London Midland Peak Time Changes

[Tomonthetrain]

Hi all

on London Midland website

Off-peak tickets to/from*London are not valid on trains leaving Euston between 1645 and 1900 from 3 January 2012, for journeys to Watford Junction and any station as far as (and including)*Long Buckby.

This is instead of it ending at 1845.

 

[SS4]

That essentially puts the 1853 (iirc, I'm guessing off the top of my head) as a peak time train. Surely travellers to NMP/Long Buckby will end up buying a ticket to Rugby and stopping short though?

 

[RJ]

That essentially puts the 1853 (iirc, I'm guessing off the top of my head) as a peak time train. Surely travellers to NMP/Long Buckby will end up buying a ticket to Rugby and stopping short though?

Break of journey is forbidden on those tickets, so no legitimately.

 

[island]

There are plenty of other (and legitimate) alternatives to buying an anytime ticket for those journeys.

 

[AlterEgo]

There are plenty of other (and legitimate) alternatives to buying an anytime ticket for those journeys.

Indeed, but perhaps it is better that they not be discussed here.

 

[island]

Indeed, but perhaps it is better that they not be discussed here.

Wasn't planning on it!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Break of journey is forbidden on those tickets, so no legitimately.

Trouble is is that at Long Buckby it is almost impossible to enforce.

 

[87015]

Wasn't planning on it!

Its LM, a totally free railway south of Northampton anyway...

 

[causton]

Its LM, a totally free railway south of Northampton anyway...

I disagree, south of Leighton Buzzard maybe as that's the furthest south I've been checked on them :P

 

[RJ]

Its LM, a totally free railway south of Northampton anyway...

Could've had me fooled!

 

[neilmc]

Indeed, but perhaps it is better that they not be discussed here.

Err... if legitimate, why not exactly? Are you worried that you have discovered some little loophole discovered which, if Joe Public gets to know about, will disappear?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Err... if legitimate, why not exactly? Are you worried that you have discovered some little loophole discovered which, if Joe Public gets to know about, will disappear?

I suspect so, for all we know the head of ATOC could be reading this.

 

[AlterEgo]

Err... if legitimate, why not exactly? Are you worried that you have discovered some little loophole discovered which, if Joe Public gets to know about, will disappear?

I know the loopholes on this route, which are within the rules (and therefore legitimate) but not necessarily within the spirit of them. ATOC read this forum regularly. They are reading my post too, and yours.

 

[branchline]

Oh look, yet another thread knocking Bly/Nmp conductors...

 

[sonic2009]

Oh look, yet another thread knocking Bly/Nmp conductors...

Not really IMO but I've never had my ticket checked South of Milton Keynes when traveling with London Midland.

 

[87015]

Oh look, yet another thread knocking Bly/Nmp conductors...

No more knocking than a statement of opinion, I wouldn't make much effort if I was employed by LM either

 

[London_Midland]

I suspect so, for all we know the head of ATOC could be reading this.

The restrictions are quite specific in that they apply to people boarding at London Euston. The key reason the restrictions were introduced was to deter leisure travellers using peak trains from Euston. At present, since most trains are less busy from subsequent stations en route, we don't have restrictions after leaving London.

This obviously means there are relatively easy ways to legitimately get around the restrictions, but we are not overly concerned at the moment. However, if the number of people trying to get round the restrictions increased significantly, we would obviously need to impose rules that might be considered more 'draconian'.

Regarding ticket checks south of Northampton (other than on our busiest trains) these are becoming much more regular. Customer feedback on our on board teams has also improved significantly over the past 12 months - especially via Twitter. There's always room for improvement, I'm sure, but I hope the comments about the 'free railway' are a thing of the past!

Happy New Year!

David.

 

[RJ]

Yes and some ticketless travellers were unhappy to see me after arriving at Euston .

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I can think of a line south of Northampton that London Midland operate - Watford Jn-St Albans Abbey. If people think NMP-EUS is a free railway, they ain't seen nothing yet! One day last year I made maybe 10-12 journeys on it. Nobody bothered to do a ticket inspection. I will point out that I had a valid ticket, but there must be thousands of unclaimed pounds that walks away from Abbey station every year.

 

[AlterEgo]

I can think of a line south of Northampton that London Midland operate - Watford Jn-St Albans Abbey. If people think NMP-EUS is a free railway, they ain't seen nothing yet! One day last year I made maybe 10-12 journeys on it. Nobody bothered to do a ticket inspection. I will point out that I had a valid ticket, but there must be thousands of unclaimed pounds that walks away from Abbey station every year.

Really?

I've been on the Abbey Line maybe half a dozen times and always had my ticket checked.

Last trip was in 2010 though, having said that...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Really?

I've been on the Abbey Line maybe half a dozen times and always had my ticket checked.

Last trip was in 2010 though, having said that...

Aye, I think this has been debated in the past on here, and it seems 50/50 as to what happens! But I can safely say from my (2010) experience, and a couple of times since, I have seen staff on them, but never had my ticket checked.

 

[Greeby]

Have to disagree on the Abbey Line as I've dealt with the money paid in for that. (and Marston Vale as well) Whoever gets that turn always brings home the bacon.

 

[Techniquest]

Had my ALR checked when I did the St Albans Abbey line, and I swear I've had ticket checks south of Northampton on the WCML lot too. Although to be fair, my travels on LM that far south are very few and far between. Won't be doing the Abbey Line again either, one of the dullest lines in the universe. There's a number of lines that qualify for that title, but you could have 37s on each end on all trains and it would still be dull.