Stoke-On-Trent - Stafford Rail Replacement Service

[bb21]

They don't. There is a whole myriad of tickets that bus drivers are supposed to accept and sometimes it is almost impossible for them to tell what's what.

Not an excuse to refuse travel I know but sometimes there is no easy solution.

 

[northwichcat]

X1 timetable leaflet

The X1 passes near to Rail Station
VALID RAIL TICKETS ACCEPTED

It also says LM subside the service on the same leaflet, so likely LM are passing on the revenue from the rail ticket sales to BakerBus.

 

[sheff1]

They don't. There is a whole myriad of tickets that bus drivers are supposed to accept and sometimes it is almost impossible for them to tell what's what.

Not an excuse to refuse travel I know but sometimes there is no easy solution.

What about putting gates on buses into which you insert/scan your ticket as you enter. The gates would pass all valid tickets and reject invalid ones




..... oh, wait a minute.

 

[bb21]

What about putting gates on buses into which you insert/scan your ticket as you enter. The gates would pass all valid tickets and reject invalid ones




..... oh, wait a minute.

It largely comes down to money unfortunately, and it could increase dwell times depending on what form of tickets are used. There probably are good options along those lines, but in our privatised bus industry, this needs to be weighed against other factors.

There are ideal solutions, and there are practical ones, especially for a small business like Bakers.

 

[87015]

so likely LM are passing on the revenue from the rail ticket sales to BakerBus.

I'd bet a lot of money that BakerBus are paid a rate per month (and it won't be much) to provide the service and get nothing related to ticket revenue. Thats certainly my experience with another franchise requirement bus service.

 

[northwichcat]

I'd bet a lot of money that BakerBus are paid a rate per month (and it won't be much) to provide the service and get nothing related to ticket revenue. Thats certainly my experience with another franchise requirement bus service.

Well yes I imagine it is a fixed cost otherwise the driver would have been more familiar with the rail ticket and would likely have a button to press on his machine to indicate a passenger had used one to travel.

The X1 fares do seem to be priced consistently with NR:

Stone to Stoke by LM £3.10 anytime return
Barlaston to Stoke on the X1 £2.90 anytime return

Looks like Stone is doing all right now the station has reopened - only £3.10 return at peak times on an express service to Stoke operated by modern class 350s. You can pay more than that for an off-peak return on an equivalent distance Northern or FGW Pacer/150 operated service.

 

[embers25]

I have also had a second e-mail, after they received another query on the matter. (thanks embers25) They've said the ticket should have been accepted, and will refund any bus fare paid (I didn't pay for the bus in the end, I took the train to Stafford and didn't go to any of the places en route like I had planned)

Obviously I'm pleased the issue has been solved, but if the office don't know what to accept, then how are the drivers?

To be fair to them she was adamant twice and checked locally it wasn't valid but after persisting she double checked elsewhere and was informed it was valid, apologised profusely by email and offered a refund. When I didn't respond to her email (I was at work) she called me as well to ensure I wasn't put off travelling or paid any more extra fare and so that in the end I would call excellent customer service. She also said drivers had been all informed again of validity just in case. Everyone is human and no-one is perfect. It's how you handle being wrong that really counts and in my book they get top marks. If only TOC's (EMT and SET spring to mind) and ATOC would double check and be good enough to not only admit errors but offer a full refund without us having to go to extreme lengths (passenger focus or MP's) to get them to admit they are wrong.

 

[Crossover]

It largely comes down to money unfortunately, and it could increase dwell times depending on what form of tickets are used. There probably are good options along those lines, but in our privatised bus industry, this needs to be weighed against other factors.

There are ideal solutions, and there are practical ones, especially for a small business like Bakers.

I think there was a sense of irony is sheff1's post

 

[bb21]

I think there was a sense of irony is sheff1's post

I did not see that, obviously.

 

[sheff1]

I think there was a sense of irony is sheff1's post

I'm glad you spotted it

 

[Crossover]

I'm glad you spotted it

I thought it was rather good

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Your next challenge is to get on the bus at Wedgwood and ask for a railcard discounted single to Norton Bridge. This is a journey that can only be made by rail replacement bus, and involves a change of bus in Stone onto a different operator (I believe the Stone - Stafford leg is operated by Wardle EDIT - last year it was, but it now seems to be a firm called Bennetts Travel. Wonder if anyone has tried using rail tickets on their services). As both buses are shown as rail replacement services and rail tickets are accepted, I wonder how one would go about purchasing a ticket for that journey and only pay the advertised through rail ticket fare?

 

[pjnathanail]

Your next challenge is to get on the bus at Wedgwood and ask for a railcard discounted single to Norton Bridge. This is a journey that can only be made by rail replacement bus, and involves a change of bus in Stone onto a different operator (I believe the Stone - Stafford leg is operated by Wardle EDIT - last year it was, but it now seems to be a firm called Bennetts Travel. Wonder if anyone has tried using rail tickets on their services). As both buses are shown as rail replacement services and rail tickets are accepted, I wonder how one would go about purchasing a ticket for that journey and only pay the advertised through rail ticket fare?

I will try that at some point in the future, as I will be in the area over the summer. Now, could you break your journey?!!

http://brfares.com/#fares?orig=WED&dest=NTB&rlc=YNG

 

[Solent&Wessex]

It is interesting to note that Norton Bridge seems neglected a bit from this process. Not only has all evidence that a station exists been removed at street level (unlike Barlaston and Wedgwood, which at least still have timetables etc showing the buses), but there appears no advice on how to get there.

The poster from Stafford as regards buses says you can use rail tickets only on the X1 Bakerbus to Stone, Barlaston and Wedgwood. But this route goes no where near Norton Bridge and the advice poster does not tell you how to get to Norton Bridge using your train ticket.

The operator of the 490 (which is the bus which goes via Norton Bridge station and is the one which shows up in the NRES journey planner) has recently changed, and their website doesn't even have a timetable - I wonder if they know they accept rail tickets? Seeing as the London Midland site has the wrong operator details for that service - it would be interesting to try and use a rail ticket on that too!

It always made me wonder how exactly people purchase the advertised through ticket involving two different rail replacement buses?

 

[dmacw]

From London Midland. Quite possibly the worst response I've ever had to a complaint.


Dear Miss *******,

Thank you for your email which we received on 03 May 2013.

I would firstly like to apologise for the delay in responding to you. Unfortunately, we have recently received a large volume of correspondence which has extended our response times.

Unfortunately we cannot perform investigations on actions taken by employees of Bakerbus or incidents that happened on their services.

Could I ask you to please contact Bakerbus customer service. I am sure they will be happy to assist you with any query you may have.

Once again I would like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to your journey.

Thank you for writing to us.

Several issues,

1) They got my name completely wrong, wrong sex and wrong surname.
2) Well and truly passing the buck.

Useless

 

[185]

Face-slap them on their social media page. TOCs don't like complaints going online.

 

[34D]

I did not see that, obviously.

Do Bakerbus have ITSO readers on their buses? Let's recall that GoVia are the best TOC for smartcards. Theoretically, LM could ensure that tickets on 'the key' will work on the reader on the bus.

Or pigs might fly

 

[causton]

Do Bakerbus have ITSO readers on their buses? Let's recall that GoVia are the best TOC for smartcards. Theoretically, LM could ensure that tickets on 'the key' will work on the reader on the bus.

Or pigs might fly

They could start with making BOJ work

 

[mattdickinson]

Do Bakerbus have ITSO readers on their buses? Let's recall that GoVia are the best TOC for smartcards. Theoretically, LM could ensure that tickets on 'the key' will work on the reader on the bus.

Or pigs might fly

They do, as they accept the Cheshire ITSO Travelcard on the X1

 

[martinsh]

They do, as they accept the Cheshire ITSO Travelcard on the X1

the X1 doesn't go anywhere near Cheshire ?!

 

[323235]

yes but the Cheshire Travelcard has an unofficially name in Bakerbus land where it is also known as the Bakerbus 10% Savercard . If you look in their timetables you will find reference to it, apply for it and the address is Cheshire West's ITS who will send you a Cheshire Travelcard.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Lots of reference to Bakerbus, but I am still intrigued by Norton Bridge, which is not served by Bakerbus, nor the X1. If I'm feeling devilish I might plan a day out to cause trouble by using train tickets on the Norton Bridge bus, or asking to buy a ticket from Norton Bridge station to Barlaston involving a change of bus and operator.

 

[Smethwickian]

Lots of reference to Bakerbus, but I am still intrigued by Norton Bridge, which is not served by Bakerbus, nor the X1. If I'm feeling devilish I might plan a day out to cause trouble by using train tickets on the Norton Bridge bus, or asking to buy a ticket from Norton Bridge station to Barlaston involving a change of bus and operator.

Let's assume it's highly unlikely the driver of a number 490 bus from Norton Bridge would instantly issue you with a CDR to Northampton, a SVR to Norwich or whatever through ticket is required.

Would you, IN THEORY, get on the bus and, as per the NRCoC, buy whatever ticket you could for the first part of your journey, then exchange that (bus) ticket as part-payment when you get to the (open!) railway station? Would staff at Stafford or Stoke stations expect or know how to do that?

Because if things like that are not possible, could it not all add fuel to the potential claim that the long-term supposed 'bus replacement' for Norton Bridge, Barlaston etc is not fulfilling its purpose and that the stations have therefore completely and finally closed by stealth without statutory procedures being adhered to.

 

[34D]

Let's assume it's highly unlikely the driver of a number 490 bus from Norton Bridge would instantly issue you with a CDR to Northampton, a SVR to Norwich or whatever through ticket is required.

Would you, IN THEORY, get on the bus and, as per the NRCoC, buy whatever ticket you could for the first part of your journey, then exchange that (bus) ticket as part-payment when you get to the (open!) railway station? Would staff at Stafford or Stoke stations expect or know how to do that?

Because if things like that are not possible, could it not all add fuel to the potential claim that the long-term supposed 'bus replacement' for Norton Bridge, Barlaston etc is not fulfilling its purpose and that the stations have therefore completely and finally closed by stealth without statutory procedures being adhered to.

Well said.

I must say that (as an outsider) I am amazed and upset that the local communities (Norton Bridge, Barlaston, Wedgwood, Polesworth) have apparently stood by and saw their stations closed in front of their eyes.

If anyone tried this at my local station I and many others would play pop.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

If you go from Norton Bridge to Barlaston you never go near a staffed railway station. You catch one "rail replacement" bus to Stone town centre, then change bus stops and catch another "rail replacement" bus to Barlaston where you alight. I wonder how you would legitimately go about paying the advertised through rail fare using whatever railcard you may have.

Would you have to pay the relevant bus fares and then send them in to LM for a refund of the difference?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Let's assume it's highly unlikely the driver of a number 490 bus from Norton Bridge would instantly issue you with a CDR to Northampton, a SVR to Norwich or whatever through ticket is required.

Would you, IN THEORY, get on the bus and, as per the NRCoC, buy whatever ticket you could for the first part of your journey, then exchange that (bus) ticket as part-payment when you get to the (open!) railway station? Would staff at Stafford or Stoke stations expect or know how to do that?

Because if things like that are not possible, could it not all add fuel to the potential claim that the long-term supposed 'bus replacement' for Norton Bridge, Barlaston etc is not fulfilling its purpose and that the stations have therefore completely and finally closed by stealth without statutory procedures being adhered to.

Agreed. Perhaps it is about time the questions were asked. Especially since all evidence of a station even existing has been removed at Norton Bridge at street level, and I believe the platform itself is due for obliteration soon as part of the Norton bridge junction remodelling. Barlaston station, although largely intact when I visited last year appears to be being dismantled in stages.