Most convoluted journey?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

What's the most convoluted journey you've made?

As a starter, mine from home to the hotel I'm at this week yesterday:
* From home, lift from home to my workplace (by wife)
* Lift from work to Barry station (by customer)
* By train to Cardiff Central (Arriva trains Wales / Valleys train)
* By train to Bridgend (FGW^▸ (First Great Western) / London to Bridgend Express)
* By Rail Replacement Coach to Neath station
* By taxi to hotel.

[Rhydgaled]

Wasn't sure if I should but this here or in the Ceredigion bus routes axed by Arriva topic, but that one said please consider starting a new topic given the time since the last post in that topic. Feel free to move this post if you can think of a better home for it.

Not a journey I've done throughout in one sitting, and perhaps not as convoluted as yours, but the new TrawsCymru T5 service between Aberystwyth and Haverfordwest is a joke in my opinion. Very roughly, driving by the direct route I think would be about 62miles and perhaps slightly under 2hrs. The new bus service generally goes via New Quay and Fishguard, sometimes Aberporth as well, and takes about 3hrs 10mins in most cases, with a 75 mile route (very roughly). There is one journey which misses out New Quay and manages 2hrs 45mins, but by my reckoning going via Fishguard makes the Cardigan-Haverfordwest leg of the bus service take almost twice as long as driving (although the AA route planner website claims you can drive it via Fishguard in 48mins, which I do not beleive). Despite all the other detours, it doesn't manage to serve Fishguard Harbour station for rail connections.

I suppose the bus service is sensible for serving the various communities on route with local buses to their nearest main towns, but for end-to-end journeys it is crazy, so why has it been branded as TrawsCymru?

[LiskeardRich]

What's the most convoluted journey you've made?

As a starter, mine from home to the hotel I'm at this week yesterday:
* From home, lift from home to my workplace (by wife)
* Lift from work to Barry station (by customer)
* By train to Cardiff Central (Arriva trains Wales / Valleys train)
* By train to Bridgend (FGW^▸ (First Great Western) / London to Bridgend Express)
* By Rail Replacement Coach to Neath station
* By taxi to hotel.

Didn't fancy the scenic Barry to Bridgend direct service rather than doubling back through cardiff.

[grahame]

Didn't fancy the scenic Barry to Bridgend direct service rather than doubling back through cardiff.

Don't get me going ...

My lift was headed for Cardiff airport and neither of us knew Barry ... and the station was very poorly signposted. So we arrived at the station much closer than we should have done to the departure time of the 17:05 direct service to Bridgend.

No ticket office open, but a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) and signs suggesting that you should / must buy a ticket before joining the train.   I'm a bit ham handed with touch screens, and the words "Arriva Express" on the front splash panel seem to be a branding and not a description of how quickly the procedure of buying a ticket goes, especially if you need one that needs spelling out.   And then you have to persuade the machine it likes your money or credit card.

The Bridgend train pulled in to the island platform as I rushed over the bridge, but the people coming off the train (and over the bridge), who probably weren't on a tight timescale to catch something like I was, blocked my way and were difficult to get through resulting in me seeing the yellow "door available" lights go out just as my foot hit the platform.  And of course "once a train dispatch is started, it doesn't stop".

Next train after the 17:05 would have been 19:05 ... earlier to Neath by catching the 17:30 via Cardiff.

Yes, of course it was "my fault for not leaving enough time", but I wasn't laughing and joking with myself about it.  It did allow me to experience the Barry to Cardiff run and see the very local use made of the service, and get an idea of things about it and the stations, so not entirely wasted.  And I suspect I ended up catching the same hourly but at Bridgend anyway!

[ChrisB]

And no doubt, a few more photos to baffle us with at a later date!

[grahame]

Wasn't sure if I should but this here or in the Ceredigion bus routes axed by Arriva topic, but that one said please consider starting a new topic given the time since the last post in that topic. Feel free to move this post if you can think of a better home for it.

I'm going to leave it here ... yet it becomes far from a "lighter side" topic and raises serious questions and discussion points of general interest.   So I'll probably follow it up on the "Other ways to travel / bus" section.   Probaly not for a couple of hours - at day job at the moment!

[thetrout]

Do you really want me to answer that?!

[grahame]

Do you really want me to answer that?!

I think so 

[LiskeardRich]

Didn't fancy the scenic Barry to Bridgend direct service rather than doubling back through cardiff.

Don't get me going ...

My lift was headed for Cardiff airport and neither of us knew Barry ... and the station was very poorly signposted. So we arrived at the station much closer than we should have done to the departure time of the 17:05 direct service to Bridgend.

No ticket office open, but a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) and signs suggesting that you should / must buy a ticket before joining the train.   I'm a bit ham handed with touch screens, and the words "Arriva Express" on the front splash panel seem to be a branding and not a description of how quickly the procedure of buying a ticket goes, especially if you need one that needs spelling out.   And then you have to persuade the machine it likes your money or credit card.

Arriva TVMs I have encountered don't function very well.
I found the TVM at Bridgend wouldn't offer me the cheapest fare to Cardiff when I was there. I was catching the just after 0930 train, and despite no pre 0930 trains to Cardiff the TVM wouldn't sell me an off peak ticket. If I had waited for the 0930 to buy an off peak ticket I wouldn't of made the required train. I'd have a guess arriva make lots from that.

[Chris from Nailsea]

The ticket vending machines at Nailsea & Backwell station certainly used to offer the same quirky 'service'. 

Discussed on the Coffee Shop forum at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4289.msg36239#msg36239 

[chrisr_75]

Didn't fancy the scenic Barry to Bridgend direct service rather than doubling back through cardiff.

No ticket office open, but a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) and signs suggesting that you should / must buy a ticket before joining the train.   I'm a bit ham handed with touch screens, and the words "Arriva Express" on the front splash panel seem to be a branding and not a description of how quickly the procedure of buying a ticket goes, especially if you need one that needs spelling out.   And then you have to persuade the machine it likes your money or credit card.

For future reference (you may not like me for telling you after the event  ), I use this line every so often from one of the unstaffed stations (Llantwit Major) which does have a ticket machine. However, I have never used it and have never encountered any issue with buying on train, so I would recommend just jumping on and purchasing from the guard if you happen to be on the Vale of Glamorgan line in the future and pushed for time for your train and need a ticket.

[JayMac]

For future reference (you may not like me for telling you after the event  ), I use this line every so often from one of the unstaffed stations (Llantwit Major) which does have a ticket machine. However, I have never used it and have never encountered any issue with buying on train, so I would recommend just jumping on and purchasing from the guard if you happen to be on the Vale of Glamorgan line in the future and pushed for time for your train and need a ticket.

It may work on that line but past performance is no indicator of future success. The law requires that a person travelling on the railway purchases their ticket at the earliest opportunity. Passing a working TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) that takes a method of payment you have available could be counted as missing that earliest opportunity. Being pushed for time is not a defence. If the ticket you want is not available then, strictly, you must buy a ticket that covers at least part of your journey and pay the rest of the fare at the next opportunity.

Each scenario will have its variables, and there are issues around paying a part fare, but 'just jumping on and paying the guard' (when there is a working TVM accepting a method of payment you have available) is not an action I would ever recommend or condone. One day there might a revenue team on that train. "I never use the TVM", "I always buy from the guard", "I was running late", are all excuses that have been tried as mitigation for failing to buy at the earliest opportunity, and are all excuses that RPIs^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) have heard many times. Very unlikely to be successful in preventing you being subject to some form of penalty procedure, be it a Penalty Fare, administrative settlement (I believe ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) are starting to issue these in lieu of prosecution), byelaw or RoRA prosecution.

[chrisr_75]

Point taken but I have never had any issue on the vale of Glamorgan line myself, the most recent occasion being 1/1/15, so current rather than past experience. Perhaps it's a rare example of common sense being applied without anyone getting too obsessed with fine print?! There are dedicated desks for "unpaid fares" at Cardiff Central before you pass the ticket barriers (explain the existence of these if the only option in response to non-payment is a penalty of some description), so with the valley lines network being made up of so many tiny unstaffed stations, I suspect the operator accepts that tickets can be purchased on train or on arrival at destination.

With specific regards to Llantwit Major station, you can actually access one platform without passing anywhere near the lone ticket machine, so I'm not sure they'd be able to argue that case successfully anyway. A number of the other stations along the line have a similar arrangement.

[Worcester_Passenger]

In the days when you could buy a Circular Saver ticket (very useful for A-B-C-A journeys), I had one which was

From Worcester
To Llandudno Junction
Out : Direct
Return via : Newcastle upon Tyne and Hull

[grahame]

Thanks for the inputs.

Indeed I probably would have been OK jumping on / buying from the conductor.  However, I had already started prodding at the machine as I heard the train drawing in, and I was aware of a poor connection off it at Bridgend. Aside - I hadn't realised how poor until I looked back at recent time trains, and I would have had 57 minutes to wait for an hourly ongoing service, which turned out to be the one that I caught via Cardiff anyway (although making a 6 minute connection there which hadn't been offered to me by the online planner, probably because 6 minutes isn't considered enough to make a connection)

All in all, an experience that showed / reminded me of how the system "is" for a newcomer to an area / group of lines / train company.   And as it turned out, I caught the same bus from Bridgend anyway, got an opportunity to take pictures (to baffle ChrisB with later in the year), and I really hadn't been on any particular timescale to get to my destination.