Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 22:15 28 Mar 2024
* Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
* Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- Where Baltimore bridge investigation goes now
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Family anger at sentence on fatal crash driver, 19
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1992)
MOD Kineton tour, branch line society (*)

Train RunningCancelled
19:35 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
20:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
21:30 Shalford to Reading
21:53 Newbury to Bedwyn
22:25 Bedwyn to Newbury
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
22:47 Newbury to Bedwyn
Short Run
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
22:10 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
23:04 Reading to Bedwyn
23:17 Bedwyn to Reading
Delayed
Additional 17:26 Castle Cary to Penzance
19:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 22:28:51 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[104] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[103] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[78] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[56] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[41] Return of the BRUTE?
[25] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Fare anomalies  (Read 1492 times)
froome
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 901


View Profile Email
« on: August 26, 2018, 09:24:00 »

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?
Logged
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2018, 09:37:24 »

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.
Logged
brooklea
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 313


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2018, 09:45:36 »

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 (Great Western Railway) not to offer an Off Peak Day Return from Oldfield Park to Stroud.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2018, 09:54:15 »

My simple question is:

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

I expect the answer will be more complex.

Yep!

Quote
How do i set about getting this righted?

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 (Community Rail Partnership) 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.

Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
froome
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 901


View Profile Email
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2018, 10:09:34 »

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 (Great Western Railway) not to offer an Off Peak Day Return from Oldfield Park to Stroud.

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?
Logged
didcotdean
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1424


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2018, 10:37:37 »

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 (Great Western Railway))

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.
Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 18894



View Profile
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2018, 11:20:40 »

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?

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.
Logged

"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

- Sir Terry Pratchett.
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2018, 11:34:01 »

I recall years ago when it was Wessex Trains or it might have been before that in Wales and West days, the TOC (Train Operating Company) 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» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) is another avenue you could explore but the choice is yours.
Logged
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2018, 11:41:59 »

Take bignosemac's advice. split tickets and LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE.
Logged
froome
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 901


View Profile Email
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2018, 12:10:30 »

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 (Great Western Railway) 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.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page