Announcement "split tickets are not valid on this train"

[whole diary]

[Tim K]

On the 7.20 Swindon to London Paddington (non-stop) this morning there was an announcement that "split tickets are not valid on this train, if your ticket is split at Didcot or Reading it is not valid as the train has to stop at those points.  You will be charged a full single fare".

Not heard that announcement before but saw at least 2 people leave the train from my carriage so it was obviously effective!

[grahame]

I was on that train too.   Had a chat with the conductor who made the announcement, who confirmed that splits between a season and an individual (non season) ARE valid on the service.   They're caught between a rock and a hard place, really ... so complex a system that whatever is announced has "yes, but .."s associated with it.

I notes in coach "B" 36 passengers for - what - 76 seats.  And as it's nonstop through Reading, it's got a gap behind it from there.   Perhaps it should stop at a selected Thames Valley station if there's still overcrowding there, Jo ... 

[bobm]

As we are now in May perhaps this is one of the announcements which has replaced the "tosh" ones....

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12145.0

[JayMac]

What's wrong with just a few more words? "...unless one of your tickets is a Season Ticket valid on part of this route."

[johoare]

I was on that train too.   Had a chat with the conductor who made the announcement, who confirmed that splits between a season and an individual (non season) ARE valid on the service.   They're caught between a rock and a hard place, really ... so complex a system that whatever is announced has "yes, but .."s associated with it.

I notes in coach "B" 36 passengers for - what - 76 seats.  And as it's nonstop through Reading, it's got a gap behind it from there.   Perhaps it should stop at a selected Thames Valley station if there's still overcrowding there, Jo ... 

I am guessing that is the 8.16 arrival at Paddington? If so they have occasionally stopped that one  at Maidenhead just before 8am if the 8am departure  is not an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) as usual.. To be fair that hasn't happened in a while.. Also this train hasn't been running Monday to Thursday recently due to engineering works somewhere far west (assuming I've got the correct train that is) so maybe quieter due to that and also because it's already a bank holiday weekend so people may already be taking today off to have an extra long weekend

But still.. Maidenhead always needs extra capacity (not seats.. just room to stand/breath at times) 

[Southern Stag]

The trains which don't stop at Reading are meant to offer the fastest journey times into London, so it's unlikely that Maidenhead calls will be added. Also the 0640 Bristol TM^‡(resolve)-London is cancelled in the summer months to allow an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) to Newquay and extra Penzance trains. The 0800 off Maidenhead is only one of three trains not to call at Reading. For extra Twyford and Maidenhead stops it would really need FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to find out what are the quieter services from Reading in the am peak. And then even once the quieter services are found it may not be possible for them to stop at Twyford or Maidenhead.

[thetrout]

Boundary Zone with a Travelcard Split would also have been valid.

Maybe the announcement: If any passengers have split their tickets at Didcot Parkway or Reading with the exception of valid season ticket splits please catch A N OTHER service which calls at the station you have split your ticket at.

[Southern Stag]

Boundary Zone with a Travelcard Split would also have been valid.

They would be, but Boundary Zone tickets aren't available as far out as Swindon. Splitting at Didcot/Reading and Boundary Zone 6 would not be valid, as all tickets have to be zonal tickets for the split to be valid. That's unlike seasons where only one your tickets has to be a season to allow unlimited splits.

[thetrout]

Sorry... I posted that from my iPhone... Which had in addition to my previous post:

I don't think that Boundary Zone Tickets go as far out as Swindon. So unless you held a Travelcard Season, then a split at DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains)/RDG^‡(resolve) wouldn't work so in most cases the announcement is possibly correct. But that doesn't remove the issue that GrahamE' combination of ticket splits were perfectly valid despite a generic announcement saying otherwise

I recall a while ago on an Eastcoast service, I had purchased an FSR^▸ (First Scot Rail) (First Off Peak Return). There was a generic announcement again that Off Peak tickets were not valid on that train. One small problem with that. There wasn't an Anytime Ticket available for my particular journey. Needless to say when the Train Manager came to check my ticket I was told it wasn't valid. When I mentioned that there wasn't an FOR (First Anytime Return) available on this particular journey. I was greeted with the response: "Well if you know what an FOR code is then I have no reason to disbelieve you..." To which she gripped the ticket and wished me a pleasent journey...

Maybe it was because of my good looks and that I wasn't complaining the train was 40 minutes late that she decided to play nice

[Tim K]

This train is only quiet on Friday's, the rest of the week it's usually quite busy (but not standing room only).  At least twice when I've taken the train and there's been disruption on the route it's made an unscheduled stop at Reading to pick up more passengers.