Evening peak from Paddington (again...)

[LexyBoy]

Hi All,

Sorry if this is a perpetual topic, but I feel the need to get this off my chest...

Why oh why oh why oh why can't National Rail deal with evening peak restrictions out of Paddington?!? It's really annoying me (and no doubt leading to many irate punters) that it shows lots of trains as being "Off Peak" (suggesting the Thames Branches Day Rover) when they are on the banned list! I can only assume that this is because it's not a real restriction (TBDR is restriction B1, any train after 0930) but rather one applied at the whim of FGW.

Whilst I might be happy to argue the toss with revenue at Paddington, armed with the ticket restriction and a printout from NRE, most people would not consider this. Why can't the restrictions be added to the ticket restrictions as has been done with other tickets from Paddington?

Also, why don't FGW advertise evening peak restrictions better? The only info on evening peak times on their website relates to the TBDR - can it be so hard to have (at least for major destinations) a list on their website showing which trains are "peak" and which "off peak" (like they have at Paddington, in fact).

Finally, and even more strangely, some return journeys (RDG>PAD) are shown as not valid when a CDR or Rover is selected - for example the 1903, 1918 and 1925. There is no restriction on eastbound evening journeys so where is the journey planner getting this from?

(any tips for avoiding peak fares to Reading appreciated - suitable for 'normals' to use . I'll probably just advise to get a stopper)

 

[bb21]

Why oh why oh why oh why can't National Rail deal with evening peak restrictions out of Paddington?!? It's really annoying me (and no doubt leading to many irate punters) that it shows lots of trains as being "Off Peak" (suggesting the Thames Branches Day Rover) when they are on the banned list! I can only assume that this is because it's not a real restriction (TBDR is restriction B1, any train after 0930) but rather one applied at the whim of FGW.

Are you saying that some evening services out of Paddington are barred on a TBDR? National Rail website has no mention of it so I doubt it is enforceable.

Whilst I might be happy to argue the toss with revenue at Paddington, armed with the ticket restriction and a printout from NRE, most people would not consider this. Why can't the restrictions be added to the ticket restrictions as has been done with other tickets from Paddington?

I'd rather that not happen

Also, why don't FGW advertise evening peak restrictions better? The only info on evening peak times on their website relates to the TBDR - can it be so hard to have (at least for major destinations) a list on their website showing which trains are "peak" and which "off peak" (like they have at Paddington, in fact).

You can always send them suggestions, and a sample of Virgin's publicity.
I'm sure they'll appreciate the idea.

Finally, and even more strangely, some return journeys (RDG>PAD) are shown as not valid when a CDR or Rover is selected - for example the 1903, 1918 and 1925. There is no restriction on eastbound evening journeys so where is the journey planner getting this from?

(any tips for avoiding peak fares to Reading appreciated - suitable for 'normals' to use . I'll probably just advise to get a stopper)

I'm also finding it strange that some evening eastbound services from Reading cannot be selected with an Off-Peak Day Return or a TBDR. There seems to be no general rule about it. Some are fasts and some are all-shackle stoppers. Very odd indeed.

 

[LexyBoy]

Are you saying that some evening services out of Paddington are barred on a TBDR? National Rail website has no mention of it so I doubt it is enforceable.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=2093

As I say, personally I'd argue my case but I'm sure barrier staff at Paddington would stop you (if they bothered to check more than the date).

As you may be aware, until fairly recently all evening peak restrictions from Paddington were done with a weird ban on certain trains for Off-Peak tickets, rather than applying restrictions to the tickets themselves. This has now been amended to be in line with everywhere else in the country, but obviously the Rover missed out on this process.

Rovers are not regulated IIRC so I fear the response to bringing it to ATOC/FGW's attention would not be favourable to us lot! I'm sure FGW would have their way with applying restrictions to the Rover - whether done by changing the ticket restriction code or enforcing the old system.

 

[bb21]

Rovers are not regulated IIRC so I fear the response to bringing it to ATOC/FGW's attention would not be favourable to us lot! I'm sure FGW would have their way with applying restrictions to the Rover - whether done by changing the ticket restriction code or enforcing the old system.

Trouble with this is either not to travel on those trains, which means that FGW has their ways, or do it and then risk the loophole being closed anyway. You can't win unfortunately.

 

[LexyBoy]

You can always send them suggestions, and a sample of Virgin's publicity.
I'm sure they'll appreciate the idea.

Will do - the problem is that whilst Virgin can simply say "Off Peaks not valid between 1501 and 1844", FGW have a mish-mash of trains which are classed as Off Peak and Peak together, with no clear rule - so that whilst all stoppers are Off-Peak, some fasts are not.

 

[island]

And some off-peak tickets are valid on some trains if you travel further...