"Ask the guard before boarding"

[mbreckers]

"The man on the gate let me through because I was running late" great now your card has declined and, oh, what's that, IRCAS say you do it all the time. Nice work gate man.

Question, what is IRCAS?

 

[Clip]

If only. Some 'gate men' appear to be under the impression that they are there to refuse entrance to the station/platform to people holding 100% valid tickets. These 'gate men' will, naturally, refuse to assist by actually checking the ticket or giving the benefit of doubt (not that there should be any) to the intending passenger. Fortunately, there are no 'gate men' at Sheffield so my entrance and exit there is unhindered.

Yes, unfortunately not everyone who works in every company all over the bloody world isnt perfect as you are not either. Sorry for your loss.

 

[yorkie]

Perfect? No. But there is no way I could get away with behaving in an obstructive way in my job.

 

[crispy1978]

I remember when I used to go to Leeds to watch the cricket, and on days where it finished early through weather, or one team winning I was often early at Leeds station. When I had advance tickets, I always used to ask the conductor and they never had a problem. Then something changed and that practice stopped. I would guess that would probably have been around 2000 at a rough guess.

I'd never dream of asking a conductor that nowadays! I'd just wait until my train is due!

 

[trainophile]

I remember when I used to go to Leeds to watch the cricket, and on days where it finished early through weather, or one team winning I was often early at Leeds station. When I had advance tickets, I always used to ask the conductor and they never had a problem. Then something changed and that practice stopped. I would guess that would probably have been around 2000 at a rough guess.

I'd never dream of asking a conductor that nowadays! I'd just wait until my train is due!

Exactly the same with connecting to Liverpool at Crewe on London Midland. My ATW train arrives a few minutes before a LM departs for Liverpool, but because it was less than the minimum 10 minutes connection time for Crewe I was always scheduled on the train half an hour later. I used to ask the LM guard on the earlier one, and nine times out of ten they said okay, but then suddenly they started saying no I had to wait for the next one. After a couple of incidences of refusal I changed my route, as it seemed so ridiculous having to wait around just because of "the rules".

Nowadays I will occasionally buy a ticket to Crewe and an anytime single from Crewe to Liverpool, costing me a couple of quid more than the through journey. It rankles a bit as it seems unnecessary.

 

[sheff1]

Sorry for your loss.

I consider it my gain.

 

[LowLevel]

It really does depend on the circumstances. As an example I work between Liverpool and Manchester. The CDS fare is just over the £12 mark. One of the other TOCs sells advances on their local stopping trains for £3, so less than 1/4 the cheapest walk up fare. There's no way on earth I'm letting someone travel 3 hours early on my train with one of those tickets no matter how nicely they ask.

On the other hand if you come up to me and say 'hi, my flight was messed up/my mum is ill/my meeting was cancelled' to travel on the train before the one you've booked as long as it's not busy I probably don't care. Even if you don't I'll sometimes give the benefit of the doubt on board because things happen.

However I'm less inclined often to help with advances as I mentioned before because you can always choose to upgrade them to the walk up fare (albeit with admin fee). The fact you don't want to is irrelevant to me, I weigh every case on it's merits.

 

[Haywain]

It really does depend on the circumstances. As an example I work between Liverpool and Manchester. The CDS fare is just over the £12 mark. One of the other TOCs sells advances on their local stopping trains for £3, so less than 1/4 the cheapest walk up fare. There's no way on earth I'm letting someone travel 3 hours early on my train with one of those tickets no matter how nicely they ask.

On the other hand if you come up to me and say 'hi, my flight was messed up/my mum is ill/my meeting was cancelled' to travel on the train before the one you've booked as long as it's not busy I probably don't care. Even if you don't I'll sometimes give the benefit of the doubt on board because things happen.

However I'm less inclined often to help with advances as I mentioned before because you can always choose to upgrade them to the walk up fare (albeit with admin fee). The fact you don't want to is irrelevant to me, I weigh every case on it's merits.

I've always found it odd that people with Advance tickets who apparently need to travel an hour or two earlier than booked due to some sort of family emergency are often (usually?) deeply reluctant to spend a few pounds to upgrade their ticket top a walk-up fare. If I needed to travel a couple of hours earlier because a close relative had been rushed to hospital, I wouldn't quibble about paying whatever it took to make that journey. But maybe that's just me.

 

[TheEdge]

Question, what is IRCAS?

Can't remember what it stands for but its the company that is called to confirm any details given.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Can't remember what it stands for but its the company that is called to confirm any details given.

Independent Revenue Collection and Support?

https://www.ircas.co.uk/

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Ther is also Revenue Protection Support Services, RPSS. Although this one is run by Southern Railway (GTR) several firms including TPE buy into their services.