Buying Split Tickets from Station Office

[yorkie]

I am guessing that it's the arrival in YRK before 0800 and the departue from SHF after 0900 that makes these two "legs" off peak both outward and on my return.

It's leaving Prudhoe after 5am that makes the first one off peak.
Sheffield-Derby is off peak after 0900.

 

[First class]

Does anyone know whether a booking office can refuse to sell you a ticket permantely because the last ticket they issued to you was incorrect and got a retailer disciplined as a result? Apparently a Duty Manager has told them not to sell tickets to places they don't know or tickets they have never issued before, e.g. rovers/rangers ......

They are now advising "to purchase your ticket at Lime Street" - a different TOC/station- a fair distance away from my friends house...

I suspect they are breaking the rules - anyone know what legislation/guidelines the passenger could use to overturn the issue? Surely if someone trained as a 'retailer' is unable to sell little more than an Anytime Day Return and PTE Passes - the TOC is the one with the problem??

 

[yorkie]

They are breaking the rules. ATOC can enforce this. They could get another disciplinary for not following the rules. If they worked in any other industry serving customers I wonder if they'd be allowed to get away with this after having already been disciplined? I suspect not!

 

[caughtonatrain]

It's leaving Prudhoe after 5am that makes the first one off peak.
Sheffield-Derby is off peak after 0900.

To get round the problem that led to my original post (station staff refusing to sell tickets that I request), yesterday I made my usual journey but this time prebooked over the internet and collected TOD.

Imagine my surprise that it offered me an Off Peak Day Return Sheffield-Derby for the 0923 , consistent with Yorkie's understanding of the restriction.

All other times in the past, even with me intending to get this train, Sheffield staff have sold me the considerably more expensive Anytime Day Return.

I was told on the train (XC Newcastle to Reading) that my Off Peak was "Not valid because it's before 0930". I protested politely and thankfully had a printed copy of the itinerary. The guard - very friendly incidentally - used his portable ticket machine to check the restriction and was flabbergasted to learn that, sure enough, the restriction Shef-Derby was now 0900. He seemed horrified (he's probably hauled loads of people up for it wrongly!).

My point: TOC training of guards seems lacking - but can you blame them given the massive complexity of restrictions.

Real point: "Simplification" has been anything but. Guard agreed with this.

 

[yorkie]

I'm shocked that guard was shocked, as the restriction on that ticket has been 0900 for several years now! I have no idea what it was before 0900, all I know is that it's been 0900 as a standard restriction on MML (now EMT) for a few years. How can the guard not know that if he works that route on a regular basis?! He must have been illegally charging people for a while. I hope those people got their money back.

 

[caughtonatrain]

I'm shocked that guard was shocked, as the restriction on that ticket has been 0900 for several years now! I have no idea what it was before 0900, all I know is that it's been 0900 as a standard restriction on MML (now EMT) for a few years. How can the guard not know that if he works that route on a regular basis?! He must have been illegally charging people for a while. I hope those people got their money back.

I don't know. Do TOCs "own" restrictions in the same way they set prices for certain routes? If it's an EMT restriction that also applies to the XC trains that pass through, does this explain confusion on guard's part? I don't enough about rail industry training, but guards/revenue/sales people must be expected to have encyclopaedic memories!

 

[yorkie]

I don't know. Do TOCs "own" restrictions in the same way they set prices for certain routes?

Yes, the fare and conditions are set by a particular TOC (or PTE).
If it's an EMT restriction that also applies to the XC trains that pass through, does this explain confusion on guard's part? [/quote]
No, because XC don't set any CDR (Off Peak Day) fares north of Derby! They are all set by different TOCs (EMT/NT/NXEC). Indeed, before the franchise was changed they hardly set any at all (Brum-Derby was Central).

I don't enough about rail industry training, but guards/revenue/sales people must be expected to have encyclopaedic memories!

I guess they can remember the common ones but remembering anything is dangerous as conditions do change. They should look up each fare if they are unsure. Not being bothered to check is no excuse for falsely claiming a ticket is invalid and attempting to charge an excess.

 

[eezypeazy]

Just to round off my contribution to this thread....

Having completed my business in Sandwell early, I returned to SAD and asked the booking office staff to check if there were any restrictions on me using my ticket combination to travel earlier, and they said the tickets would be all right... so, I got home an hour earlier tonight!

I deliberately showed my ticket combo to as many railway staff as wanted to see them, and they didn't bat an eyelid at my split tickets!

Regards

eezypeazy

 

[yorkie]

SHF-DBY is not set by XC so no evening peak restrictions on CDR tickets, otherwise you'd not be able to go north from Derby between 1530 and 1815. Hopefully XC will never get their hands on that flow!!