Southeastern promoting LNER services

[Mikey C]

Just got an email from Southeastern. Instead of the usual ones, promoting the places you can visit on the Southeastern network, this one is promoting Northern Escapes - "Enjoy a Northern Escape by train" - destinations that can be reached on LNER, via the short walk between St Pancras and Kings Cross.

What the email doesn't do is promote services on EMR from STP, the same station that SE HS1 trains arrive at. Or indeed any other operators from KX like Lumo or Great Central.

It's as if the DfT controlled Southeastern only wants to promote services on its fellow DfT controlled operator LNER...

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's as if the DfT controlled Southeastern only wants to promote services on its fellow DfT controlled operator LNER...

Why shouldn't it? TOCs have promoted stuff within group before, e.g. FirstGroup TOCs promoting others.

I realise we don't like LNER at the moment but it's not really related to this...

 

[Starmill]

LNER's marketing in Northern England and Scotland has promoted trips to destinations they don't serve, but Southeastern do. So presumably it's actually just a mutual free promotion deal.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Aug 2025 ==

Why shouldn't it? TOCs have promoted stuff within group before, e.g. FirstGroup TOCs promoting others.

I realise we don't like LNER at the moment but it's not really related to this...

Marketing opt in being pooled and greater impact from shared spend on ads is probably one of the quickest post-GBR benefits the industry can take.

 

[Mikey C]

Why shouldn't it? TOCs have promoted stuff within group before, e.g. FirstGroup TOCs promoting others.

I realise we don't like LNER at the moment but it's not really related to this...

TOC like First are commercial companies though, whereas you'd hope that nationalised DfT operated franchises would be less parochial.

 

[The exile]

TOC like First are commercial companies though, whereas you'd hope that nationalised DfT operated franchises would be less parochial.

A nationalised TOC promoting another nationalised TOC is “in house”. If it were to start promoting a non-nationalised one (yes, I know) it would have to do them all or it would be unfair competition (and possibly also a breach of its contract with you).

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The long-running TV advert with the growling voiceover, which I assume is DfT-inspired/funded, is for rail as a generic mode of travel.
All TOCs are covered within the double arrow logo, public and private.
As GBR approaches, it looks as though there will be more commonality within the DFTO group of TOCs.

 

[DarloRich]

I am unsure what issue we are worried about here - seems like a harmless bit of cross advertising and exactly what we should be doing in a joined up world!

 

[kentrailman]

They should be careful what they promote ! A peak single fare from Folkestone to St Pancras is £54.10 but if you get one from Folkestone to Peterborough it is only £53.10 ! ( off peak but as Peterborough is outside the NSE area you can use it on peak trains from Folkestone).

Having said that, I make a journey using a similar ticket fortnightly and actually prefer the peak morning trains as some of them are much quieter than the "off peak" ones .. maybe they are trying to fill seats on the peak trains !

 

[Snex]

Surely it's also to do with LNER go places where people might actually want to go from the South like Leeds, York and Edinburgh.

No malice to Sheffield, Derby, Leicester and Nottingham but they're not exactly the sort of places you travel for a day out.

 

[D1537]

I've seen advertisements at LNER and TPE stations here in the North for destinations like Whitby and Skegness. I don't see the issue, to be honest.

 

[godfreycomplex]

No malice to Sheffield, Derby, Leicester and Nottingham but they're not exactly the sort of places you travel for a day out.

They can be (perhaps not Derby) but I take your point. EMR (Skegness notwithstanding) is a lot less driven by long distance leisure/tourist travel than LNER is, hence, rightly or wrongly, EMR not pursuing that “market”.

Southerners/Londoners don’t tend to have nearly as negative a view of the Midlands and the North as can be the case the other way, and leisure travel in that direction is becoming more and more popular.

 

[brad465]

When I lived in Maidstone the walk from St Pancras-Kings X was very attractive; the HS ticket price was offset by no Underground, so could split tickets at London terminals (the LNER route has form for more expensive journeys beyond KGX through London). Also, many years ago I managed to sway a family member (from York) with a tube phobia to come to Kent by using St Pancras and SE Highspeed. Therefore, if advertising rules permit this cross-operator promotion, this is definitely one with benefit to both routes.

 

[185]

The long-running TV advert with the growling voiceover, which I assume is DfT-inspired/funded, is for rail as a generic mode of travel. All TOCs are covered within the double arrow logo, public and private.

Some love it, some hate it. But it was neutral - ie wasn't bad, and reasonably demonstrated people using the country's railways in a modern way.
(music was Ummet Ozcan, Xanadu)

Call me an old whingebag but the replacement for it, is rather grim and as fake and irritating as a Verisure alarm advert.

 

[Starmill]

Surely it's also to do with LNER go places where people might actually want to go from the South like Leeds, York and Edinburgh.

No malice to Sheffield, Derby, Leicester and Nottingham but they're not exactly the sort of places you travel for a day out.

What's so appealing about Leeds that's not similarity appealing about Nottingham or Sheffield please?

 

[Mikey C]

The specific places promoted were Lincoln, Harrogate, York, Durham and Berwick, so not really day trip destinations apart from perhaps Lincoln.

I started this thread, as it's the first time I recall Southeastern sending an email promoting another operator, and it stood out that it was promoting a fellow DfT run franchise.

It'll be interesting what happens going forward, as all the franchises have their own mailing lists, and most have their own way of promoting themselves, and indeed varying reward schemes, which clearly will need to be merged.

 

[WestCoast]

A casual observation is that we get quite a lot of leisure travellers from the South into Sheffield for the Peak District actually, in addition to the large student market of course. Not sure EMR can be chasing more custom at the moment until the new fleet is in place….

 

[D1537]

The specific places promoted were Lincoln, Harrogate, York, Durham and Berwick, so not really day trip destinations apart from perhaps Lincoln.

York is even quicker than Lincoln from King's Cross if you take one of the hourly fasts. But if they're talking about "Northern Escapes" I suspect they're aiming that more at weekends away and similar breaks.

 

[Horizon22]

GWR had some marketing going on I think in East or at least Central London to destinations like Oxford and Bath ("only XX minutes away via Paddington") after the opening of the Elizabeth line and encouraging usage for rail trips.

This type of marketing can be mutually beneficial if done right.

 

[Sonic1234]

The ironic thing is thanks to LNER's fare "trial" you can get better value tickets from SE stations than from Kings Cross!