Pewsey station - facilities, services / fares, incidents and user group - merged posts

[whole diary]

[Richard Fairhurst]

Are there slower (but cheaper) trains still available, albeit perhaps involving a change at Reading?

Slightly going off-topic, but this to my mind was the main disadvantage of unifying all Paddington services under one operator. (There were, of course, many advantages!)

WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) passengers benefit from the competition between LNWR^▸ (London North Western Railway) and Virgin (and, of course, Chiltern) - different fares and different levels of provision. The same is true to a lesser extent on the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) as far as Peterborough, and at various places across the network where you'll often have choice of a London InterCity operator, CrossCountry, and one or even two regional operators.

We don't have that in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) land. If GWR changes its fares, or its restrictions, or its train design, passengers are stuck with it. Generally there's no "slower but cheaper" option as there might be elsewhere on the network.

Thames Trains were a bl--dy awful operator and I don't miss them in the least, but I do sometimes cast envious glances across to the WCML.

[ray951]

Are there slower (but cheaper) trains still available, albeit perhaps involving a change at Reading?

Slightly going off-topic, but this to my mind was the main disadvantage of unifying all Paddington services under one operator. (There were, of course, many advantages!)

WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) passengers benefit from the competition between LNWR^▸ (London North Western Railway) and Virgin (and, of course, Chiltern) - different fares and different levels of provision. The same is true to a lesser extent on the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) as far as Peterborough, and at various places across the network where you'll often have choice of a London InterCity operator, CrossCountry, and one or even two regional operators.

We don't have that in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) land. If GWR changes its fares, or its restrictions, or its train design, passengers are stuck with it. Generally there's no "slower but cheaper" option as there might be elsewhere on the network.

Thames Trains were a bl--dy awful operator and I don't miss them in the least, but I do sometimes cast envious glances across to the WCML.

Won't there soon be competition between TFL^▸ (Transport for London) and GWR between Reading and Paddington? Maybe spliting tickets at Reading will become popular?

[Timmer]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) South Today's Paul Clifton will be doing a report on the Pewsey off peak to peak fare change from December's TT change for South Today.

[hoover50]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) South Today's Paul Clifton will be doing a report on the Pewsey off peak to peak fare change from December's TT change for South Today.

I just watched the report from the lunchtime news, via BBC iplayer. One of the passengers featured on the report seemed completely unaware of the fare hike. His words were "...You've shocked me..."

I suspect there are still quite a few people who are completely unaware of the controversy and are going to rock up to Pewsey station from Dec 16th and will be in for a nasty shock when they ask for a ticket for the 0817 to London and be told the cost is now £120 rather than £53.60

[eXPassenger]

I am very aware that there is this much angst over a single station.  Imagine the screams if fares are rationalised across the country, even if the total fare take remains the same.

[Timmer]

For me it’s not so much GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ending the availability of the off peak fare on a service from Pewsey between 8-8.30, but the difference in the price of the peak fare when travelling from Bedwyn particularly now the standard of rolling stock is exactly the same.

[grahame]

Revisiting this topic now that 2020 fares have been announced.

Technical stuff first.  Then fare suggestions below

Return fares from PEWSEY to London Paddington rise on 2nd January 2020
Anytime return from £120.00 to £123.40
Off peak return from £53.60 to £55.10
Super off peak return from £40.40 to £41.50

Anytime is valid on any train
Off peak is valid to London on the 09:30 and later trains and any Saturday or Sunday trains
Super off peak is valid to London on the 11:01 and later trains and any Saturday or Sunday trains

Return trains from London - these super off peak tickets are valid for journeys back at 10:35, 12:36, 14:36, 20:04 and 21:04 and any Saturday or Sunday train.  Off peak (rather than super off peak) are valid additionally on the trains from Paddington at 09:37 or 18:37.   If you want to travel back to Pewsey on the 07:04, 16:38, 17:04, 17:37 or 18:07 on a Monday to Friday, only the anytime ticket (of those listed above) is valid.


Suggestions

1. If you book well ahead, advance fares are often available.  They require you to choose your trains, but can be very good value.  Beware that they are not refundable.  GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have increased the quota of these tickets with the changing timetable as something to help out Pewsey residents, but it is up to the train operator how many and when to offer them - they are not a "regulated" fare and numbers are limited, so they may dry up.

2. The tickets above are all period returns - come back within a month.   But if you are traveling up and back the same day, you can use DAY returns.  These are not available over as long a distance as from Pewsey to London, but they ARE available Pewsey to Newbury and then Newbury to London.  Day returns can be substantially cheaper than singles or period returns.   It will cost £10.10 anytime day return Pewsey to Newbury and then £61.60 day return Newbury to Paddington (£71.70 total) rather that £123.40 if you are doing a day trip.  All tickets can be bought on line or from the ticket office at Pewsey (when staffed).  The only stipulation is that you must travel on a train that calls at Newbury - and that is any train from Pewsey EXCEPT the 09:30 and any train back from Paddington except the 17:04 and 20:04.

3. If you are travelling one way in the peak and the other way off peak, two single tickets (one peak, one off peak) will be cheaper than a peak return.

4. If you are travelling to London super-off peak but aren't sure whether you'll be coming back off peak or super off peak (e.g. up on the 11:01, probably back on the 20:04 but you may catch the 18:37), you can buy a super-offpeak return and then ask for it to be excessed (pay the difference) if it turn out you're coming home on the 18:37.

5. If you are travelling multiple times during a week, in the peaks and want maximum flexibility, take a look at the price of a 7 day season ticket.  That's £186.60 in 2019 and £191.20 in 2020

6. Railcards offer a 34% saving on many tickets - there's a difference in exactly which railcards save on which tickets, and the rules differ at Pewsey (outside the old "South East") area and Newbury (inside it)

As from 16th December, the train from Pewsey to London at around quarter past eight moves from "off peak" to anytime, meaning that the price of a return ticket to London on that train (£53.60 if coming back outside the peak) more than doubles. There are a multitude of option which will allow most passengers to make their journeys at rather less that the new headline price of £120.00 (or £123.40 in 2020). Please look at my suggestions, and if you need further explanation or advise please ask.   I have done my best to be accurate, but please note that I am not an industry professional or representative, and if in doubt you should ask for confirmation.

[Timmer]

Well done for working all that out and typing it all up Graham.

A lot of us who take an interest in all things rail can easily take for granted the knowledge and understanding we have of how things like fares work. For those who don’t it can be very complicated either getting caught out with the wrong fare or paying way more than they should.

[hoover50]

Well done for working all that out and typing it all up Graham.

A lot of us who take an interest in all things rail can easily take for granted the knowledge and understanding we have of how things like fares work. For those who don’t it can be very complicated either getting caught out with the wrong fare or paying way more than they should.

Agreed.

It is also important to quash silly rumours that start circulating, for example some people were under the impression that ALL fares from Pewsey were going to be more than doubled, even though in reality it is only one train that will be affected.

[FenMan]

5. If you are travelling multiple times during a week, in the peaks and want maximum flexibility, take a look at the price of a 7 day season ticket.  That's £186.60 in 2019 and £191.20 in 2020

Further to 5. above. It is cheaper to purchase split season tickets (trains do not have to stop at the splitting point for this type of split):-

7 day ticket prices applicable from the fares change:-
£  26.80 Pewsey - Bedwyn
£138.30 Bedwyn - London Terminals
£165.10 Total

[grahame]

Further to 5. above. It is cheaper to purchase split season tickets (trains do not have to stop at the splitting point for this type of split):-

14.2. If you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger or rover in conjunction with another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not need to call at that station for your combination to be valid.

Well spotted ... that was a change when we went from "Conditions of Carriage" to "Condition of Travel".  Prior to that, splitting was allowed at a none-calling station if one ticket was a season or similar and the other(s) were not. I recall a journey with multiple splits from North Camp to Melksham, and because I had a season ticket from Cholsey to Didcot, I was able to split at Farnborough North even though the train did not call there.    Scene 2 - difference of opinion with the train manager who told me that rule didn't apply on the North Downs line; he move on when I want across to my backpack where (I told him, correctly) I happened to have a printer copy of the NRCoC^▸ (National Rail Conditions of Carriage).  Note - this option is no longer allowed, but as FenMan pointed out two seasons now can be joined without a stop.

[onthecushions]

An off peak fare for an arrival at a London Terminal at 0923 is exceedingly generous.

OTC

[hoover50]

An off peak fare for an arrival at a London Terminal at 0923 is exceedingly generous.

Not really.

According to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), Pewsey was granted an exception in 2004 to allow off peak fares on the peak time train to London Paddington after 8am because there was a very limited off-peak service. In the current timetable (pre 15th December) the next train after the 0810 to London Paddington is the 1018 which doesn't arrive into London Paddington until 1121

[grahame]

An off peak fare for an arrival at a London Terminal at 0923 is exceedingly generous.

Not really.

According to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), Pewsey was granted an exception in 2004 to allow off peak fares on the peak time train to London Paddington after 8am because there was a very limited off-peak service. In the current timetable (pre 15th December) the next train after the 0810 to London Paddington is the 1018 which doesn't arrive into London Paddington until 1121

The concession was / is there, indeed, because of the historic timetable which has its final day tomorrow.

We have known that a timetable improvement has been coming to Pewsey for a number of years - I recall standing on the platform at telling passengers they their 08:10 train would be replaced by a bus for 50 days, thanking them in advance for their forbearance, and telling them of trains that would be a little faster and gaps filled.  I do feel that would have been a good time to inform people of significant fare changes too - after all "when does it go and what does it cost" are the typical first two questions about public transport from people.  But the plans to change the fare concessions, which had been in place for 14 years and people had built their lives around, were not revealed.  I feel the information was withheld until far too late.

A peak day return fare from BEDWYN to London costs 43p per mile, but from Pewsey to London only a period return is available at 60p per mile.    If passengers making a day return journey from Pewsey to London had an option at the same pence per mile as Bedwyn, their £53.50 would have risen to a £76.20 return fare day return, and not to the headlined £120.00.  With one of the government's objectives being to widen the commuter belt, Great Western could have taken the opportunity to introduce an anytime day return from Pewsey

Fare rises typically happen on the first working day in January.   Great Western's alacrity in removing this concession without waiting for the cycle just a couple of weeks later has probably done far more damage to their good name than the income they would have lost over what, after all, is the Christmas and New Year period.

[onthecushions]

Surely the better comparison is with Swindon, about the same distance and with  a slightly dearer fare than Pewsey. Both are outside the "London Area" or ex-Network South East fare structure. Swindon does have a lot more services of course but its first off peak departure will be 0910 as against 0930 from Pewsey. The B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) service is fast, arriving at 1027 compared to 1007 from Swindon.

The current TT arrival of 1121 (until 15/12) is not really relevant?

It might be better trying to have the boundary moved to include Pewsey, serving it by extending the Bedwyns. There's a long natural gap between stations afterwards.

EOE

OTC