"Magic" station for SWT/ lSWr?

[Schweir]

I know there was a magic station to get discounted fares on Southern (somewhere in London) and am just wondering if there is one on the SWT network? Thanks.

 

[bb21]

What do you mean by "discounted fares"?

 

[Schweir]

I think if you purchased tickets going via a certain station to London Victoria, the tickets were up to 25% cheaper? Are you allowed to post links here? I will try and find it.

 

[Schweir]

https://abcommuters.wordpress.com/2...b-giveaway-whats-your-magic-loophole-station/

It is Camden Road station in London.

 

[bb21]

I see. There are plenty of such loopholes, especially for "premium" flows which are into London terminals.

I don't think there is a uniform answer for SWT, but for individual flows there are opportunities for undercutting the headline fare depending on the journey.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wouldn't post loopholes here because history has proven them to be rapidly closed when they are.

 

[ASharpe]

Camden Road was a useful destination from many SWT run stations due to the period returns.

I used it from Guildford for a while as a split on my weekend trip to Yorkshire.

 

[bicbasher]

Can see the Camden Road one being increased sooner rather than late now that ABC Commuters have published the loophole.

 

[gray1404]

This is the problem. When people are silly enough to publish loop holes the train company will close them. They really do read what people post here.

 

[Starmill]

I wouldn't post loopholes here because history has proven them to be rapidly closed when they are.

Or indeed immedietly after I PMd one to you once after you mentioned that you occasionally look to make said journey from MK and often don't bother owing to the unusually high cost...

The only reason Camden Road had tickets that were a bit chepaer than tickets to London Terminals or London Victoria was because they were formerly priced by First Capital Connect to be quite competitive. (FCC were not interested in Camden Road, it just so happens that they used to control cluster Q060 because it contained Kentish Town, West Hamsptead Thameslink, Cricklewood and Hendon - it is purely incidental that this cluster also includes a number of North London Line and GOBLIN stations.)

 

[gray1404]

I wouldn't post loopholes here because history has proven them to be rapidly closed when they are.

Correct, it is annoying when people stupidly post them here. Use PM instead.

 

[Kite159]

I can see an easy way for the pricing managers to kill off the Camden Road pricing oddity, putting "Route Kenny O" or getting rid of the LU Cross to enforce routing via the West London Line.

Maybe also with a negative easement to forbid travel via Zone 1

 

[Bletchleyite]

Or indeed immedietly after I PMd one to you once after you mentioned that you occasionally look to make said journey from MK and often don't bother owing to the unusually high cost...

For clarity I didn't report it (or indeed use it in the end!)

 

[DarloRich]

https://abcommuters.wordpress.com/2...b-giveaway-whats-your-magic-loophole-station/

It is Camden Road station in London.

well that should result in those loopholes being closed fairly quickly. Well done. :roll:

 

[bb21]

I think if you purchased tickets going via a certain station to London Victoria, the tickets were up to 25% cheaper? Are you allowed to post links here? I will try and find it.

Ignore any rants.

Some forum members do not like loopholes they use being revealed in public as it means they may have to pay more, but there is nothing wrong if you want to share.

Just however be mindful that this forum is closely watched, so there is a good chance anything which TOCs do not like being changed quickly, but it is not a given especially with regulated fares.

Use your best judgement.

 

[greatkingrat]

The Kentish Town / Camden Road etc "loophole" has been around for many years and I think it is safe to say GTR are already well aware of its existence.

 

[CyrusWuff]

There will always be loopholes. Some will be fixed, others will be left alone (e.g. if they generate revenue without actually carrying a passenger).

 

[infobleep]

There will always be loopholes. Some will be fixed, others will be left alone (e.g. if they generate revenue without actually carrying a passenger).

What kind of loopholes would generate income without carrying passengers?

I've used loopholes before but I wouldn't want to revival them as I don't know what impact it would have. They could do one of a several things:

1. Up the ticket price - harder if regulated ticket.
2. Introduce a cheaper ticket routed via a perticular station and then up the price of an any permitted - harder if ticket regulated
3. Change the routing maps - might have unintended consequences elsewhere of course
4. Introduce a negative easement.

Now it maybe that for a perticular loophole it's not in their interests to do any of that. However I don't know if that is the case unless I am aware of any other circumstances that mean it highly unlikely. I imagine a lot of cases I wouldn't be aware.

Therefore I would keep quiet.

 

[yorkie]

It is surprisingly often the case that buying a ticket valid to go further is cheaper. If that makes a station "magic" then there are hundreds of "magic" stations in the country

Sometimes train companies can thwart us in our attempt to avoid paying extortionate fares, so care does need to be taken if you don't want the better value fares to be withdrawn or made useless.

What kind of loopholes fares would generate income without carrying passengers?

Northern will benefit from tickets sold for which it is assumed people will travel - at least partially - on Northern, but in reality people use them for journeys on TransPennine Express.

For example people may buy York to Howden instead of York to Scarborough. With the former ticket, Northern will get some revenue. The latter ticket would not give Northern a penny. I would hardly call this a "loophole" because the reason this occurs is TPE unfairly jacked up the price of York to Scarborough, but it is certainly a method of obtaining a price that is not as unreasonable as the ludicrous amount of money TPE now want people to pay for this journey.

 

[FenMan]

It is surprisingly often the case that buying a ticket valid to go further is cheaper. If that makes a station "magic" then there are hundreds of "magic" stations in the country

Sometimes train companies can thwart us in our attempt to avoid paying extortionate fares, so care does need to be taken if you don't want the better value fares to be withdrawn or made useless.

Northern will benefit from tickets sold for which it is assumed people will travel - at least partially - on Northern, but in reality people use them for journeys on TransPennine Express.

For example people may buy York to Howden instead of York to Scarborough. With the former ticket, Northern will get some revenue. The latter ticket would not give Northern a penny. I would hardly call this a "loophole" because the reason this occurs is TPE unfairly jacked up the price of York to Scarborough, but it is certainly a method of obtaining a price that is not as unreasonable as the ludicrous amount of money TPE now want people to pay for this journey.

Agreed. Many fares from my local station, Blackwater, are/were priced by SWT despite the fact that only GWR trains call there. As SWT off peak pricing is/was comparatively fierce, money can be saved by searching BRFares for tickets beyond SWT-land to find the switch-over stations from which fares are priced by another TOC i.e. travelling further for a lower price (or stopping short in reality). And plenty of split-ticketing opportunities emerge too.