shouldn't really have been showing as an 8-coach train, as it was locked out of use. It was probably just a positioning move for the coach, getting it from Old Oak Common to Laira. The same move happened in reverse when the coach was first reliveried, with it again being locked out of use and marshalled next to Coach H.

[Rhydgaled]

That would've been Mk 3 coach 42353 TSO^▸ (The Stationary Office (now OPSI))-D (Trailer Standard Open-Disabled), renumbered as E12002 which was one of the original High Speed Train prototype coaches and as such one of the oldest Mk3's running, having recently passed 40 years in service. It was recently painted by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) in the original HST^▸ (High Speed Train) prototype livery for its visit to Railfest 2012, were it was displayed alongside HST prototype power car 41001. Nice to see FGW running it round the network in service with the historic livery.

Supprised to hear it is running round the network in prototype livery. When I saw it at railfest, there were lines in the 'paintwork' leading me to decide it was probably vinaled, not painted, into the prototype livery. Hence I would have though FirstGW would have just removed the vinals and put it straight back into service.

[Southern Stag]

I believe it was just vinyled, it was done at Laira though and presumably they are going to be taken off there too. It's just running around in service to get it to Laira.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Going back to the business of Rover tickets, I think that the lists of tickets on the various machines are probably very badly organised.

I'm saying this on the basis of the order in which they occur in the Avantix^▸ (Ticket Issuing System used on board trains) software.

If you want to issue a ticket from station A to station B, then it's easy - they're in alphabetical order.

But if you want a Rover, then you need to know the short name under which they appear in the list.

So the ticket that's sold as "Freedom of Severn & Solent 3 in 7 Day Rover" appears in the list as "FOSS^▸ (Freedom of Severn & Solent Rover) ROVER 3 IN7", and it's between "FORT WILLIAM" and "FOUR OAKS".

Actually, the list looks like

    FORT WILLIAM
    FORT WILLIAM +BUS
    FORWARD TVL MGMT
    FOSCL FLEXI ROVER
    FOSS ROVER 3 IN7
    FOSS ROVER 8IN15
    FOSW^▸ (Freedom of (the) South West Rover) ROVER 3IN7
    FOSW ROVER 8IN15
    FOTA (CIE^» (Coras Iompair Eireann - Holding company for Irish transport companies - about)
    FOUR OAKS
    FOUR OAKS+BUSWM
    FOUR WK ALLZONE
    FOUR WK ZONE 1*
    FOUR WK ZONE 12*
    FOUR WK ZONE123*
    FOUR WK ZONE1234
    FOUR WKZONE*2345
    FOWEY BUS

and a bit further on there's

    FRDM TVLPASS
    FREEDOM 3MONTH
    FREEDOM OF COAST

and

    FRM OF BRIT (in both "7DY" and "14DY" variants)

"DEVON" has "DAY OUT", "EVENING RGR" and "RANGER"

"DEN HAAG" appears properly, with both "DEN HAAG CS" and "DEN HAAG HS^▸ (High Speed (short for HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) High Speed Services))" separately listed.

There's several "DAYS OUT", "DAYSAVER" and "DAYTRIPPER" variants.

Can anyone positively identify "CWL PSSPT TO FDM", or "FTPL IBE" or "C W T".

And just in case you didn't think the designers could organise one, they've included "SPORTS PICNIC".

I was looking for the ticket sold as "Freedom of Devon & Cornwall - 3 in 7 Days". But I can't find it - and that's indicative of just how badly organised all of this is.

[old original]

CWL PSSPT TO FDM = Cornwall Passport to Freedom, a Wessex Trains thing & finished when FGW^▸ (First Great Western) took over.


Freedom of Devon & Cornwall - FODC

[Southern Stag]

The three South West one are FOSS^▸ (Freedom of Severn & Solent Rover), FOSW^▸ (Freedom of (the) South West Rover) and FODC for Freedom of Severn and Solent, Freedom of the South West and Freedom of Devon and Cornwall respectively if you ever need to buy one off a guard if you know the short code they should be able to find it easier.

[Worcester_Passenger]

CWL PSSPT TO FDM = Cornwall Passport to Freedom, a Wessex Trains thing & finished when FGW^▸ (First Great Western) took over.


Freedom of Devon & Cornwall - FODC

Thanks for that - found it now.

But how are guards expected to know this horrendous list?

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

Ain't they under rover inquiry

[FarWestJohn]

Anyone know what to ask for if requiring the Maritime Ranger on the train?

I tried the other day and the conductor could not find it. I asked again on the way home and was told just buy a return from Truro to Falmouth. If you do this won't the barrier at Truro gobble it up?

Seems a bit useless if you can only purchase the Ranger at Truro ticket office.

[grahame]

Seems a bit useless if you can only purchase the Ranger at Truro ticket office.

Seems a bit like Plusbus where (as I understand it) you can't actually buy from the Bus conductor:

If you want bus travel to start your journey to the station, you must choose to have your tickets posted to you, or pay for next-day delivery by courier. You must show the actual PLUSBUS ticket to the bus driver (we're sorry, an  online booking confirmation will not be accepted).