Advance fare pricing discrepency

[185143]

Not come across this before. Searched on NRE on my way into Liverpool for advances to and from Glasgo in October. This is a journey I do several times a year, so am familiar with the correct fares-NRE was displaying £7.90 railcard advances each way from Warrington to Glasgow.

I've just gone to Hamilton Square to book them (partly as it's not a ticket office I'm familiar with and knowing Merseyrail's reputation for things beyond their network).

The tickets were found without any problem-that is until I was asked to clarify the expected price. The tickets I have been sold were for £8.90 each way-but NRE was still showing the fare for £7.90! (I double checked it there and then). I was shown the screen-there was no £7.90 tier showing.

I've just searched again and NRE is still showing the £7.90 fare available. I always book at stations-so it's not an EMT style £1 off offer if you book direct.

Why would the lower tier not be showing? (It wasn't there at all-not just greyed out, I was shown the screen) and how do I proceed with this?

 

[Starmill]

Is the ticket routed VIRGINWESTCOAST or VTWC &CONNECTNS? The former is £7.90 with a railcard while the latter is £8.90. The former are also issued from Warrington Bank Quay rather than Warrington Stations.

Perhaps the clerk typed in Warrington Stations?

 

[185143]

You've got it Starmill. VTWC&Connections.

 

[AlterEgo]

Is the ticket routed VIRGINWESTCOAST or VTWC &CONNECTNS? The former is £7.90 with a railcard while the latter is £8.90. The former are also issued from Warrington Bank Quay rather than Warrington Stations.

Perhaps the clerk typed in Warrington Stations?

Indeed - suspect this is the reason.

 

[Starmill]

This chopping and changing between fares defined station groups and named stations within the groups (except in very rare cases e.g. where you're travelling between two stations which are both members of the same group) is a new idea and has already been spotted causing problems elsewhere.

Before long we will have arrived at a situation where you always have to check both the group and the named station to make sure you are not missing something. For example if you search for Crewe to London Terminals it does not show you any LM Only tickets whatsoever now as these are all defined to London Euston.

 

[Hadders]

This chopping and changing between fares defined station groups and named stations within the groups (except in very rare cases e.g. where you're travelling between two stations which are both members of the same group) is a new idea and has already been spotted causing problems elsewhere.

Before long we will have arrived at a situation where you always have to check both the group and the named station to make sure you are not missing something. For example if you search for Crewe to London Terminals it does not show you any LM Only tickets whatsoever now as these are all defined to London Euston.

This is RDG's version of fares simplification...

 

[Paul Kelly]

Yes, it is almost certainly the problem that the clerk searched from "Warrington Stations" to Glasgow Central/Queen Street, which only has the more expensive VTWC &CONNECTNS fares.

Lots of changes like these are being made (and currently ongoing) by TOCs, seemingly in response to the DfT demand to remove "jargon" from tickets. Unfortunately it increasingly seems that the people responsible for making the changes are failing to foresee the problems caused to end users (such as staff in ticket offices) of the various ticket issuing systems in use.