Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
No recent travel & transport from BBC stories as at 23:55 26 Apr 2025
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 10/05/25 - BRTA Westbury
10/05/25 - Model Railway Show, Calne
13/05/25 - Melksham TUG / AGM
14/05/25 - West Wiltshire RUG

On this day
26th Apr (2016)
DOO strikes start on Southern (link)

Train RunningDelayed
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
20:20 Hereford to London Paddington
20:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
20:30 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
April 26, 2025, 23:55:08 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[121] Penryn to Melksham - summary and some pictures from 25.4.2025
[109] Standardisation of Time and the Railway Clearing House
[60] Intoxicated person plan needed on Tube - coroner, April 2025
[49] Grand Central applies for Newcastle–Brighton via North Downs
[44] Gloucester station needs an east-facing bay platform
[41] BBC TV Licensing - ongoing discussion
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Thinking of travelling to London from Exeter? Book to Corby instead!  (Read 2965 times)
PhilWakely
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2165



View Profile
« on: April 02, 2022, 20:50:38 »

Another Advance ticket anomaly!



Logged
ellendune
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4524


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2022, 21:41:37 »

But i didn't think break of journey (or stopping short) was permitted with an advance ticket?  Though they could hardly stop you going through the barrier at Paddington? 
Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19307



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2022, 22:59:25 »

Likewise for journeys via Salisbury and Waterloo.

Same date, morning peak, you can get an Advance Purchase from Templecombe to Corby for £22. Templecombe to Waterloo is £26.80.

Such anomalies come about because different TOCs (Train Operating Company) price the flows. To London it's GWR (Great Western Railway)/SWR» (South Western Railway - about). To Corby it's EMR» (East Midlands Railway, also known as EMT» (East Midlands Trains - about) (East Midlands Trains - about).

FirstGroup obviously believe they can screw more from passengers than Abellio. Tongue
Logged

"Good news for regular users of Euston Station in London! One day they will die. Then they won't have to go to Euston Station ever again." - David Mitchell
GBM
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1765


View Profile Email
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2022, 10:32:36 »

Poo. It doesn't work from Penzance, unfortunately.
Daughter travelling to Paddington later this month, but almost twice as much to Corby, so not worth her booking further.
Logged

Personal opinion only.  Writings not representative of any union, collective, management or employer. (Think that absolves me...........)
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7426


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2022, 10:58:54 »

Another Advance ticket anomaly!

Why do you think it's an anomaly? Are Advance fares meant to be part of a logical pattern? Certainly not between days, and we know TOCs (Train Operating Company) have a lot of freedom how they price them. Maybe you should think of them as more like perishable goods marked down at the end of the day to shift them. You would not expect consistency between shops, even if they usually compete within narrow price differentials. And even within a shop, finding six here cheaper than four there would not be a shock.
Logged
PhilWakely
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2165



View Profile
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2022, 12:16:33 »

Poo. It doesn't work from Penzance, unfortunately.
Daughter travelling to Paddington later this month, but almost twice as much to Corby, so not worth her booking further.

Purchasing split Advances: PNZ-EXD» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) and EXD-COR on the date in the OP (Original Poster / topic starter, or Off Peak, depending on context)  works out cheaper than a PNZ-PAD» (Paddington (London) - next trains) Advance ...

06:05 PNZ-PAD    £54.80

06:05   PNZ-EXD    £17.70
09:15* EXD-COR   £25.50    (total £43.20)

* same train
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 43911



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2022, 12:41:05 »

Poo. It doesn't work from Penzance, unfortunately.
Daughter travelling to Paddington later this month, but almost twice as much to Corby, so not worth her booking further.

Purchasing split Advances: PNZ-EXD» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) and EXD-COR on the date in the OP (Original Poster / topic starter, or Off Peak, depending on context)  works out cheaper than a PNZ-PAD» (Paddington (London) - next trains) Advance ...

06:05 PNZ-PAD    £54.80

06:05   PNZ-EXD    £17.70
09:15* EXD-COR   £25.50    (total £43.20)

* same train


Simples ... For Penzance to London, purchase an Exeter to Corby ticket and ....  Grin Grin
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
didcotdean
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1454


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2022, 13:04:43 »

Even works much closer in. Advances available within the morning peak from Didcot Parkway from as little as £13.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2022, 13:11:08 by didcotdean » Logged
Mark A
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1984


View Profile
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2022, 08:34:58 »

Poo. It doesn't work from Penzance, unfortunately.
Daughter travelling to Paddington later this month, but almost twice as much to Corby, so not worth her booking further.

Perhaps it's the particular day she's travelling. For e.g. the 14th April, National Rail, with a railcard, is giving me a slew of tickets at £24:40 - and similar in the return direction. (1st advance being £112:20 for the same journey.)
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 43911



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2022, 08:47:32 »

Poo. It doesn't work from Penzance, unfortunately.
Daughter travelling to Paddington later this month, but almost twice as much to Corby, so not worth her booking further.

Perhaps it's the particular day she's travelling. For e.g. the 14th April, National Rail, with a railcard, is giving me a slew of tickets at £24:40 - and similar in the return direction. (1st advance being £112:20 for the same journey.)

Advanced fares are very varied depending on demand.   Perhaps this forum has sent demand rocketing?
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
Mark A
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1984


View Profile
« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2022, 10:06:07 »

'The Corby maneuvre' has pretty rock solid availability down to... not tested it but about 48 hours, and with no sensitivity to peak/offpeak. Now it's in the public domain, it'll probably suffer an untimely demise.

And that's the problem with advance fares, they're adversarial, and from the passengers point of view, if you find a bargain, best keep quiet about it.

Far be it to suggest another layer of ticketing complexity - and the following would be biassed against the increasing percentage of the population who are living hand to mouth: an advance fares system in which one pays up front into a rail expense account for travel after a future date - making the future commitment to travel by rail in exchange for access to peak fare trains at off peak prices. (This would need not to include the robber practices of the likes of date-expiring shop vouchers...)

That would to some extent mirror the way vehicle ownership works, where the traveller commits to own and maintain a car to meet the need for future travel.

Mark
Logged
didcotdean
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1454


View Profile
« Reply #11 on: April 05, 2022, 15:15:17 »

Kettering is maybe better as it sometimes shows available Advances on the services to Nottingham as well.

Get them while you can  Grin
Logged
jamestheredengine
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 307


View Profile
« Reply #12 on: April 06, 2022, 17:31:28 »

Ipswich looks potentially useful as well, as Greater Anglia sell First Class Advances.
Logged

Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page