Super off peak to London

[whole diary]

[froome]

Has there been a change to timings of the Super Off Peak fares? I've used these to go to London from Bath quite often, and I'm sure the first train back from Paddington on which they were allowed was the 19.30. However, I've just checked the National Rail website and it shows them available on the 19.00. Is this new?

[old original]

Depends on the date. I think there are a few alterations 'cause of engineering works

[grahame]

Has there been a change to timings of the Super Off Peak fares? I've used these to go to London from Bath quite often, and I'm sure the first train back from Paddington on which they were allowed was the 19.30. However, I've just checked the National Rail website and it shows them available on the 19.00. Is this new?

What date?

The rule has been "after 19:00", and that's meant that the 19:03 to the West has been super off peak.  During the first Newbury blockade, that train left at 18:57 rather than at 19:03 - and got to Plymouth about 15 minutes later than normal.  There was some concern  that passengers had to pay more - around £20 to £30 for a single without railcard, for example, to travel on what essentially was their normal train - there was a feeling that although it was within the rules to charge off peak on the 18:57, it was very hard to defend asking for more money because the railway wasn't providing its normal service, and it may be that the simplest solution in the ticketing system has been for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to put the cutoff back to 18:56 as a blanket for those weeks.

[froome]

I was looking at tomorrow, but I did that because that would give me the full fare rather than an advanced fare. If I do make the journey, it is likely to be later this month, probably in about 2 weeks.

[JayMac]

All the way up to the current booking horizon (July 10th), Super Off Peak tickets are bookable online on the 1900 off Paddington. The current written restriction for such tickets is that they aren't valid on trains timed to depart:

London Paddington after 04:29 and before 10:10 and after 15:01 and before 18:55, finally after 18:58 and before 19:01

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/64309.aspx

That written restriction should then be coded for booking engines and journey planners to understand.

It would appear that the coding to allow Super Off Peak tickets on the temporarily re-timed 1903 to the far south west (which may be departing at 1857 on various dates until later this year due to engineering around Newbury), hasn't been properly implemented. It is capturing the 1900 departure too. It would appear that the journey planners and booking engines have only been programmed with the part of the restriction up to 1855. The three minute block from 1858-1901, there to capture the 1900 departure, hasn't been implemented. The written restriction still means that the 1900 should be barred to Super Off Peak ticket holders. Journey planners and booking engines currently disagree.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 section 69(1) if a term in a consumer contract, or a consumer notice, could have different meanings, the meaning that is most favourable to the consumer is to prevail. A printed itinerary and seat reservation obtained from a booking engine is evidence of a contract.

So, make hay while the sun shines!

But do print off your itinerary and book a seat. GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) can, and probably will, fix the error once they are aware of it, and ensure booking engines are encoded to match the written restriction quoted above.

[froome]

Many thanks bignosemac, very helpful.

[plymothian]

They've noticed and expect it be corrected by the 12th April.