Operator specific tickets (A rant)

[whole diary]

[thetrout]

Trout is current enjoying a short break in the midlands...

Until he stumbled across what could have been a rather costly rail journey (one of those ^20 jobbies )

Trout was located at Stafford station, upon arrival he went to the ticket office and asked for a FC^‡(resolve) single to Liverpool Lime Street... This set the trout back ^14.50 with his railcard

So he went to catch his train, a London Midland Service... Big mistake

What the trout had failed to realise is the lady at the booking office had sold him a Virgin Trains Only ticket so he technically didn't have a ticket! The ticket collector onboard did realise this and pointed out the folly of my actionS (which I was totally unaware of) fortunately he wasn't an RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context))! But he politely asked me to make sure that I had the relevant ticket in future! Also that had he have been an RPI I would have been PF^▸ (Penalty Fare)'d

Now I'm not overly happy about this because I had no idea that there were different tickets for operators on that route... It's out of my area, the ticket collector however was polite and excessed my ticket appropriately (which I was more than happy to pay)

But had I have been PF'd would I have had any leg to stand on as I was totally unaware?

Please excuse any spelling errors... Typed this from my iPhone

[vacman]

It will state on the ticket either "VWC only" on Lndn Midlnd only" under the route, the booking clerk should have told you and you should also have checked, you can be PF^▸ (Penalty Fare)'d for using an operator specific ticket on the wrong train as they cannot be excessed.

[Chris from Nailsea]

A couple of points from me:

Congratulations on reaching 2,000 posts, vacman! 

I think it's worth an e-mail query to whichever TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) sold that ticket at Stafford, thetrout, asking them to explain their policy of apparently fobbing passengers off with a restricted ticket without mentioning the restrictions. 

[Mookiemoo]

See us midlanders know that - any route lm and virgin run over have different tickets. You can get brum to London for asblittle as about ^10 walk up but it is lm only, takes hours and stops more often than the Cotswolds line- and normally with a change at Northampton

However - you usually have to ask for an lm ticket
if going to liverpool or London as most people want a virgin. Only of you are going to an lm only stop, such as Liverpool south parkway or long buckby, would you default to an lm only

[old original]

In Cornwall there are local "XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) only" walk on tickets but as the majority are more expensive than any route ones, they are never sold.

[eightf48544]

What a stupid state of affairs. It's no wonder people are put off travelling by train.

DaFT^» (Department for Transport - critical sounding abbreviation I discourage - about) should be public polioried for allowing such a stupid state of affairs to exist. A train between A&B is train between A&B if there are no restrictions on the ticket such as with an advanced, then it shouldn't matter which operator you use to travel.

[vacman]

In Cornwall there are local "XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) only" walk on tickets but as the majority are more expensive than any route ones, they are never sold.

the XC ones are quite interesting, they were introduced to undercut the any permitted fares as XC get 100% of the revenue, but, when the regulated fares decreased by 0.4% in January the XC only fares (unregulated) actually rose, making most of them more than the any permitted.

[grahame]

But had I have been PF^▸ (Penalty Fare)'d would I have had any leg to stand on as I was totally unaware?

Cutting past all the explanations, the answer is technically "No - you wouldn't have had a leg to stand on".  Ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse to break the law.

But what a stupid STUPID system!

In practise,  whether you would have been charged a full PF would depend on factors like:
a) Whether you are good at talking your way out of a corner
b) Whether you come across as being a member of an apparently "vulnerable group", or conversely if you fitted the profile of awkward groups
c) Whether the RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) was under or over quota and what mood he was in (if it had just finished dealing with a bunch of folks who make his/her life difficult) and whether (s)he found you attractive

Oh for a fares system that could be easily understood by most people, and could then support a consistent and logical way of dealing with people who break the rules.

[Tim]

if going to liverpool or London as most people want a virgin.

I suspect many people are disappointed

[Chris from Nailsea]

 

[Brucey]

Back to the subject of the topic , a question for anyone in the know.

If I buy a SN only anytime day return, but want to use a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service in one direction (as the time is more suitable and the journey faster), is it possible to excess just one direction to Any Permitted?

Same question on a season ticket: is it possible to pay an excess on certain days/times so that I can use any operator, instead of the one named on my ticket?

[Tim]

If I buy a SN only anytime day return, but want to use a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service in one direction (as the time is more suitable and the journey faster), is it possible to excess just one direction to Any Permitted?

I don't think so.  IIUIC, you can only excess to bridge the price gap between one ticket and another.  As no FGW-only / any permitted combination ticket is available I don't think your proposal would work.

[Ollie]

TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) specific tickets cannot be excessed. Sorry.

[JayMac]

TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) specific tickets cannot be excessed. Sorry.

If the excessed ticket remains TOC specific, then surely that's allowed. Say, a 'XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Only' SDS from Taunton to Tiverton over-distance excessed to a Taunton to Exeter 'XC Only' SDS.