Channel 5 documentary, 'The Railway: First Great Western'

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

Maybe a day return should be valid for a whole day, ie within 24 hours, not part of a day

Your logic is impeccable. But it is logic, and as such has no place in a discussion on train ticket pricing and policy.

[welsh1980]

On the subject of day returns I think they should be valid until 6am the following morning. At the end of the day the passengers do have a ticket its not as if they are asking to travel back without a return ticket.

The series is really good but it does seem focused on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) out of paddington rather than some of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) local services.

[Red Squirrel]

Can anyone explain to me why a return journey that can be completed within a day (if that's not a tautology) should be significantly cheaper than a return journey that cannot be completed within a day (if that's not an oxymoron)? Or am I falling into the same trap of trying to apply logic where logic is not appropriate?

[ellendune]

Can anyone explain to me why a return journey that can be completed within a day (if that's not a tautology) should be significantly cheaper than a return journey that cannot be completed within a day (if that's not an oxymoron)? Or am I falling into the same trap of trying to apply logic where logic is not appropriate?

A question I asked in July 2011. http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9296.msg95576#msg95576

There is a quite a long thread.  Not really sure I ever got a satisfactory answer though!

[Red Squirrel]

Can anyone explain to me why a return journey that can be completed within a day (if that's not a tautology) should be significantly cheaper than a return journey that cannot be completed within a day (if that's not an oxymoron)? Or am I falling into the same trap of trying to apply logic where logic is not appropriate?

A question I asked in July 2011. http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9296.msg95576#msg95576

There is a quite a long thread.  Not really sure I ever got a satisfactory answer though!

Ah, thanks for that!  Phrases involving 'worms' and 'can' spring to mind (as they so often do, when ticketing is involved)... I suppose the most plausible answer is 'fraud', but 'plausible' is not the same things as 'satisfactory'.

[stuving]

If you look outside Britain, or outside railways, day returns (or even day singles) are not that common. Ferry companies use them, but that's pretty obvious - it fills empty boats and doesn't damage their other business which is inherently for longer periods. And, of course, they are selective about which crossing to offer them on. None of which applies to the railways - did it ever do so?

You don't need to go far to find railways that don't use them - and hardly use off-peak, or even returns as cheaper than two singles. And they may offer all tickets in advance with (almost) unlimited validity, which is the real fraud issue here. So none of these is inherent to railways.

Our rail ticketing system does seem to be remarkably conservative (i.e. resistant to change), which may be the origin of some of its mind-tetanising complexity. I'm not sure if it's the industry or the public that is so insistent on sticking with these "old British practices".

[ellendune]

The other point made in that thread is that for some flows they are the regulated walk on fares. So it is not just down to train operating companies.

[didcotdean]

In any wholesale reform even if the revenue overall change was neutral there would be winners and losers - the former would remain quiet, the latter would shout loudly. Most of my rail travel these days is fairly short distance one day trips so I might well fall into the latter category

The price regulation of some fares and not others has created a whole new set of distortions and anomalies, adding to those inherited from British Rail, and several generations of marketing initiatives (week end returns, mid week returns, savers, super savers, apex, advance, group save, railcards - the list goes on for ever).

[stuving]

The other point made in that thread is that for some flows they are the regulated walk on fares. So it is not just down to train operating companies.

I interpreted the question posed in this thread to be about railway ticket pricing per se, so the effect of government pricing regulations is excluded. The point that demonstrates is that we seem to be unable to think of any justification for day tickets on pricing grounds alone.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Express:

Pick of the day: The Railway - First Great Western


Jody starts another day on the Paddington-Swansea line [CHANNEL 5]

This week sleepy Newbury racecourse station springs to life for two major racing events, with a team dispatched to the usually unmanned halt to keep things running smoothly.

Meanwhile train manager Jody (above) braces herself to expect the unexpected as she starts another day on the Paddington-Swansea line, and the emergency services spring into action at the Penzance depot.

[bobm]

After all the debate over how many episodes there would be, Channel 5 tweeted last night that this week's episode was the penultimate one.

[Thatcham Crossing]

Quite enjoyed last night's edition, thought it was quite funny that they reckon "Thames Turbo's" have been around since the '60's!

[Pb_devon]

Another date inaccuracy was the Gunnislake line, said to be 'one of the oldest'.   For the record, Plymouth to Bere Alston 1890; Bere Alston to Calstock 1908;  and Calstock to Gunnislake was originally the ECMR opened in 1872.  All of which are quite late in that railway construction era. 
However, the programme continues to be entertaining.

[SDS]

Looking forward to next week's episode to see the resolution of the, 'kicked up the ass', incident at Newbury. 

An obvious assault caught on camera, but I did chuckle.

Just shows how managers can get away with assaulting passengers in self defence and normal employees get sacked or suspended for the same thing. Andrew Dickenson (Performance Manager Swindon) seemed to have got a promotion after this incident. I know of someone who was headbutted at PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) by a pax, who then put that pax to the floor who was suspended. That employee continues to work for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) only after BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) said the employee was fully in the right.

I have named the manager because he was named on the programme.

[JayMac]

Naming the guy is fine, but I suspect his promotion after the incident was coincidental and not causal.