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Which route to take?

You are here: Home > Forum > Miscellaneous > The real thing (anything else rail-oriented) > Which route to take?

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Which route to take? 12/05/2013 at 21:50 #44668
Sacro
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" said:

But yet Virgin trains are quite willing to sell me a ticket with reservations that route
That makes it an 'accepted route' rather than a 'permitted route'.

Just because it's in one group doesn't mean it's in the other.

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Which route to take? 13/05/2013 at 09:36 #44673
kbarber
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1712 posts
" said:
" said:

But yet Virgin trains are quite willing to sell me a ticket with reservations that route
That makes it an 'accepted route' rather than a 'permitted route'.

Just because it's in one group doesn't mean it's in the other.

It seems to me that, whatever the various books and websites say, once a ticket has been sold a contract exists. If, as an integral part of the transaction in which the ticket was sold, 'via' points were used and even more so if reservations were purchased, then the route must by definition be valid for that particular ticket holder - the company (or one of its several agents, for that's what the other companies & websites who sell its tickets have become) have made a contract to provide a specified product (the journey) for a specified price and cannot without some lawful excuse alter the terms of that contract. Whether it's 'permitted', 'accepted' or any other word is, so far as I can see, completely irrelevant once a ticket comes into existence that specifies that route.

That's my thoughts anyway. Obviously if there's no reservations involved, no route specified on the ticket and no evidence of a route being specified at the time of booking the company might feel entitled to reject what appears to be an attempt to break the rules (and to apply whatever penalties the law permits). If such evidence does exist (and the specifics of the route weren't rejected during the booking process) I think they would be hard put to enforce such penalties at law.

But that's just legal logic. Whether such a thing (or any other form of logic for that matter) remains relevant in the railway industry of today is a moot point...

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Which route to take? 13/05/2013 at 10:32 #44675
Rickurd
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It seems to me the current ticketing/fare/routing system is build from the ground up to confuse
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The following user said thank you: Signalhunter
Which route to take? 13/05/2013 at 12:41 #44679
clive
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2739 posts
" said:

It seems to me that, whatever the various books and websites say, once a ticket has been sold a contract exists. If, as an integral part of the transaction in which the ticket was sold, 'via' points were used and even more so if reservations were purchased, then the route must by definition be valid for that particular ticket holder - the company (or one of its several agents, for that's what the other companies & websites who sell its tickets have become) have made a contract to provide a specified product (the journey) for a specified price and cannot without some lawful excuse alter the terms of that contract. Whether it's 'permitted', 'accepted' or any other word is, so far as I can see, completely irrelevant once a ticket comes into existence that specifies that route.
I would agree.

Looking at it another way, if they reject the ticket then it's either "not as described" or "not meeting specific requirements known to the seller at the time of sale", depending on who specified the via routes. Therefore the company or agent selling the ticket has breached the contract (both of those being implicit terms in any consumer contract) and is liable for any resulting forseeable damages.

As you point out, and as I regularly have to point out to people who ask me things, there's a difference (often a kilometre wide) between what the law says and proving that the facts actually match that law.

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Which route to take? 13/05/2013 at 13:41 #44682
Peter Bennet
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5363 posts
I had something like that many years ago in the days of Blue and White savers: I forget which meant what. Anyway the ticket office sold me a ticket dated for the correct day, and reserved me the correct seat on the correct train (don't think it was compulsory reservations in those days) but sold me the "wrong" saver for a Friday afternoon. TI came round and got quite exercised by the fact and wanted to excess me; but in the end accepted there was not a lot he could do about it.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Which route to take? 13/05/2013 at 15:09 #44688
northroad
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" said:
I had something like that many years ago in the days of Blue and White savers: I forget which meant what.

Peter
Showing your age there Peter I remember the old Persil tickets and that's going back also.

Saturday has been and gone so which route was taken? and was there any problems?

Geoff

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Which route to take? 13/05/2013 at 15:39 #44691
GeoffM
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6292 posts
" said:
" said:
" said:

But yet Virgin trains are quite willing to sell me a ticket with reservations that route
That makes it an 'accepted route' rather than a 'permitted route'.

Just because it's in one group doesn't mean it's in the other.

It seems to me that, whatever the various books and websites say, once a ticket has been sold a contract exists. If, as an integral part of the transaction in which the ticket was sold, 'via' points were used and even more so if reservations were purchased, then the route must by definition be valid for that particular ticket holder - the company (or one of its several agents, for that's what the other companies & websites who sell its tickets have become) have made a contract to provide a specified product (the journey) for a specified price and cannot without some lawful excuse alter the terms of that contract. Whether it's 'permitted', 'accepted' or any other word is, so far as I can see, completely irrelevant once a ticket comes into existence that specifies that route.

That's my thoughts anyway. Obviously if there's no reservations involved, no route specified on the ticket and no evidence of a route being specified at the time of booking the company might feel entitled to reject what appears to be an attempt to break the rules (and to apply whatever penalties the law permits). If such evidence does exist (and the specifics of the route weren't rejected during the booking process) I think they would be hard put to enforce such penalties at law.

But that's just legal logic. Whether such a thing (or any other form of logic for that matter) remains relevant in the railway industry of today is a moot point...
There was an incident on the 7pm-ish Waterloo to Bristol train several years ago. I think it fell in to a peak hour train but had some exclusion making it not a peak hour train. Anyway, the conductor walked down the carriage issuing several excess tickets to passengers protesting their innocence - until he got to our group where the print out was provided showing the tickets had been bought in good faith. The conductor admitted that he'd had a discussion over it with his boss earlier in the day - and the boss was clearly wrong (or at least didn't align his opinion with that of the reservations system).

Then there's the opposite end of the scale where, upon asking a conductor whether a particular ticket was valid via Leicester-Peterborough-London, he shrugs his shoulders and clearly didn't care as long as we had a ticket!

SimSig Boss
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Which route to take? 13/05/2013 at 15:57 #44696
Sam Tugwell
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493 posts
The guards on most trains (well, trains which still have them) are generally a little clueless when it comes to some types of ticketing. A certain incident in Cornwall relating to weekend First Upgrades where the guard did not believe what the website stated springs to mind, but that is one for Headshot119 to explain...
"Signalman Exeter"
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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 18:32 #44779
Peter Bennet
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5363 posts
Well I should have fun on the train to Bletchley tomorrow. I punched Bedford St Johns to Euston via Bletchley into the web search engine and it gave me the times and changes and confirmed fare and break of journey allowed - so that was good.

However, have just picked up my tickets from the machine which say "Bedford Stations to London Thameslink".

So I'll take a print but I suspect I'll be disappointed.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 20:02 #44784
Sacro
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1171 posts
That's right, the only tickets to "London Terminals" (1072) are Travelcards.
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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 20:45 #44787
Copping
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95 posts
" said:
Well I should have fun on the train to Bletchley tomorrow. I punched Bedford St Johns to Euston via Bletchley into the web search engine and it gave me the times and changes and confirmed fare and break of journey allowed - so that was good.

However, have just picked up my tickets from the machine which say "Bedford Stations to London Thameslink".

So I'll take a print but I suspect I'll be disappointed.

Peter
Does the route have "+Any Permitted if so then its via Bletchley and will give you underground transfer to City Thameslink, Blackfriars and London Bridge.

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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 21:09 #44789
Peter Bennet
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5363 posts
" said:
That's right, the only tickets to "London Terminals" (1072) are Travelcards.
No "London Terminals" and "Travelcards" are completely different things.



" said:
" said:
Well I should have fun on the train to Bletchley tomorrow. I punched Bedford St Johns to Euston via Bletchley into the web search engine and it gave me the times and changes and confirmed fare and break of journey allowed - so that was good.

However, have just picked up my tickets from the machine which say "Bedford Stations to London Thameslink".

So I'll take a print but I suspect I'll be disappointed.

Peter
Does the route have "+Any Permitted if so then its via Bletchley and will give you underground transfer to City Thameslink, Blackfriars and London Bridge.
No

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 21:12 #44790
Sacro
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" said:

Does the route have "+Any Permitted if so then its via Bletchley and will give you underground transfer to City Thameslink, Blackfriars and London Bridge.
You shouldn't get a ✠ on that flow, there's no reason why it would be valid to cross London.

Also it doesn't appear to be valid for interavailable travel on the tube from Euston / Euston Square, though it is from King's Cross St Pancras to Farringdon / Blackfriers / London Bridge / Elephant and Castle

Last edited: 17/05/2013 at 21:13 by Sacro
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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 21:16 #44791
Sacro
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1171 posts
" said:
" said:
That's right, the only tickets to "London Terminals" (1072) are Travelcards.
No "London Terminals" and "Travelcards" are completely different things.
Yes, but if you want a non-travelcard, it will be issued to "London Thameslink"

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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 21:22 #44792
Peter Bennet
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5363 posts
" said:
" said:
" said:
That's right, the only tickets to "London Terminals" (1072) are Travelcards.
No "London Terminals" and "Travelcards" are completely different things.
Yes, but if you want a non-travelcard, it will be issued to "London Thameslink"
That's not what you said. Anyway I don't propose to enter another debate with you after last time.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 21:22 #44793
vontrapp
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Manchester to Blackburn via Darwin is ok
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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 21:54 #44795
Copping
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I think its a mess up on the WEBTIS system.

Although the route from Bedford to London is valid on both EMT, FCC and LM, London Thameslink is purely to get you though to London Bridge and Elephant & Castle via the Thameslink route, where London Terminals would only get you to either London Euston or St Pancras.

Best to call into the ticket office at Bedford St Johns, or if its unstaffed visit the Midland station if you have time, or take your email confirmation and show to the conductors.

Being Southern based, London Terminals from the Sussex Coast lets you travel to London's Victoria, Waterloo, Vauxhall, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Cannon Street and London Bridge via any reasonable route. Farringdon and beyond are to the specific station.

Sacro, Travelcards are under code 0035 for London Zones 1-6 (0032 for Zones 1-2 & 0034 for Zones 1-4), Or 0786 if you just want the one tube journey each way on certain tickets.

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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 22:08 #44796
Sacro
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" said:
I think its a mess up on the WEBTIS system.

Although the route from Bedford to London is valid on both EMT, FCC and LM, London Thameslink is purely to get you though to London Bridge and Elephant & Castle via the Thameslink route, where London Terminals would only get you to either London Euston or St Pancras.

Best to call into the ticket office at Bedford St Johns, or if its unstaffed visit the Midland station if you have time, or take your email confirmation and show to the conductors.

Being Southern based, London Terminals from the Sussex Coast lets you travel to London's Victoria, Waterloo, Vauxhall, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Cannon Street and London Bridge via any reasonable route. Farringdon and beyond are to the specific station.

Sacro, Travelcards are under code 0035 for London Zones 1-6 (0032 for Zones 1-2 & 0034 for Zones 1-4), Or 0786 if you just want the one tube journey each way on certain tickets.
Not reasonable route, permitted route, there's a defined procedure to calculate these.

I know how to find Travelcards, as well as boundary zone tickets and 'any station in zone x' tickets, Bedford is one of the strange places that has no non-advance tickets to London Terminals, tickets to St Pancras and Euston will be instead issued to "London Thameslink" and should be happily accepted by FCC, EMT and LM

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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 23:15 #44797
Copping
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Wellingborough strangely has no advance fare either.

Used to create a season ticket for a commuter traveling from Eastbourne to Wellingborough, its not even in the fares system.

If you look at the routing guide maps for South London, you'll see what i mean by any reasonable route, A Brighton to London Bridge ticket is valid via London Victoria and Peckham Rye. Also Ashford International to London Victoria is valid by changing trains at Brighton and Hove.

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Which route to take? 17/05/2013 at 23:26 #44798
Sacro
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Those are permitted, they are factual and documented.

'Reasonable' can be down to the opinion of who you ask. There are some routes that are permitted but not reasonable, and some that are reasonable but not permitted, some both, some neither.

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Which route to take? 18/05/2013 at 03:23 #44802
GeoffM
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" said:
'Reasonable' can be down to the opinion of who you ask. There are some routes that are permitted but not reasonable
"Reasonable" doesn't come in to play if it is documented as permitted, no matter whose opinion you ask. It may feel that way if a conductor is standing over you and arguing the point but that doesn't make "reasonable" a valid factor. Even if the fares manual is "wrong" (but not demonstrably so, like London to Reading via Paris), it's still a contract between seller and purchaser, agreed at the time of purchase, and bought in good faith.

SimSig Boss
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Which route to take? 18/05/2013 at 16:05 #44828
Copping
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Conductors are trained on the routing guides for the routes and areas they sign.

The routing guide is very complex, I had a one day course on it. And there are alot of pages in the easements section. Most of which are about allowing to pass a station twice.

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Which route to take? 18/05/2013 at 18:31 #44835
Sacro
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" said:
Conductors are trained on the routing guides for the routes and areas they sign.

The routing guide is very complex, I had a one day course on it. And there are alot of pages in the easements section. Most of which are about allowing to pass a station twice.
Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha, excuse me whilst I stabilise back onto my chair!

Maybe you had a one day 'training' course, however that's nowhere near enough to cover the intricacies of the routing guide, and most public facing railway staff have no idea what the Routing Guide and the NRCOC contain, especially things like condition 10 and condition 19, as well as when a Penalty Fare can and cannot be charged, and excesses.

Even worse still, is that if a conductor is unsure, they'll phone back to base, who more often than not have no idea either, and frequently give a wrong answer, which the conductor then uses against the poor passenger who has done their research and come to the correct conclusion, then they get the BTP involved who will cart the poor guy away for questioning despite having done nothing wrong.

I don't ever expect a guard to have a full knowledge of the routing guide and each easement, however I do expect him to have a copy of it, and know full well how to apply it, same with the NRCOC.

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Which route to take? 18/05/2013 at 23:54 #44846
Copping
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No your right, 1 day wasn't enough but I picked the rest up in the other 9 years of ticket office and also working at a conductor base, most questions are answered, even with consulting the manuals.

If I have a query involving another area, I just simply phone the train operating company for that area for advice.

Anyways, this conversation could go on forever, unlike some other TOC's, I try to help anyone who has a problem and solve it the best I can.

Going back a few threads back regarding Bedford Stations to London Thameslink, having looked at work earlier today, its not valid on the Euston route, although taking the confirmation along with you and showing the conductor or ticket office staff, they can excess the ticket to a London Terminals fare.

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Which route to take? 19/05/2013 at 08:37 #44857
Peter Bennet
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" said:

Going back a few threads back regarding Bedford Stations to London Thameslink, having looked at work earlier today, its not valid on the Euston route, although taking the confirmation along with you and showing the conductor or ticket office staff, they can excess the ticket to a London Terminals fare.
Going back to the booking tool (single with Goldcard) all using Bedford St J with via Bletchley for Saturday 25th (specific and random selections)

to "London" £9.20
to "London (all)" £9.20
to "London Blackfriars" £15.25
to "London Bridge" £15.25
to "Euston" £9.20
to "Liverpool St" £15.25
to "St Pancras" no fares found (same KX)
to "Terminals" £9.20
to "Thameslink" no fares
to "Victoria" £15.25

Same for "Bedford Stations" via Bletchley
to "London" £9.20
to "London (all)" £9.20
to "London Blackfriars" £15.25
to "London Bridge" £15.25
to "Euston" £9.20
to "Liverpool St" £15.25
to "St Pancras" no fares found (same KX)
to "Terminals" £9.20
to "Thameslink" no fares
to "Victoria" £15.25

now without explicit via "Bletchley"

to "London" £9.20 (both ways)
to "London (all)" £9.20 (both ways)
to "London Blackfriars" £9.20, (or £15.25 via Bletchley)
to "London Bridge" £9.20, (or £15.25 via Bletchley)
to "Euston" £15.25 (or £9.20 via Bletchley)
to "Liverpool St" £15.25
to "St Pancras" £9.20 (no fares found via Bletchley)
to "Terminals" £9.20
to "Thameslink" £9.20 (no fares found via Bletchley)

So the issue is (as I thought I'd intimated before we got sidetracked into point scoring as to who knows what about the manual; which is irrelevant): I was charged the right fare but the ticket that was printed was "wrong" and ipso-facto technically invalid.

In the event the TI on the Bedford to Bletchley leg was fine, the Barriers at Bletchley accepted and the barriers at Euston came up with an invalid code so I used my Zone 1-3 season.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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