You always hear excuses from the rail industry as to why further integrated ticketing between bus and rail is not possible. It is not impossible currently, and with smart card technology it gets even easier.
I'd prefer transport providers in the
UK▸ to concentrate their efforts in this area, make the existing offers easier to purchase and expand them further. I cannot, for instance get one through bus and rail ticket from Lawrence Weston in Bristol to Curry Rivel in Somerset, despite the opportunity to travel throughout with one parent company, First.
Even where it was possible to travel to relatives in another part of Somerset with a Rail/Bus ticket, I still needed to get to Bristol Temple Meads, as the particular fare was not available from my local station. At Bristol Temple Meads I could only get this ticket from the ticket office, and even then I would regularly encounter problems, with clerks telling me, variously:
- "There's no station in Dulverton" (I know)
- "Dulverton Bus is not a valid destination"
- "I don't think I can sell that"
- "It won't be accepted on the bus"
With, on one occasion, a flat refusal to even sell the ticket despite the clerk agreeing it was in the system.
When I regularly used this ticket I never faced a problem with bus drivers.
Let's have integrated transport (or at least through ticketing) sorted in this country before we start gimmicky tie-ins with long haul airlines.
