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One of the three TVMs in the main ticket hall in Potters Bar now has an Oyster reader installed.

Not just at Gatwick. The same TVMs, again controlled by GTR, do the same at Potters Bar. Super off-peaks weren't offered on the homescreen either today nor on the May Bank Holiday.

Where did I mention a dispute on numbers?

I have a problem with simply taking for face value research paid for by any industry seeking to benefit from such research. Same can be said for how ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ is the product of Kellogg’s research. Or how the sugar industry paid scientists to find in their...

A report paid for by a train operator finds taking the train most favourable.

And the annual cost saving assumes the legal minimum holiday allowance and no other days off for whatever reason - illness, work from home, compassionate leave, travel with work. So if you get more than 20 days annual leave plus public holidays, the cost per journey they advertise is...

They say you can use a Gold Card but I'm yet to see that actually show as an option on the machines. Same with 26-30 Railcards. All well and good having that on their website but it's not the case at the ticket machines.

The argument over the minimum connection time only being valid if immediately getting off another train is almost odd given it’s the exact same process moving between platforms. Unless there’s a separate codified time time for walking within stations. I find it hard to believe the platform...

Are TOCs meant to respect minimum connection times when there’s a platform alteration? The alterations aren’t their fault, but they can decide when to dispatch trains. GTR will frequently ignore the 5 minute time at Finsbury Park and then blame passengers for missing the train from the revised...

There’s even a sign about this at Potters Bar. They won’t let you through with an off peak ticket before 9.35am, even though an off peak ticket is valid to Finsbury Park on a train leaving before then.

https://www.europcar.co.uk/deals/one-way-uk.step For when the car companies need to move their cars about they only charge £1 but obviously you can't pick and choose routes. Hertz and Avis sometimes do it too.

This is quite airline dependent. Ryanair will check ID on every flight even within the schengen area, and on domestic flights. I'm confident at the least that your NYO-MLA flight was with them.

If the problem was not having enough cash to cover its obligations, the answer isn't always just increase fares to get enough cash. That only works if your demand is inelastic. I've been a fortnightly London to Newcastle traveller since 2010. Back in the East Coast days I'd virtually never...

Indeed. Hence why I mentioned tragedy of the commons https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

The comparison to buying a Mars Bar isn’t helpful or accurate. Stealing a Mars Bar is a bit different to not paying for the train. It’s essentially the tragedy of the commons. People see that the train is going to run anyway. What difference does it make if I don’t pay. The marginal cost of...

Watching these things go through Finsbury Park leaves me dreading journeys on them. They’ve got the same clinical bright white interiors as the Thameslink Class 700 and dreary grey seats which looks very harsh. They certainly don’t look like a nice place to spend the 3 hours or so on my regular...

Yes, that looks like a Northumberland County Council Hackney carriage sticker. It shows the licence number of that car/driver (can’t remember which). You’ll see a fair few of them around Newcastle and at the airport, in addition to the Newcastle City Council version which is a red circle on the...

Yeah my office is flexible so I can take the first off peak train and use a railcard, which doesn't get to work much later than normal, but saves a lot compared to an anytime or season ticket. I just buy a week's worth of tickets in advance online and print them all on a Monday morning in the...

The whole smartcard system across TOCs seems a bit rubbish at this point. I got a Thameslink one recently and it doesn't work at my local station's ticket machines - outside London and the Oyster zones. Then when I tried it at Luton Airport Parkway it didn't offer the same tickets as getting a...

Indeed, I forgot to get back. The staff in Marylebone reprinted it without a fuss. So a good outcome in the end, even after many hours spent traipsing around stations.