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I understand from a friend who used to work at one of the TOCs (now retired) that with the launch of Great British Railways, DfT is most likely looking for experienced revenue managers from industry and I am tempted to put my hat in the ring. I reckon I would be a great candidate, with 14 years...

I am an airline pricing strategy specialist (check out my site!) and travel by rail in the UK quite a bit, so I might be qualified to comment based on what I have observed out there in the market. I will comment specifically on Advances, mainly for VTEC since they are my regular operator. VTEC...

I am going to travel from London to Maidstone. Does 1ST on this route have a separate carriage, a separate compartment or is it just one of those ends of the carriage without even a door? If the latter I will travel STD but otherwise might pay for 1ST. Can anybody highlight a picture of what is...

I must travel from Newcastle to Nottingham tomorrow. It is extremely important so I will make the journey no matter what. But I also have plenty of time. I am currently scheduled to travel via Newark on a 1ST Advance. If a replacement bus service from Newark is not available would my ticket be...

If I get on a train at Newcastle and proceed non-stop to Edinburgh at what point do I have to stop obeying English law and start obeying Scottish law? Is it: (i) When I board the train (ii) When the doors close (iii) When the train leaves the platform (iv) When the train crosses the border...

I am taking the 0930 VTEC from Newcastle to York in 1ST tomorrow. Can I expect a cooked breakfast/bacon roll? Many thanks in advance. :)

I took a return trip from Newcastle to Darlington today, using VTEC in 1ST which offers free drinks. On the outbound drinks were served out of Newcastle but out of Darlington I went to the service area and asked the stewardess for a Coke, which was provided. But it made me wonder if any of the...

Thanks everybody. To answer one key point - at the time of interest Advance fares in STD were not available on the trains I needed but 1ST Advances were. In the end we switched to another day when Advance fares both STD and 1ST were available. I took a bit of a risk and told the Client I...

Consider the following scenario: (i) My Client is expecting me to buy rail travel and will strictly reimburse STD and not 1ST (ii) I pay GBP 100 for a STD Anytime Return (agreed with the Client) (iii) I then pay GBP 120 for a pair of 1ST Advance Singles (iv) I bill the Client GBP 100 - the...

When I first started travelling on GNER the 125s had what you might call a "brown" interior with table lamps. The 225s had a "grey" interior. "Mallard" interiors were introduced from late 2003 and are only just starting to be replaced now. The "Mallard" has lasted a respectable 13...

Why have VTEC retained monuments dividing the old smoking section from the rest of coach M following refurbishment? The smoking section is redundant and will never be used again, so I don't see what function these fulfil. :)

I am not asking for cheaper fares - I just want to pay for the journey I actually make! :)

On Saturday I am going from Vauxhall to Bentley and then returning from Farnham to Vauxhall. But of course I cannot buy a return ticket on that journey and have to buy either two singles or a return ticket to Bentley, which costs GBP 1.60 more than Farnham. Essentially the railway is doing me...

The next generation of smartcard-enabled gates could have vertically mounted readers on both sides of the ingress as well as the top surface. This would allow passengers with a smartcard in their pocket to simply bump against the side rather than having to get it out and wave it around...

Agreed, but of course if you know with high probability that the train will not be full and the people willing to pay £30 are purchasing at different times then you can sell 1x £150 ticket and 3x £30 ticket. That's revenue management! To an extent. The full optimisation exercise is (or...

I have noticed this on VTEC too. Those nice GBP 44.50 1ST fares to Newcastle are much harder to find for the trains I like to take and the next level up increases the return fare by GBP 18.20. So for my summer trip I decided to burn 9k Avios and GBP 35 and fly BA instead!

Yesterday at 4.21pm I was waiting for a friend to arrive at Pimlico station. A chap came up from the trains, jumped over the barrier and left the station. The member of staff on duty did nothing. What is TfL policy for events like this?

I had the toad in the hole on the 1025 from Newcastle to King's Cross today and it was excellent. There was a large Yorkshire pudding, two fat sausages and plenty of gravy. However the meal was only a toad in the hole and unless you count crisps(!) there was no vegetable item to accompany it.

I took the curry train to and from Corbridge tonight with my family. It was absolutely epic! We met a chap from the restaurant, Avi, under the clock at Newcastle Central Station just before 6pm. Avi was easy to identify because he was wearing a shiny Indian style white jacket and carrying a...

I took the 14.30 VTEC from King's Cross to Newcastle today. The good - the train arrived more or less on time and the Coca-Cola was chilled The bad - three triangles of the coronation chicken sandwiches had between them approximately three square centimetres of chicken The ugly - twenty...