Plus bus plus Rover

[whole diary]

[Alan Pettitt]

I know that a Plusbus ticket can be bought separately from the rail ticket (if a valid rail ticket is held) but does anyone know whether one can be bought by the holder of a Rover?

[trainbuff]

I don't see why you couldn't. As you said. A valid ticket must be held. Providing you are traveling within that Rovers area then you are the holder of a valid rail ticket.
You have fulfilled the criteria

[JayMac]

Hmm.....

From the PLUSBUS terms and conditions (.pdf download):

PLUSBUS tickets must be bought in conjunction with a train ticket and this ticket must have as its origin and / or destination the town for which PLUSBUS is purchased.

<snip>

PLUSBUS tickets are only issued for the town at which the rail journey originates and/or the town at which the rail journey ends. PLUSBUS tickets cannot be issued for intermediate towns along a rail route (that are not named on the accompanying train ticket).

The T&Cs do not explicitly exclude Rover and Ranger tickets, but those two terms quoted above would rather suggest you cannot purchase PLUSBUS in conjunction with a Rover or Ranger, as these rail ticket type do not have an origin and a destination printed on them.

That's not to say a ticket clerk wouldn't sell you one though.

[trainer]

Some rovers include buses to/from the station and town/city centre.  I had an Anglia Plus 3 Day Flexi Rover some years back and I could use the bus in Ipswich.  Worth checking before forking out for another ticket.

[JayMac]

Indeed.

A Ride Cornwall Day Ranger includes travel on most scheduled buses.

The Explore Wales Rovers include bus travel with most scheduled service operators.

[Alan Pettitt]

Thank you all, it doesn't look like my plan to Bath will work then!

[grahame]

The Explore Wales Rovers include bus travel with most scheduled service operators.

Grand theory (and I know I am following up an old post).    We used the T8 yesterday - or tried to - on an "Explore Wales" ticket purchased at Bath Spa Station on Friday.   The sales blurb said we could, the chap there sold it to us for use on trains and buses, but we were denied its use on the T8 service - once each way - by different drivers.  According to one of them, it is (now?) only valid on buses run by Arriva ... and this service is run by M&H Coaches.



I am - disinclined - to complain.   Both bus drivers were very nice about it, and the rides out and back from Chester into Wales were good, but it was a challenge that we felt we should not have faced, and being told that our tickets weren't acceptable when we had paid quite a bit for them ...

So - if I were to raise this, who would it be with?   M&H Coaches who refused the tickets?  TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) who put out the misleading information and map?  Arriva because they have the concession for TransCymru services and may have subcontracted this route?  GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) who sold me the ticket and I stated to the booking clerk that we needed to get to Chester and then on to the bus part of the pass?

Lisa and I are relatively hardened to the challenges of public transport travel, but various challenges yesterday on getting the T8 (not showing on bus stops, for example, running late ... not accepting the tickets we had chosen to include use of that bus) must, surely, put off the timid newcomer. 

[Bob_Blakey]

https://tfw.wales/ways-to-travel/rail/ticket-types/rovers-and-rangers/explore-wales seems to be fairly comprehensive. The 'Our bus partners' section shows the following:

Here is a list of the bus operators in Wales that will accept the 'Explore Wales Pass':

    Arriva Wales
    Cardiff Bus
    First Cymru
    Stagecoach South Wales
    All TrawsCymru services (Excluding T7, T12, X43, 460)

so it appears the M&H Coaches drivers were correct.

If this mirrors the situation in Devon bus services which are run on an entirely commercial basis i.e. without Local Authority support cannot be required to accept 'discounted' tickets. I could not find any information regarding this issue on the M&H Coaches website.

[grahame]

https://tfw.wales/ways-to-travel/rail/ticket-types/rovers-and-rangers/explore-wales seems to be fairly comprehensive. The 'Our bus partners' section shows the following:

Here is a list of the bus operators in Wales that will accept the 'Explore Wales Pass':

[snip]

    All TrawsCymru services (Excluding T7, T12, X43, 460)

so it appears the M&H Coaches drivers were correct.

Except the map shows the T8, and it's a TransCymru service not in the excluded list ...

Fun!

I'm sure the drivers were correct.  I should probably ask my sales outlet - GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - as I stated I wanted to go to Ruthin on the ticket and what I was sold was not valid for that 

[Mark A]

Raise it with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) perhaps?

Mark

[rogerw]

This ticket is promoted by TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) and their website clearly states that it is valid on "All TrawsCymru services (Excluding T7, T12, X43, 460)". Clearly they are advertising something which is not being delivered. I would take the matter up with TfW and claim a refund of the bus fares you were forced to pay.

[TaplowGreen]

This ticket is promoted by TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) and their website clearly states that it is valid on "All TrawsCymru services (Excluding T7, T12, X43, 460)". Clearly they are advertising something which is not being delivered. I would take the matter up with TfW and claim a refund of the bus fares you were forced to pay.

Surely you'd need to take up with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) as Graham suggests, given that's from whom the ticket was purchased?

For example I tend to purchase tickets from the LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) website for GWR services as it's a better, more user friendly website and it generally matches my preferences in areas such as seat reservations - if I have to make a claim for delay repay, I go back to LNER as it's from them that I've purchased the ticket, not GWR.

[Hafren]

I'd be inclined to go with the retailer for the initial financial claim, but also raise it with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) from POV of fixing the underlying issue – either the published information is wrong or the bus operator wasn't applying the rules correctly.

[grahame]

I'd be inclined to go with the retailer for the initial financial claim, but also raise it with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) from POV of fixing the underlying issue – either the published information is wrong or the bus operator wasn't applying the rules correctly.

I have raised it with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) whose automated email tells me they will reply within 4 weeks.  I copied M&H coaches who responded by return, saying that they should have accepted the tickets, that they'll circulate an info / reminder to their drivers - a model example of how a response should be done.