Great Western Coffee Shop

My simple question is:

How does a passenger go about getting a fare anomaly corrected?

I expect the answer will be more complex.

It seems to me there are a lot of fare anomalies in the system. I may, of course, be being naive, and they may not be 'anomalies' as such but deliberate attempts to price certain journeys above other equivalent journeys.

My own local station, Oldfield Park, seems to suffer disproportionately from these, so I will give one example.

I wish to travel to Stroud and back in one day.

In general, fares for journeys of this sort of distance are charged the same whether they are from Oldfield Park or Bath Spa. So, for instance, an off peak fare to Swindon is the same regardless, as is Kemble, the station before Stroud, and looking at similar length journeys in other directions, fares to Cheltenham Spa, Cardiff, Weston-super-Mare, Westbury etc. are all the same from both.

To get to Stroud I can travel either via Swindon or via Bristol Temple Meads and Gloucester/Cheltenham Spa. From Bath Spa the fare using either routing is the same, £20-40 off peak. However, the cheapest fare offered from Oldfield Park is an anytime fare of £26-80, while the off peak fare is quoted as £27-20. If I went one station down the line to Keynsham, I could get an off peak ticket for £12-40 travelling via Gloucester, or £23-00 via Swindon (on a train stopping at Oldfield Park) or via Cheltenham Spa.

This appears to me to be a clear anomaly. It is not the worst (I will post later about that in a separate thread). There is no justification for an off peak fare to be more expensive than an anytime fare, and no justification for the fare to Stroud to be any different from the fare from Bath Spa.

How do i set about getting this righted?

Be careful, highlighting issues like this will inevitably lead adjustments to higher fares being charged in these anomaly cases, best buy the cheaper ticket from Bath the day before you travel and board at Oldfield Park and let sleeping dogs lie.

The Off Peak Return ticket currently available from Oldfield Park is more expensive than the Anytime Day Return because the return portion is valid for a month, so this is not anomalous as such.

The anomaly to be corrected appears to me to be why there is no Off Peak Day Return fare from Oldfield Park to Stroud, when the same exists from Bath Spa to Stroud.

I’m sorry I can’t help with who to direct your enquiry to, but I can’t think of any good reason for GWR not to offer an Off Peak Day Return from Oldfield Park to Stroud.

Yep!


You are making the assumption that it's actually wrong (and everyone accepts that) in the first place ....

TransWilts have had considerable success over the years in having fare anomalies corrected, and a first recommendation would be to have a chat with your local Community Rail Partnership - that's Severnside - and see if you have them on board and they can use their contacts. If you have a friends group at your local station they may have an "in" too.  I would look to Transport Focus if you feel there may be an issue with a fare that breaks the fare setting rules (but only after taking the CRP route).

The Rail Delivery Group is currently consulting on "easier fares" and for the longer term there may be an "in" there. Certainly, if this results in significant systemic changes (I'm dubious that it will!) then all the fares may be up in the air and there could be significant chances to have things amended long term.

Just as the station user group may have some influence and be able (key!) to put a business case to the fare setter, so may the local council and the passenger transport authority in who's area the station sits.  And even as an individual you may have some influence - but bear in mind I was once told "we can't run a train just for Mr Ellis" and in the same way adding in / changing a fare for you as a solitary requester is a difficult ask.

Yes, the anomaly is why no Off Peak Day Return is offered. And to answer Graham's first point, I'm aware that GWR could say they are not obliged to offer one (unless they are, in which case I would like to know that). But the fact that they do offer an Off peak return from every other station in the vicinity makes it an anomaly, and to my mind, there *should* be a simple means to correct that. It may just be that it was accidently missed out when programming the fares into the system?

I know I have mentioned this here before, but my 'favourite' (if that is the word) anomaly is this triplet of off-peak day returns not via London to High Wycombe

Oxford: £13.80 (set by Chiltern)
Reading: £25.90 (set by Cross Country)
Didcot: £34.10 (set by GWR)

They do have slightly varying conditions as to when they become available in the morning. There is also an any permitted route fare from Didcot to High Wycombe - identically priced at £34.10. The Oxford fare is limited to Chiltern, but the others would be valid via Banbury,

I have pointed this out to GWR via official and unofficial routes in the past but nothing has happened yet.

Until (or if) the anomaly is addressed, if you wish to travel via Swindon from Oldfield Park to Stroud then buy the Off Peak Day Return from Oldfield Park to Swindon for £11.70, and an Off Peak Day Return from Swindon to Stroud for £8.40. Total £20.10

If you wish to travel via Bristol/Gloucester then it's also split tickets. An Off Peak Day Return from Oldfield Park to Keynsham for £4.00, and an Off Peak Day Return from Keynsham to Stroud (via Gloucester) for 12.40. Total £16.40.

Trains to call at the split points for validity. Heading toward Bristol I believe all services from Oldfield Park call at Keynsham, so no problems there. Headed the other way you would be changing at Swindon anyway, so again no problems.

I recall years ago when it was Wessex Trains or it might have been before that in Wales and West days, the TOC raised a fare which I recall was mainly used by school kids travelling to Torquay Grammar School. The TOC response to their action was "to reduce the loadings on the service". The matter went to the Rail Regulator who told the TOC "NO YOU DON'T". Take note of Grahames advice but the ORR is another avenue you could explore but the choice is yours.

Take bignosemac's advice. split tickets and LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE.

Actually that is what I have done many times, or have just bought a ticket from Bath Spa, and will continue to do. The point is, though, that others who make the journey in all innocence are being overcharged by over £6. And this happens on numerous other journeys. So there is either blatant profiteering or there are errors being made when fares are programmed. And I would like to know which.

And the point you have made before is why I haven't raised it with GWR before. But upgrading the fares proportionally to cover the removal of the anomaly would need an explanation of why the anomaly was not dealt with initially instead. So following Graham's advice is probably best.