Another Trainsplit question

[trainophile]

Just looking at tickets for Kirkcaldy to Arbroath on Weds 17th November, outbound 1105 return 1550. Confused because the tickets found state as shown below "Advance Single BUS": All the details appear to be LNER trains, so what is the significance of the references to BUS?

	Price	Description
Kirkcaldy to Arbroath Advance Single (BUS) (Senior Railcard)	£5.30	Valid only on London North Eastern Railway services. Restriction GA applies - click for details
Arbroath to Kirkcaldy Advance Single (BUS) (Senior Railcard)	£5.30	Valid only on London North Eastern Railway services. Restriction GA applies - click for details

 

[XAM2175]

It's the code for that ticket type. Purely co-incidental that it's the word BUS. There are other levels of advance on that flow coded BRS, BTS, BSS, BYS, BPS, BZS, and so on. If you look on BR Fares you'll see them all listed:

Purchase flexible walk-up fares for any British train journey

Purchase flexible single/return tickets & Travelcards – in 3 clicks. Full details of all British rail fares shown, with built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

 

[trainophile]

Oh thank you so much, I never knew that!

 

[XAM2175]

My pleasure!

 

[planetf1]

You might think that someone could have identified this as a possible source of end user confusion given engineering work means bus is always a possibility

 

[ainsworth74]

You might think that someone could have identified this as a possible source of end user confusion given engineering work means bus is always a possibility

To be fair I do not think there was ever any expectation of those codes ever being publicly visible!

 

[trainophile]

The BUS codes aren't visible on the TPE website that I checked for clarification. Not sure why Trainsplit shows them, given no-one knows what they mean anyway.

 

[XAM2175]

The BUS codes aren't visible on the TPE website that I checked for clarification. Not sure why Trainsplit shows them, given no-one knows what they mean anyway.

No ordinary booking system (whether TOC or third-party) shows them to passengers. Trainsplit does as it's aimed at what you might call 'power users', who are expected to have a somewhat more comprehensive knowledge of the ticketing system.

It may be something for the developers to think about now that splitting is becoming more well-known.

For perspective though, the fact that you saw the code BUS was a rare co-incidence, as it refers specifically to one price of LNER-only advance single. If you had purchased one level cheaper (£4.40) you would have seen code BTS, or BXS going one level higher (£7.50). A similar fare with CrossCountry (£5.70) would have shown code MBS.

Had you purchased an anytime or off-peak ticket you would have seen codes that go back to the BR days and that have a more obvious logical construction that comes from BR's names for the tickets - like SDS for Anytime Day Single, from when it was the Standard Day Single, or CDR for an Off-peak Day Return, from when it was the Cheap Day Return, or FDR for a First-class Anytime Day Return, and so on. Those codes in particular are well-known with both ticketing staff and many enthusiasts.

 

[trainophile]

No ordinary booking system (whether TOC or third-party) shows them to passengers. Trainsplit does as it's aimed at what you might call 'power users', who are expected to have a somewhat more comprehensive knowledge of the ticketing system.

It may be something for the developers to think about now that splitting is becoming more well-known.

For perspective though, the fact that you saw the code BUS was a rare co-incidence, as it refers specifically to one price of LNER-only advance single. If you had purchased one level cheaper (£4.40) you would have seen code BTS, or BXS going one level higher (£7.50). A similar fare with CrossCountry (£5.70) would have shown code MBS.

Had you purchased an anytime or off-peak ticket you would have seen codes that go back to the BR days and that have a more obvious logical construction that comes from BR's names for the tickets - like SDS for Anytime Day Single, from when it was the Standard Day Single, or CDR for an Off-peak Day Return, from when it was the Cheap Day Return, or FDR for a First-class Anytime Day Return, and so on. Those codes in particular are well-known with both ticketing staff and many enthusiasts.

Blimey I thought £5.30 was cheap enough, didn't realise there was an even cheaper tier. And already sold out, 12 weeks before travel date!

Even so it only offered that one train, so unless I'm missing something it's not a route that is discounted very much or very often.

 

[XAM2175]

They may not have even offered it for that train - the BR Fares listing is everything defined for the flow, which can include tickets with zeroed quotas (that is, there are none to be sold).

 

[Adam Williams]

No ordinary booking system (whether TOC or third-party) shows them to passengers. Trainsplit does as it's aimed at what you might call 'power users', who are expected to have a somewhat more comprehensive knowledge of the ticketing system.

I think, realistically, it's one of those things that perhaps could be tucked away on the basis that it'll be of limited meaning to a significant number of users and (in the worst case) potentially cause confusion or intimidate the user:



but it is then one additional step for the more advanced users to see what they're actually buying!

 

[XAM2175]

I think, realistically, it's one of those things that perhaps could be tucked away on the basis that it'll be of limited meaning to a significant number of users and (in the worst case) potentially cause confusion or intimidate the user ... but it is then one additional step for the more advanced users to see what they're actually buying!

Yes, I'd agree entirely
(though with the caveat that it should probably continue to discretely appear on printed itineraries as a potential assistance in the event of dispute)

 

[yorkie]

I think, realistically, it's one of those things that perhaps could be tucked away on the basis that it'll be of limited meaning to a significant number of users and (in the worst case) potentially cause confusion or intimidate the user:

View attachment 101923

but it is then one additional step for the more advanced users to see what they're actually buying!

Yes; if all the codes were relatively straightforward (e.g. SVR etc) then the status quo would be fine. But some are confusing (in addition to BUS, a good example is OPR which is a type of Super Off Peak Return) and therefore making it clear it is a ticket code, and hiding it away in this manner, is probably a good solution.

It would be a shame to completely remove it!

 

[Adam Williams]

Yes; if all the codes were relatively straightforward (e.g. SVR etc) then the status quo would be fine. But some are confusing (in addition to BUS, a good example is OPR which is a type of Super Off Peak Return) and therefore making it clear it is a ticket code, and hiding it away in this manner, is probably a good solution.

Cool, done that on v3 at least.

 

[SickyNicky]

We never originally showed the ticket code. I seem to recall that someone asked for it to be shown and Raileasy asked me to add it, so I did. Anyway, the way Adam's done it on V3 looks much better.