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[bspahh]

The classic is still pointing to the old site for me just fine? It's still not being turned off any time soon.

Is it just the comments you mentioned previously that mean you don't like the new site, or are there other things you don't like about it too?

The new site used to have a link to the old site. I can't see that link anymore. The classic site is still there, but I had to dig around in my chrome history to get the URL. I have bookmarked it, so its OK for me, so long as the classic site still keeps working and doesn't disappear.

What I like about the classic site is that it lets me balance choosing an itinerary which is convenient/interesting/fast with tickets that are a cheap but with enough flexibility.

With the new site, I see a load of prices. Half of those are for first class tickets, that I know I'm not interested in. I want to see the trains for that ticket, but I have to click on the i to see the train times.

For example for a day return from Cambridge North to Liverpool Street with the new site to see the times of the outward and return trains on one screen I need the window to be ~ 1600 pixels wide (100% zoom in Chrome, 1920*1200 resolution 125% OS Zoom). When the window is narrower, I have to scroll up and down to see the outward and return times. To see the route where there is a connection, I have to click on the i with a yellow highlight.
With the classic site, I can hover over the price in the grid and it will show the itinerary, anywhere in the yellow highlight. The this view is 1280 pixels wide. Its still useable when the window is 616 pixels wide. I don't want WWW pages to take over my screen. I want to be able to keep an eye on other windows at the same time.



If I then want to filter the results, the old site has buttons for Standard or First Class, Fixed time or Flexible, and Best Value/Fastest/Cheapest tickets.

The new site has buttons for Standard or First Class tickets, but that is a toggle to show Standard and First Class or only First Class prices. I'm not interested in the First Class prices so they are a load of visual clutter for me.

On some trains, a First Class ticket might be a useful upgrade. On a 387, the seats are exactly the same, perhaps with fewer people around. The expensive prices make it harder for me to spot the fares I might buy. Its the railway ticketing equivalent of a JML advertorial video blaring away as I'm trying to buy something in a shop.

 

[MrJeeves]

What I like about the classic site is that it lets me balance choosing an itinerary which is convenient/interesting/fast with tickets that are a cheap but with enough flexibility.

The vast majority of customers prefer to see all the options available to them, rather than let the system arbitrarily pick up to 16 return combinations based on factors that aren't particularly clear to anyone except the website developers.

Worst of all, you'll often miss entire routes because they are neither cheapest, fastest, or best value (to the software), but are legitimate journey choices you might choose to make because they're more comfortable services, less crowded, or maybe you know you'll have usable WiFi for the whole journey so you can work.

We've said many times before that the classic site isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future, and that hasn't changed. We know some customers are more resistant to change, and we're happy to provide for them while it still makes sense. The classic site is still receiving updates and fixes, as it's being used for all other whitelabel websites.

It's worth pointing out that the useful filtering of results on classic can be reproduced with the dedicated filters tab on the new site, letting you set ranges for prices or journey times which are entirely up to you rather than plucked out of thin air.

And yes, the link to classic is still on the new site, but if you've accidentally hidden it by pressing the 'X', it would have disappeared. If you want it particularly much, you can just clear the cookies and site data for the ticketing site and it should come back.

 

[JoshD14]

Thanks for this, to address some of the points (and I'm sure other members of the team might also chime in, as @MrJeeves has done while I'm drafting this, which covers some of my comments below):

The new site used to have a link to the old site. I can't see that link anymore.

We haven't removed this, its possible its been dismissed accidentally at some point?

When the window is narrower, I have to scroll up and down to see the outward and return times. To see the route where there is a connection, I have to click on the i with a yellow highlight.

There is an ongoing piece of work to start addressing some of this, but it is unfortunately underneath about 20 other competing priorities and there is only one of me, and I do need to actually finish some of the things I start! We don't plan to move away from the current philiosophy (i.e. the grid on the classic site will not be coming over to the new site) but are looking to make it clearer at different viewports the selected journey (so you don't have to scroll) and also improve visibility of some of the info that is currently shown in icons in the cards. There are already some internal mockups of these floating around and a little bit of code written for it.

Your selected journey times are shown in the sidebar on the right hand side of the screen below the selected ticket, which replicates what you have when you hover over in the grid (I appreciate you still need to scroll slightly based on your current screenshot). There is also a "View journey summary" link which shows the same information as when you click the "i" on the journey card. We have discussed internally following your last post about making the "direct"/"X changes" also opening this, but I am yet to implement this.

Fixed time or Flexible, and Best Value/Fastest/Cheapest tickets.

These options still exist on the new site under the "Filters" button, along with additional filtering options. We don't currently plan to hide the "1st class from £X.XX" in the journey cards, and have received positive feedback from other customers about the inclusion of this. I do acknowledge your point about it, and appreciate the point about it taking up space when it isn't strictly necessary.

 

[bspahh]

The vast majority of customers prefer to see all the options available to them, rather than let the system arbitrarily pick up to 16 return combinations based on factors that aren't particularly clear to anyone except the website developers.

Worst of all, you'll often miss entire routes because they are neither cheapest, fastest, or best value (to the software), but are legitimate journey choices you might choose to make because they're more comfortable services, less crowded, or maybe you know you'll have usable WiFi for the whole journey so you can work.

The new site might list lots of route combinations, but you have to click on each of the rather small i buttons to see what they are. I much prefer being able to over over a bigger region and see details of the routes.

We've said many times before that the classic site isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future, and that hasn't changed. We know some customers are more resistant to change, and we're happy to provide for them while it still makes sense. The classic site is still receiving updates and fixes, as it's being used for all other whitelabel websites.

It's worth pointing out that the useful filtering of results on classic can be reproduced with the dedicated filters tab on the new site, letting you set ranges for prices or journey times which are entirely up to you rather than plucked out of thin air.

I know the filters are there, but they are extra click to show them and then they take more screen space. I want to be able to buy train tickets whilst I have other windows open - perhaps checking my itinerary, watching a video, or waiting for a calculation to finish.

And yes, the link to classic is still on the new site, but if you've accidentally hidden it by pressing the 'X', it would have disappeared. If you want it particularly much, you can just clear the cookies and site data for the ticketing site and it should come back.

Thanks. I have restored it. I have also bookmarked the classic site, so I can go directly to it.

We don't currently plan to hide the "1st class from £X.XX" in the journey cards, and have received positive feedback from other customers about the inclusion of this. I do acknowledge your point about it, and appreciate the point about it taking up space when it isn't strictly necessary.

I don't mind if you had 3 buttons - Standard Only, Standard and First, and First Only. However, given that a large fraction of the tickets that are actually sold are Standard, it seems obtuse to only have an option to hide the popular ones.

I think its fine for a First Class advance ticket being shown to me if its cheaper than a Standard advance. When its £12.55 for a Standard ticket, or £43.50 for First Class, I think I'll pass.

 

[Haywain]

I can't find a way to:

1. Set the 1 minute extra change time. If that's meant to be 'time offset', then setting it to 1 works fine.

If you select a station in "Travel via" and check "change at" you should get the option to specify additional change time at that location only. I think that gets you what you want.

 

[Adam Williams]

this view is 1280 pixels wide. Its still useable when the window is 616 pixels wide. I don't want WWW pages to take over my screen. I want to be able to keep an eye on other windows at the same time.

Do you want to guess what proportion of users select a viewport size in the same way you do?

 

[snail]

I tried the site for a trip I'm taking to the S&DR200 anniversary next month. On TPE and LNER I was offered a First Advance combination from Darlington to Lancaster changing at York and Manchester for £65.20. On the Forum site the cheapest is £92.07, routeing via the direct Leeds > Lancaster service (standard only). If I force it to include York and Manchester stops the fare goes up to £114.51! If I select the 3 TPE services I get a total of £92.20. Any thoughts on why the TOC combined split option is not available?

 

[Adam Williams]

I tried the site for a trip I'm taking to the S&DR200 anniversary next month. On TPE and LNER I was offered a First Advance combination from Darlington to Lancaster changing at York and Manchester for £65.20. On the Forum site the cheapest is £92.07, routeing via the direct Leeds > Lancaster service (standard only). If I force it to include York and Manchester stops the fare goes up to £114.51! If I select the 3 TPE services I get a total of £92.20. Any thoughts on why the TOC combined split option is not available?

What's the date and time of travel?

A search link would be useful.

 

[Egg Centric]

I can't find a way to:

1. Set the 1 minute extra change time. If that's meant to be 'time offset', then setting it to 1 works fine.
2. (Don't know if this bit is relevant or not, but just for the purposes of replicating my search) setting a target arrival rather than departure time

If you select a station in "Travel via" and check "change at" you should get the option to specify additional change time at that location only. I think that gets you what you want.

Thanks, unfortunately even with that I can't reproduce the issue on fastjp. It remains a problem on the ticketing site though. I assume it's some odd corner case.

 

[snail]

What's the date and time of travel?

A search link would be useful.

This is the TPE page

Booking Engine

ticket.tpexpress.co.uk

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Any clue why this message is showing up on tickets valid on the Zone 1 tram?
In testing I've found this occurs on (at least) every Atherton line station - Ashburys.

Results | RailUK Tickets

TrainSplit is a free service that makes it easy to find the cheapest train tickets for your journey.

tickets.railforums.co.uk

 

[MrJeeves]

Any clue why this message is showing up on tickets valid on the Zone 1 tram?
In testing I've found this occurs on (at least) every Atherton line station - Ashburys.

Results | RailUK Tickets

TrainSplit is a free service that makes it easy to find the cheapest train tickets for your journey.

tickets.railforums.co.uk

View attachment 186998
View attachment 186997

The industry data only has a transfer fixed link between the locations, and there's no logic set up to detect if your ticket is to Central Zone or includes travel on the tram to override that messaging.

 

[hawk1911]

I have had the same issue as above. I regularly travel between Stafford and Bradford (for the football) and I usually split my tickets at Stockport and Rochdale.

Two issues with the site:
1) It doesn't offer Stockport & Rochdale as a split (which may be down to 2 below); and
2) I get the same message as above for the Stockport to Rochdale leg, that is "Your ticket does not cover this leg of the journey. Make your own arrangements to get between these stations." For this reason I have tended to book my tickets, for this journey, via Northern as they clearly state "Valid for transfer between city centre stations within Metrolink Zone 1 only".

 

[Adam Williams]

I'm not sure what more there is to say beyond what @MrJeeves has already posted

 

[Egg Centric]

I'm not sure what more there is to say beyond what @MrJeeves has already posted

Is there anything to say about the weird issue I was encountering? It still seems to be the case if I try it for this Sunday for example

 

[MrJeeves]

Is there anything to say about the weird issue I was encountering? It still seems to be the case if I try it for this Sunday for example

It seems to be an issue with both a blanket additional interchange time, and using "Arrive before". Removing either of these returns results as expected.

We'll do some investigation and raise it to our supplier.

Thanks, unfortunately even with that I can't reproduce the issue on fastjp. It remains a problem on the ticketing site though. I assume it's some odd corner case.

It won't be possible to reproduce on FastJP directly as it (a) doesn't have "arrive before" and (b) doesn't have blanket interchange time!

 

[ngood77]

Hi. Is there a quick way of re-searching/booking a previous journey ? And remembering my railcard would also be nice

 

[jfollows]

Hi. Is there a quick way of re-searching/booking a previous journey ? And remembering my railcard would also be nice

Remembering your railcard is on balance a bad idea, there are sites which do (not only but including Trainline) and there are lots of posts here by people who invalidly bought railcard-discounted tickets they weren’t entitled to and were found out. On balance I think having to enter a railcard entitlement each time is better. You may conclude otherwise, for sure. I have no input to this site’s decision, but I think it’s better.

Uber App - Deselect Railcard

Hi all Very strange question and Google is not helping ... The good lady is making a train journey tomorrow. Being the helpful person. I thought I would buy her ticket for her by the Uber app and get a few pence credit and then give her the PDF. I have a network railcard but as I'm not...

www.railforums.co.uk

Autofill of Railcard discounts

There have been a number of passengers being caught out by Trainline, among others, following a previous purchase of a Railcard discounted ticket, by automatically applying the discount to all subsequent purchases. GWR's app makes it really obvious that the discount is applied. It shows a...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Remembering your railcard is on balance a bad idea, there are sites which do (not only but including Trainline) and there are lots of posts here by people who invalidly bought railcard-discounted tickets they weren’t entitled to and were found out. On balance I think having to enter a railcard entitlement each time is better. You may conclude otherwise, for sure. I have no input to this site’s decision, but I think it’s better.

Yes, based on the number of dispute and prosecution threads we see about it, it's probably better overall to not keep them saved, even though it's something I like having (knowing if I need to renew my Railcard is easy, the renewal date is my birthday).

 

[jfollows]

Yes, based on the number of dispute and prosecution threads we see about it, it's probably better overall to not keep them saved, even though it's something I like having (knowing if I need to renew my Railcard is easy, the renewal date is my birthday).

Yes, the main requirement seems to be to remember the discount until the railcard is no longer valid, but that seems to me to be expecting too much, especially when the railcard is bought from a different third party.
Having a calendar reminder plus a date in prominent text on the front of the railcard works for me, but not everyone is as organised. And I have two railcards with different expiry dates.

I don’t think the Avanti web site remembers a railcard either, and it’s the only other site I regularly use, and I’m happy with this decision too.

 

[ngood77]

Ok the railcard point was a minor one. What about easily rebooking previous journeys ?

 

[jfollows]

Ok the railcard point was a minor one. What about easily rebooking previous journeys ?

You could be right, but my previous journeys were

1. First open single Stafford to Wilmslow
2. Cheap day return Ryde to Shanklin
3. Super off peak single Waterloo to Ryde

so it wouldn’t have helped me. But everyone is different.

My only common factor was the Two Together railcard which I had to enter explicitly each time, but no complaints there from me.

 

[ngood77]

You could be right, but my previous journeys were

1. First open single Stafford to Wilmslow
2. Cheap day return Ryde to Shanklin
3. Super off peak single Waterloo to Ryde

so it wouldn’t have helped me. But everyone is different.

My only common factor was the Two Together railcard which I had to enter explicitly each time, but no complaints there from me.

Maybe the website should be built exactly to fit how you use it ?!

 

[MrJeeves]

Ok the railcard point was a minor one. What about easily rebooking previous journeys ?

There is ongoing work to support the idea of "favourite journeys", which you can quickly and easily rebook.

 

[ngood77]

There is ongoing work to support the idea of "favourite journeys", which you can quickly and easily rebook.

Magic, many thanks

 

[sheff1]

Any update on the Railcard issue ? I booked tickets for two people travelling together today, one with a Railcard and one without. As the forum site insists on two transactions in such circumstances I bought them elsewhere in one transaction.

 

[MrJeeves]

As the forum site insists on two transactions in such circumstances

You can add more than one journey to a basket, and check them out together.

 

[sheff1]

You can add more than one journey to a basket, and check them out together.

Well yes, but elsewhere I do not need to add anything to a basket - just straight to checkout with the two tickets booked at the same time.

I thought I had seen you were looking to change Trainsplit to allow combinations of different Railcards and Railcards/full fare tickets. Perhaps I misunderstood.

 

[MrJeeves]

I thought I had seen you were looking to change Trainsplit to allow combinations of different Railcards and Railcards/full fare tickets. Perhaps I misunderstood.

It's on the list of things we would like to do, and something that we have tested, but still requires further work before considering rolling it out generally.

 

[Adam Williams]

I thought I had seen you were looking to change Trainsplit to allow combinations of different Railcards and Railcards/full fare tickets

No, you are correct - that's indeed very much what we would like.