LNER website now highlights when booking a competitors service

[ainsworth74]

Was looking at a journey tonight on the LNER website and it seems they've introduced a little pop-up warning that you're not selecting an LNER service if one is listed in the journey options. For instance I had a look at York to Kings Cross and selecting a Grand Central service produced this message:


(Image shows a message that says "Don't miss out on LNER's benefits" and then highlights that you can LNER perks, use a seat selector and can have food delivered to your seat in standard class)

It's got some logic to it. I checked Middlesbrough to York and the message only appears if early morning LNER service is returned in the search results. If you search in say the afternoon then none of the options return the warning.

Though it's not smart enough to spot if you've selected a first class ticket and change the sales pitch to match (it still refers to standard class food delivery rather than the "delights" of LNER's 1st class complimentary offer).

An interesting move! Presumably aimed more at Grand Central and Hull Trains but other operators (including fellow DfT operators like TPE) caught in the crossfire. Can anyone recall another time a TOC has gone quite so far out of it's way to highlight when you're not booking onto one of their trains?

 

[Kilopylae]

It strikes me that this is exactly the opposite of the "crosscountrytrains.com" adverts on the Voyagers which emphasised that you could buy tickets for "ANY" UK rail line. They're giving up on/not pursuing the idea that there's any benefit to getting people to perceive LNER's ticket site as a neutral ticketing portal, separate from the TOC.

 

[JordR]

I suppose Cross Country's logic is that its trains are generally ambling across a wide patch and can therefore pick off ticket commission from multiple TOCs? LNER's logic is probably more that it needs the commission less from non-LNER journeys that are still primarily ECML and wants the ticket sale itself on an LNER train more?

 

[styles]

Another (admittedly mild) annoyance in the booking process.

 

[Wallsendmag]

It strikes me that this is exactly the opposite of the "crosscountrytrains.com" adverts on the Voyagers which emphasised that you could buy tickets for "ANY" UK rail line. They're giving up on/not pursuing the idea that there's any benefit to getting people to perceive LNER's ticket site as a neutral ticketing portal, separate from the TOC.

Does XC sell tickets for Translink services?

 

[yorkie]

Was looking at a journey tonight on the LNER website and it seems they've introduced a little pop-up warning that you're not selecting an LNER service if one is listed in the journey options. For instance I had a look at York to Kings Cross and selecting a Grand Central service produced this message:

View attachment 203333
(Image shows a message that says "Don't miss out on LNER's benefits" and then highlights that you can LNER perks, use a seat selector and can have food delivered to your seat in standard class)

It's got some logic to it. I checked Middlesbrough to York and the message only appears if early morning LNER service is returned in the search results. If you search in say the afternoon then none of the options return the warning.

Though it's not smart enough to spot if you've selected a first class ticket and change the sales pitch to match (it still refers to standard class food delivery rather than the "delights" of LNER's 1st class complimentary offer).

An interesting move! Presumably aimed more at Grand Central and Hull Trains but other operators (including fellow DfT operators like TPE) caught in the crossfire. Can anyone recall another time a TOC has gone quite so far out of it's way to highlight when you're not booking onto one of their trains?

This is good evidence that LNER deliberately choose not to let their seat selector available for rival services.

An interesting admission!

A reminder to anyone reading this that the forum ticketing site's seat selector does not discriminate, and works for all applicable operators.

 

[JordR]

This is good evidence that LNER deliberately choose not to let their seat selector available for rival services.

An interesting admission!

A reminder to anyone reading this that the forum ticketing site's seat selector does not discriminate, and works for all applicable operators.

So the underlying data exists to allow individual seat selection on other TOCs they're just choosing not to implement it? That does seem a bit problematic.

What's the extent ticket retailers are signed up to obligations of neutrality or similar where they're also a TOC or have another vested interest?

 

[MrJeeves]

What's the extent ticket retailers are signed up to obligations of neutrality or similar where they're also a TOC or have another vested interest?

All third party retailers must be impartial in their retailing, and not favour operators over each other, just like a ticket office must.

I don't believe any such rules exist for online retail for train operators, hence why LNER can do this.

 

[HarryF]

I seem to remember this happening with LNER’s predecessor, Virgin Trains East Coast, which also came up with a message if you selected a non-VTEC train on a route they operated on such as York to London.

 

[yorkie]

So the underlying data exists to allow individual seat selection on other TOCs they're just choosing not to implement it? That does seem a bit problematic.

Where a retailer has created a seat selector, there is absolutely no reason why it won't work on all operators, so yes they are choosing not to.

LNER won't consider it 'problematic', because they are looking at it from the financial point of view of deterring people from booking with rival operators; they don't see things the way people like we do.

Remember, these people don't need to pay for their travel and are strongly encouraged by DfT to maximise revenue, rather than providing the best deal for fare payers.

The aim of DfT run train companies is to provide best value for "taxpayers" (i.e. aimed at minimising the cost for car drivers who aren't rail users, who sadly get pandered to) and absolutely not the best deal for actual passengers.

What's the extent ticket retailers are signed up to obligations of neutrality or similar where they're also a TOC or have another vested interest?

There is nothing to stop TOCs engaging in such behaviour. Indeed, the DfT would almost certainly welcome it.

There are rules regarding impartially but they aren't applicable to this situation.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Apr 2026 ==

I seem to remember this happening with LNER’s predecessor, Virgin Trains East Coast, which also came up with a message if you selected a non-VTEC train on a route they operated on such as York to London.

Yes, very probably. It's a deep-rooted cultural thing on the ECML, which I can't ever see going away.

 

[JamesWatson]

All third party retailers must be impartial in their retailing, and not favour operators over each other, just like a ticket office must.

TOC websites are required to be impartial too, and in the past, anything that might be seen as favouring the host TOC needed to be approved by RDG. As an example, London Midland used to have a "search for only LM trains" checkbox on the journey planning widget. The change needed to be presented to RDG, who agreed with the argument that it remained impartial, as customers had to choose to check the box and that LM services were so different (slower) than other operators, it was not confusing to customers.

 

[MrJeeves]

TOC websites are required to be impartial too, and in the past, anything that might be seen as favouring the host TOC needed to be approved by RDG.

Oh, interesting! I was under the impression the impartial retailing requirements only applied to certain types of retail sales points.

Having re-read the TSA, it's clear that's not the case, and the wording in the doc explains why the GatEx retail site has the big messaging it does to declare itself as a non-impartial retail site.