TPE reject minister's proposal

[Paul Kelly]

it's an issue ATW have when they put the symbol for 'Seat Reservations Recommended' above Manchester to South Wales services - it doesn't mean everyone who plans to travel on that service needs to reserve a seat or risk standing, just passengers on certain sections of the service.

There's no technical reason why they can't specify in a train schedule that "reservations recommended" applies to only part of the journey though, e.g. CrossCountry do this with their daily train from Aberdeen to Penzance, which is "reservations recommended" (shown here as a solid black diamond instead of the normal hollow diamond) only as far as Edinburgh.

 

[Class377/5]

The only way I could see it working is next to each station on the journey on a planner like NRE's.

That's a really good idea. You can take it one step further and put the details onto an app so each station you can see the loadings and if it will be for all of your journey time.

 

[andyb2706]

To be honest I haven't read through all the replies so what I am about to say may have already been said.

But I don't blame TPE for rejecting this colour light system seeing it was the government who put a block on the 185's being increased from 3 coach to 4 coach trains which would have increased capacity and brought down the overcrowding percentage.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

That's a good point and it's an issue ATW have when they put the symbol for 'Seat Reservations Recommended' above Manchester to South Wales services - it doesn't mean everyone who plans to travel on that service needs to reserve a seat or risk standing, just passengers on certain sections of the service.

ATW and seat reservations made but then not having the seat reservation cards affixed to the seat holders on northbound South Wales journeys to Manchester were a particular nightmare for my wife and I last year. Five times this occurred...

 

[Darren R]

We've had these posters on Greater Anglia for a while now but in my experience they haven't persuaded passengers onto the more lightly loaded trains. Still you can't say you weren't told.

Well that's true. If you turn up at the station for the 0830 train and there's a poster at the station saying that the 0830 is packed to the gunnels and when it arrives it's packed to the gunnels, well - they did warn you!

At stations with an intensive service it's a good idea. It's quick, cheap and easy to implement and gives passengers enough information to allow them to make an informed choice. But if you are at a station with 30 minutes or an hour to the next train, it's pretty pointless. The information would need to be readily available in advance on NRE.

 

[johnnychips]

It is a nice paradox that you could turn up at Stockport for a train to London, buy a ridiculously expensive walk-up ticket, arrive on the platform to hear the announcement, 'this train is full and standing'. Yet if you've bought an Advanced at a cheap price, you have a reserved seat - if you can fight your way through!

 

[Eagle]

It's only a paradox if you say "no" to the ticket office clerk's question "would you like a reservation with that?"

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

You will, of course, have noticed that this Club 55 campaign is only on offer for a very limited time window from 15th September to 10th November. These are not day return tickets but are valid for a period of one month and there are restrictions that forbid travel prior to 0930.

I would like to add to this posting that these short-term tickets have only two pricing bands with first and standard class options on both bands.

For any First TPE journey in the North of England, the price is £27 First Class or £18.00 Standard Class.

For any First TPE journey that covers any of the stations served by First TPE in Scotland, the price is £42 First Class or £28 Standard Class.

So these "bargain" prices are not exactly rock-bottom offers that will cause countless droves of age-qualifying passengers to suddenly appear, many of which will be holders of the Senior Citizen Railcard for the period over the first five year age band over the Club 55. I note the quite short period of the offer validity covers the time period after the school summer holiday and the period of one month prior to the lead into the Christmas travel period.

 

[yorksrob]

I would like to add to this posting that these short-term tickets have only two pricing bands with first and second class options on both bands.

For any First TPE journey in the North of England, the price is £27 First Class or £18.00 Standard Class.

For any First TPE journey that covers any of the stations served by First TPE in Scotland, the price is £42 First Class or £28 Standard Class.

So these "bargain" prices are not exactly rock-bottom offers that will cause countless droves of age-qualifying passengers to suddenly appear, many of which will be holders of the Senior Citizen Railcard for the period over the first five year age band over the Club 55. I note the quite short period of the offer validity covers the time period after the school summer holiday and the period of one month prior to thGue lead into the Christmas travel period.

Arguably a national railcard wouldn‘t cause the sort of rock bottom offers that would cause the masses to suddenly turn up, yet that doesn‘t stop ATOC using it as an excuse not to introduce it.

 

[ainsworth74]

I would like to add to this posting that these short-term tickets have only two pricing bands with first and second class options on both bands.

Now now just because someone can't afford to travel first class doesn't mean they're a second class citizen!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Now now just because someone can't afford to travel first class doesn't mean they're a second class citizen!

Being of the great age that I am, such matters are ones to come less easily to my mental comprehension...

You will note, of course, that I made reference to "standard class" in the remaining parts of my posting. The matter to which you allude has now been suitably corrected.

If we are discussing "class of travel", what "class" would best describe travel in an ex-Merseyrail Class 142 Pacer ?

 

[northwichcat]

If we are discussing "class of travel", what "class" would best describe travel in an ex-Merseyrail Class 142 Pacer ?

3rd world class.

Of course someone travelling in standard class (when first class is available) doesn't necessarily mean they can't afford first class. They might just not wish to invest in an upgrade.

 

[Muzer]

Or, if they're lucky with advances, someone might be in first class because they can't afford standard class

 

[tbtc]

Getting back to the proposal - there have been a number of times on this Forum when I've seen passengers criticised for all cramming on the first service that arrives when a larger/ longer/ emptier service is just a couple of minutes behind (e.g. all boarding a Pacer when there's a 323 following a few minutes behind).

Maybe there could be some kind of "Billy Goat Gruff" code in the timetable for "you don't want to board me, there's an even bigger train turning up in a couple of minutes with loads of spare seats"?

 

[67018]

Getting back to the proposal - there have been a number of times on this Forum when I've seen passengers criticised for all cramming on the first service that arrives when a larger/ longer/ emptier service is just a couple of minutes behind (e.g. all boarding a Pacer when there's a 323 following a few minutes behind).

Maybe there could be some kind of "Billy Goat Gruff" code in the timetable for "you don't want to board me, there's an even bigger train turning up in a couple of minutes with loads of spare seats"?

Good idea. In the evening, I have a choice of a train that is usually rammed and another one 3 minutes later that is less busy, progressively empties out en route but takes 10-15 minutes longer. Most people automatically head for the former, not knowing there's a 'get home quick' versus 'get home more comfortably' option available.

One of the other benefits could be to get regular commuters to slightly change their travel patterns. The view that regulars will know which trains are busiest isn't necessarily correct - I would occasionally catch an earlier train if it was less busy, but don't fancy getting up at 0550 just to find out.