Peak time FGW fare?

[ollyrogers]

Hi all, I have a friend coming to visit tomorrow evening from Paddington to Didcot, and just wanted to check that this fare is correct:

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/servi.../dep&saved=false&responseId=4&fareDisplayId=3

I'm convinced the peak time fast trains out of Paddington are all anytime fares, yet this one appears to tell me that an off-peak is valid on this service and I don't want her to be PF'd for her trouble. Can anyone confirm this for me please?

 

[ainsworth74]

You're going to have to give details of what trains you're looking at and what tickets you're thinking about (origin and destination of the ticket your intending to buy as well please ) as that link doesn't work for anyone else but you!

 

[ollyrogers]

Oops, my bad, let me see... It's Paddington (PAD) to Didcot Parkway (DID) but I can't for the life of me find the train I had open at the fare I had shown on there - this leads me to believe that my original thoughts were correct and that the Anytime fare is the only one valid on the fast trains, and an Off-Peak ticket can only be used on the slows.

I'm fairly sure it was a Weston-super-Mare that I had spotted for £24.10, but on closer look through all available fares it now appears priced at £29.60 as an anytime, so either I've made an error or the database has (and I'm 99% sure the error is on my behalf) - my apologies!!

 

[hassaanhc]

Oops, my bad, let me see... It's Paddington (PAD) to Didcot Parkway (DID) but I can't for the life of me find the train I had open at the fare I had shown on there - this leads me to believe that my original thoughts were correct and that the Anytime fare is the only one valid on the fast trains, and an Off-Peak ticket can only be used on the slows.

I'm fairly sure it was a Weston-super-Mare that I had spotted for £24.10, but on closer look through all available fares it now appears priced at £29.60 as an anytime, so either I've made an error or the database has (and I'm 99% sure the error is on my behalf) - my apologies!!

Yes this is the result I'm getting too, £29.60 Anytime tickets only on fasts between 1600-1900, but £24.10 Off-Peak tickets valid on stoppers.


Same restrictions also apply to:
Off-Peak Day Return £24.20
Off-Peak Return £26.70 (return portion valid on any train on that route within 30 days)

If you wish to return within 30 days, get the £26.70 ticket.

 

[bb21]

It is a legacy from the days of FGW and Thames Trains. Turbo services are not restricted on the cheaper ticket out of Paddington in the afternoon.

I believe you were looking at the 1718, which is correctly shown as valid on the £24.10 fare.

 

[Flamingo]

The simple rule is that off-peak tickets to Rdg, Did and OXF can be used on most trains in the evening peak that stops before Reading. The XX.18 to Oxford does.

(Doubtless somebody will be along soon to clarify my simplistic post).

 

[greatkingrat]

Not quite that simple. The 1649 and 1850 to Oxford stop at Slough but are restricted, as is the 1749 to Worcester which stops at Maidenhead.

 

[Flamingo]

I knew there would be something...

 

[ollyrogers]

Cheers hassaanhc and bb21, me looking at the wrong time/ tab looks the most logical of all explanations for this. This would have been a lot easier if I'd got my glasses changed recently!

Looks like a potential minefield really - I've been travelling up and down this route from home to uni for the last 3 years and I have no idea how it all jumbles together. Is it just me that finds the whole system unnecessarily confusing?

 

[leymoo]

I did this, but to Oxford and Reading a while back:

http://files.leymoo.com/irc/OffPeakTrains.txt

What you have to do:

• Look up all the services to Didcot in your time frame.
• Eliminate the services in the off-peak validity code for your ticket

(5K (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/pdfs/SVR_5K.pdf) for an SVR and a J9 (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/pdfs/CDR_J9.pdf)for CDR).
And due to probably some awful Word doc being the source of this PDF neither table copy/pastes in the same way!

Result set - services you can use with your ticket. Last time I did this (about a year ago), there wasn't actually a clear pattern with Turbos vs HST, and even the occasional one that did a stopover in Maidenhead or Slough may not count on your ticket.

Luckily they've started de-marking the "exception trains" with the text "Off-peak tickets may not be valid" at Paddington itself, which does make some of this easier.

 

[yorkie]

... yet this one appears to tell me that an off-peak is valid on this service and I don't want her to be PF'd for her trouble. Can anyone confirm this for me please?

It's valid.

If it wasn't, the NRCoC makes it very clear that an excess fare would be charged. A penalty fare would not be appropriate, and if an RPI incorrectly issued one, an appeal would be successful. Sadly it's not unheard of for PFs to be issued incorrectly but it would be unlikely (I'd also consider asking for assurances that appropriate training be provided and charge a £10 admin fee for my time )

 

[island]

An alternative ticket valid on all trains after 0930 is an off-peak day single from Limehouse LTS to Didcot Parkway at £26.20.

 

[PermitToTravel]

In my experience that one only works from unbarriered platforms

 

[yorkie]

In my experience that one only works from unbarriered platforms

We've been assured several months ago that gateline staff won't be making up restriction codes any more, and if they're unsure, will not be preventing people accessing trains. Is that not the case? What are Passenger Focus doing about it?

 

[Paul Kelly]

It certainly wasn't the case at Paddington last Monday evening. My friend was trying to get to the 18:05 Frome service, making the return journey on an Off-Peak Day Travelcard from Reading (restriction code C7, which permits travel on that train) and she was refused entry at the gateline by the attendant who apparently looked something up in a chart and told her she could travel some time after 18:30.

She eventually approached a different attendant who confirmed the ticket was valid for travel on that train and let her though. But if she hadn't been insistent she could easily have been caused an unnecessary delay. There still seems to be inconsistency and poor training.

 

[hassaanhc]

It certainly wasn't the case at Paddington last Monday evening. My friend was trying to get to the 18:05 Frome service, making the return journey on an Off-Peak Day Travelcard from Reading (restriction code C7, which permits travel on that train) and she was refused entry at the gateline by the attendant who apparently looked something up in a chart and told her she could travel some time after 18:30.

She eventually approached a different attendant who confirmed the ticket was valid for travel on that train and let her though. But if she hadn't been insistent she could easily have been caused an unnecessary delay. There still seems to be inconsistency and poor training.

Yes there is a chart with a list of trains and a generalisation of what ticket types are usually valid or not on each. Sod's Law I've just left Paddington on the Hammersmith Line so will have to get the photo of said chart later :P

 

[hassaanhc]

Here is the poster on display by the P4/5 barriers. It also appears on the footbridge at the top of the stairs to P8/9.

 

[yorkie]

Here is the poster on display by the P4/5 barriers. It also appears on the footbridge at the top of the stairs to P8/9.

I can't read that unfortunately.

I hope it makes it clear that the generalisations are for tickets from 'London Terminals' and tickets with other origins may have different restrictions.

 

[bnm]

The poster says: "This poster refers to departures from this station and other stations in the London Travelcard area travelling to other First Great western stations. Time restrictions may vary from stations outside this area, so if you are unsure please enquire"

Totally incorrect*, but hey ho. To be expected from FGW. If they can't produce correct information on their posters what hope is there of the staff being correctly trained on the restrictions?

*What about Off Peak Day tickets from Limehouse, Barking, Bethnall Green Enfield Town, Alexandra Palace, Croydon, Herne Hill...? The list goes on and on. All are stations in the London Travelcard area and all have Off Peak Day tickets with no restriction on evening peak travel through Paddington to other FGW stations.

 

[hassaanhc]

I can't read that unfortunately.

I hope it makes it clear that the generalisations are for tickets from 'London Terminals' and tickets with other origins may have different restrictions.

Sorry, didn't realise my camera settings resulted in low quality

Anyway, I copied out into Excel


Anyway, yes, it does say at the bottom that this chart only applies if the origin of the ticket is in the Travelcard area, in a very unclear wording.

This poster refers to departures from this station and other stations within the London Travelcard area travelling to other First Great Western stations. Time restrictions may vary from outside this area, so if you are unsure please enquire.

 

[leymoo]

It certainly wasn't the case at Paddington last Monday evening. My friend was trying to get to the 18:05 Frome service, making the return journey on an Off-Peak Day Travelcard from Reading (restriction code C7, which permits travel on that train) and she was refused entry at the gateline by the attendant who apparently looked something up in a chart and told her she could travel some time after 18:30.

She eventually approached a different attendant who confirmed the ticket was valid for travel on that train and let her though. But if she hadn't been insistent she could easily have been caused an unnecessary delay. There still seems to be inconsistency and poor training.

At some point in the past year the wording on the screens at Paddington changed from:
"Off peak tickets are not valid" or something suitably stern to the more vague "off peak tickets may not be valid".
I tend to be pushy and get on anyway. I get this a LOT doing RDG-LEI via London at 07:45 where my off peak return is valid (9J) and NRE confirms this but no-one at RDG knows this offhand, as it's an uncommon journey. Worse comes to worse I have the pdf with the off peak code on my phone. But most aren't as persistent and incorrectly get told to wait.