Why 12 weeks?

[ware2now]

I would like to be able to buy rail tickets up to a year in advance, as you can with air travel, but this forum web site confirms "Note that they are not generally available for purchase more than 12 weeks in advance of the date of travel".
Does anyone else find this restriction a nuisance? Is there some insurmountable reason it can't be changed?

 

[N Levers]

Timetable amendments for engineering work are not published until 12 weeks out.

Also the main (permanant) timetable itself isn't finalised until about 26ish weeks out.

 

[lightbulb]

As I understand it, walk-on tickets (i.e. not "Advance" tickets) can be purchased up to a year in advance.

 

[Greenback]

I don't find it a nuisance myself. 70-80 days is normally the maximum time I'd be planning ahead for a rail journey. Normally, it's less than that. The only exception I have to this, I find is for Eurostar tickets, which can be available before domestic ones. This can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance!

What journey are you planning and why do you need to have the tickets so far ahead of time?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

As I understand it, walk-on tickets (i.e. not "Advance" tickets) can be purchased up to a year in advance.

Indeed, but a reservation could not be given beyond 12 weeks either, which means online journey planners may struggle to do them.

 

[RJ]

As I understand it, walk-on tickets (i.e. not "Advance" tickets) can be purchased up to a year in advance.

The ticket issuing systems at some of the stations I work at issue tickets up to 2050. Wonder if an Off Peak DayTravelcard will still cost £8.90 then?

 

[Tim R-T-C]

The air travel thing is something of an illusion. I have had far advanced flights change times by several hours between booking and departure.

Obviously with a train people are more likely to be connecting between different companies so this could lead to a lot of problems.

 

[Minilad]

I can't see why anyone would need to buy train tickets a year in advance.

 

[RJ]

I can't see why anyone would need to buy train tickets a year in advance.

I've bought off peak tickets to cover my commute to university until June 2015. One reason to do so is if you know that the price of your ticket is going to change. I've had commuters who use YP railcards with day tickets buying them for months in advance ahead of a fares change.

 

[Deerfold]

The air travel thing is something of an illusion. I have had far advanced flights change times by several hours between booking and departure.

Obviously with a train people are more likely to be connecting between different companies so this could lead to a lot of problems.

I've thought I've had holidays all planned 6 months or so in advance and then had:

Flights moved from Luton to Stansted (when I lived on a bus route to Luton Airport...)
Flight cancelled with an option to go to Birmingham instead of Manchester.
Flight cancelled with an option to travel 2 days later instead.

I prefer the fairly stable 12 weeks we get on trains - however long the time is, it'll ever be perfect for everyone. What does annoy is when they're not available until much nearer but there's no information about why.

 

[ware2now]

Thanks to everyone who posted a reply to my question on 27 June. An interesting selection of answers!

Maybe I should explain I'm retired with a Senior Railcard, so I'm a 'leisure' traveller searching for travel bargains and booking on line. Most of my journeys include hotel nights and these are significantly cheaper if I book many months ahead. This seems to be the general trend these days, airlines being another example. Maybe I've just been lucky but booking way ahead has never caused me insurmountable problems, however the cost savings can be huge! So huge that you can consider visiting places that you might not normally be able to afford.

I understand there will always be engineering works on the railways but the core services seem to run year in, year out, with little change. So why not allow bookings a year ahead, with the provision that nothing is guaranteed till 12 weeks? This would seem reasonable if there were really big discounts to make up for the uncertainty, and a complete refund was always offered as an alternative to a forced change.

I think there's a bit of natural 'resistance to change', which is understandable in a system that's been around for many years. Long range reservations might be unusual but there doesn't seem to be any insurmountable reason why they couldn't work – given the will.

Thanks all. See you on a train.

 

[bb21]

If reservations are offered, but then services changed, it would cause plenty of complaints as not all people are understanding like you are of the circumstances, so it's swings and roundabouts.

Timetables may not always change very much from one year to the next, but they are regularly tweaked by a few minutes, so imagine the annoyance when you arrive three minutes before the departure time (plenty of people leave it till the last minute) and find your trains having departed two minutes earlier.

It would also avoid the situation where amended train times lead to journey opportunities no longer existing, therefore either the passenger or the railway company having to fork out for alternative arrangements.

There is no perfect answer to this question, unfortunately. Your best bet is to use this place and there are plenty of people willing to help out with finding a cheaper deal.