Club 55

[whole diary]

[grahame]

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/club55

Scotrail are re-opening Club 55 from 17th January to 31st March 2011.   Are there any plans / dates for Great Western to do so?

[vacman]

I flippin hope not! was a disaster, trains full and standing with blue rinse in first class while people holding ^300 first class open tickets had to stand!

[SDS]

saga louts abusing it.
Need to make better restrictions and also make it quota controlled.

[jester]

Hear hear!! And what numpty let it go on for so long, still people travelling on it over xmas! Never really thought that one through eh?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.  Do I detect just a suggestion that some staff were not very impressed with the results of the most recent offer, then?   

[Ollie]

Good promotion - badly done - should have had more restrictions.

Particularly morning restrictions.

[JayMac]

Wasn't the promotion on Off-Peak tickets only, anyway?

[SDS]

I reckon that the other First TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) were forced to accept the offer from Group HQ^▸ (Headquarters) at Aberdeen.

There was allegedly restrictions on morning tickets, but as it was not briefed to most staff the saga louts (who are not all as innocent as they seem) got away with it.

Needs to be a maximum number allowed on each fully off peak train.
Needs to be barred before 10am AT ANY STATION (like the Network Card).
Needs to be barred on ANY train which has departed from London Terminals between 16:00 and 20:00.
No further discounts allowed. Sorry you want more discount with you senior railcard? Bloody hell you've already got first class for next to nothing.
No break of journey allowed, no split tickets, no loopholes, etc etc.
Break the rules and we'll sting you for full SOS/FOS.

Oh and yes, most staff not impressed with recent offer.

[JayMac]

Then I hope the 'most staff' who were not impressed with the offer direct their complaints to management, rather than direct their ire at those who took advantage of the offer. As for specific rules being 'loopholed' then, again the fault lies with the industry, not the passenger.

Comments such as 'saga louts' and 'blue rinse' don't really endear me to the staff point of view on this one, I'm afraid.

[SDS]

Oh don't worry I have already sent my 'comments' to Revenue Development people within FGW^▸ (First Great Western), but I suspect FGW has no say in this offer, considering it more than likely comes from Group HQ^▸ (Headquarters).

[Ollie]

My understanding is TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express) led the promotion this time round. The only morning restriction on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) was for arriving into London.

Needs to be a blanket restriction in morning on it.

Last time was better as restrictions were same as the SVR

If they do it again - I think it should be restricted similar to a SSR

[vacman]

I think if they bring it in again like the last time then lots of staff will probably walk out! The "customers" who took advantage of it last time certainly TOOK advantage! just because they're old it doesn't mean they don't take the p**s!

I believe a HUGE amount of complaints from staff were forwarded to Mr Hopwood!

[eightf48544]

Nobody was taking the p**s what was happening was a demonstartion of just how many passengers the railway can attract if the fares are right.

The fact that the railways can't cope with that level of travel is down to stupid government policies in particular underinvestment in rolling stock.

As an ex railwayman I know passengers are a bl*** nuisance but just think of how much extra money poured into the coffers.

[SDS]

OK who has the greatest 'right' to a seat?
(And before you say, I know no one has a guaranteed seat in accordance with NRCoC^▸ (National Rail Conditions of Carriage), unless reserved.)

A weekly first class season ticket holder who's paid a few hundred quid, (and more than likely even more.)
or a Club 55 first ticket at ^35?

[grahame]

I opened this thread asking whether "Club 55" will be running again this winter - and I'm surprised at how negative the staff reaction is.

It seems a very good way to get more people onto trains who might otherwise have driven by car or have not travelled at all - a step towards a return of "the age of the train".  And it appears to have worked - it brought in more customers; personally, I'm now 'fortunate' enough to be able to use it, for example.  It showed me new routes, it had me on the train where otherwise I would have been driving, and it's convinced me to make a higher proportion of my journeys by rail in the future.

Let's look at the implicit suggestion of it being "bargain basement" travel.  I recall a recent (Mark Hopwood?) interview where he quoted that the average passenger pays 19p per mile to travel on FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  Now take a 35 pound "Club 55" ticket for a journey of 100 miles ... and you're looking at 17.5p per mile.  That doesn't strike me as the lowest of the low fares.

I'm seeing suggestions of rafts of extra restrictions, quotas, etc ... ouch.   That strikes me as taking a rail fare system that's already overcomplex and adding a further series of complexities to it.  One of the great thinks I think you need in anything you're selling is to have it understandable to the people to whom you're selling it.  And if you fail to do that, or if you have smallprint which catches people out later ("Sorry - there's a full quota of Club55s already on board this 13:29 train to Brighton.  Try again tomorrow" [trying to use Club 55 Dilton Marsh to Brighton])  you're likely to do more harm than good.

We should celebrate the success that the extra traffic really is; there may be a case for reserving a 1st compartment or two for "full fare only".  And if something could be done to have the trains routinely very busy and not just during the promotion, what a wonderful step for the rail industry as a whole - helping to secure its future by use, and its revenue stream by income it would not otherwise have received.  A forward looking industry should revel in an increase in business and take steps to make the new customers loyal and repeating (and perhaps generating more income per journey away from the quieter winter), and not grumble at the extra work they bring for the staff, who may feel that their jobs would be much easier if there weren't customers around at all.