Greater Manchester Evening Return Sales Restrictions

[mancnq]

I know never to use the TVMs at Manchester Airport in the evening. These are the cheapest fares available for a single journey from the Airport to Piccadilly:

0230-0930 (weekdays): £4.10 Anytime Single
0930-1830 (0230-1830 weekends): £3.50 Off-peak Single
1830-2100: £1.80 Cheap Evening Return
2100-0230: £2.20 GM Evening Rail Ranger

The last two tickets are never available at the TVMs. I know to go to the desk and ask for them, but how many tourists must arrive, use the machine and pay £3.50 as that's the cheapest ticket the machine offers them?

 

[northwichcat]

The last two tickets are never available at the TVMs. I know to go to the desk and ask for them, but how many tourists must arrive, use the machine and pay £3.50 as that's the cheapest ticket the machine offers them?

I imagine loads. A lot of British tourists abroad use ticket machines at train stations because it is easier to see the ticket types displayed on a screen in front of you, opposed to trying to communicate with ticket office staff who don't speak the same language.

Also, many airlines do in flight magazines which tell passengers how to get between the Airport and city centre and for Manchester it wouldn't mention the Evening Return.

 

[AlterEgo]

I know never to use the TVMs at Manchester Airport in the evening. These are the cheapest fares available for a single journey from the Airport to Piccadilly:

0230-0930 (weekdays): £4.10 Anytime Single
0930-1830 (0230-1830 weekends): £3.50 Off-peak Single
1830-2100: £1.80 Cheap Evening Return
2100-0230: £2.20 GM Evening Rail Ranger

The last two tickets are never available at the TVMs. I know to go to the desk and ask for them, but how many tourists must arrive, use the machine and pay £3.50 as that's the cheapest ticket the machine offers them?

Exactly. However TVMs are not required to be "impartial retailers", unlike a booking office. I do struggle to understand exactly why this is.

 

[Lampshade]

Exactly. However TVMs are not required to be "impartial retailers", unlike a booking office. I do struggle to understand exactly why this is.

Doesn't stop Virgin making theirs impartial, they sell the full range of tickets, including TOC specific tickets and Evening Returns (as do East Coast's and SWT's IIRC). The only probable reasons for Northern's machines not offering the full range are profiteering or simply bad decision making and overlooking passenger requirements.

 

[AlterEgo]

Doesn't stop Virgin making theirs impartial, they sell the full range of tickets

Not quite so. Example: TVMs at Euston will not sell LM Only tickets to Milton Keynes.

 

[paul1609]

SWTs dont even sell a ticket to every station in the ex southern region let alone every ticket type

 

[CHESHIRECAT]

Above cannot be purchased from Northern Rail Ticket Machines...( but are available from Virgin Machines.) . interesting to see what Conductors on board would say if you asked for Evening Return on basis that machines don't sell them and ticket office closed .....or on the overbridge at Piccadilly!

 

[hughesfowler]

how long before they get cut anyway, how many people actually use them as a return and not a cheap way of getting a single. Do not know who subsidise these taickets but with the cuts am suprised they are still available now.

 

[Lampshade]

how long before they get cut anyway, how many people actually use them as a return and not a cheap way of getting a single. Do not know who subsidise these taickets but with the cuts am suprised they are still available now.

They always seem to sell them instead of singles at the ticket office anyway, regardless of whether you ask for one or not hock:

 

[snail]

how long before they get cut anyway, how many people actually use them as a return and not a cheap way of getting a single. Do not know who subsidise these taickets but with the cuts am suprised they are still available now.

Do you think no one realises that? They are subsidsed by Transport for Greater Manchester (formerly GMPTE) to promote the use of evening rail services in the county (shock!).

They pay subsidies to run trains and operate stations, so why not to attract passengers as well?

 

[northwichcat]

Do not know who subsidise these taickets but with the cuts am suprised they are still available now.

Then you could ask why so much money is being spent on advertising Yorkshire as a short break destination. I imagine if either that or the cheap evening returns was costing more than the extra revenue it was bringing in then they would be withdrawn.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

They always seem to sell them instead of singles at the ticket office anyway, regardless of whether you ask for one or not hock:

Ticket offices have to offer the cheapest through fare valid for your journey.

 

[WestCoast]

Ticket offices have to offer the cheapest through fare valid for your journey.

They do, but I assume that if you ask for a single they are obliged to offer you the cheapest single, not return. However, it's a good service to offer the Evening Return as a money saver, and I would imagine that it would be taken as policy among staff. It also boosts sales for the ticketing product and ensures that the TfGM funding continues.

TfGM are generally quite good with ticketing, but certain vendors let them down. Northern Rail's inability to offer the Evening Return through TVMs is not really acceptable in my opinion.

 

[tony_mac]

The machines at Manchester airport are run by Transpennine, aren't they? I'm 99% sure that I have bought a cheap evening return from the machines.

Northern machines also don't seem to offer super-off-peak returns.

 

[northwichcat]

The machines at Manchester airport are run by Transpennine, aren't they? I'm 99% sure that I have bought a cheap evening return from the machines.

Northern machines also don't seem to offer super-off-peak returns.

I've not been there recently but at a lot of stations which Northern don't manage they've managed to get one of their own ticket machines in alongside the ones that belong to the managing operator e.g. at Stockport there is a Northern machine alongside the two Virgin machines.

 

[WestCoast]

The machines at Manchester airport are run by Transpennine, aren't they? I'm 99% sure that I have bought a cheap evening return from the machines.

Northern machines also don't seem to offer super-off-peak returns.

Virgin machines do sell them, I think TPE machines sell them (Manchester Airport has TPE machines). Northern machines aren't very good at all.

I've not been there recently but at a lot of stations which Northern don't manage they've managed to get one of their own ticket machines in alongside the ones that belong to the managing operator e.g. at Stockport there is a Northern machine alongside the two Virgin machines.

Yes, many Virgin stations in Northern England have Northern TVMs. They have a strong argument for it since they operate the bulk of local services.

However, I wish Virgin and TPE TVMs were put in Northern stations. Huge swathes of the Northern network are without Ticket-On-Departure facilities.