Fare availability during Huddersfield disruption depending upon routing of RRB

[TUC]

Searching for Huddersfield-Manchester fares for travelling this Thursday, leaving Huddersfield early morning and returning after 1525, I noticed that it varied from journey to journey whether the cheapest flexible return fare offered was an Anytime Day Return at £21.80 or an Anytime Short Distance Return at £27.40. It did not seem to depend upon the Manchester arrival station as some journeys with the higher fare were to Victoria as well as to Piccadilly and, in any event, both fares are valid to the range of Manchester Stations.

What does seem to be the driver is that those with the lower fare availability have RRBs going to Brighouse. (The Anytime Day Return fare has a 'valid only for trains via or passing through Hebden Bridge' restriction) whereas the higher fare journeys have RRBs going to Stalybridge.

Whilst it is course entirely usual in normal times to have cheaper fares limited to specific routes, during extended disruption such as this where it depends entirely upon RRB arrangements which route a passenger may be taken, it does not seem reasonable for there to be such unpredictability of fare (especially when the higher fare is for a longer RRB element of the journey), and I can see some passengers being caught out.

 

[Watershed]

The fares offered are exactly the same (route-wise) as you would see without the closure. I'm not sure why you would expect the 'via Hebden Bridge' restriction to be removed when trains are running that way - in fact, it is arguably the better route to take at the moment with it having the same total journey time but a shorter RRB portion.

Normally easements are only arranged when routes are entirely closed or taking RRBs extends the journey time to an unreasonable degree.

 

[TUC]

The fares offered are exactly the same (route-wise) as you would see without the closure. I'm not sure why you would expect the 'via Hebden Bridge' restriction to be removed when trains are running that way - in fact, it is arguably the better route to take at the moment with it having the same total journey time but a shorter RRB portion.

Normally easements are only arranged when routes are entirely closed or taking RRBs extends the journey time to an unreasonable degree.

They are the sane. My point is that, whereas during normal times, it would likely take a conscious choice to go via Brighouse for a Huddersfield-Manchester journey, during the disruption someone might understandably jump on the next RRB which is advised as being for Manchester passengers.