Required train ticket for Sheffield/Meadowhall Plusbus

[marcouk2]

A friend of mine has had recurring issues with trying to get a Sheffield Plusbus issued for a Moorthorpe to Meadowhall rail journey travelling onwards via Supertram - it's cheaper to get a railcard discounted plusbus than the required tram fare.

Usually the issue is the train guard doesn't know how to issue a plusbus ticket requiring a detour via the Meadowhall ticket office to get it issued there. However there's been a couple of times where they have been refused sale of the Plusbus ticket, reason given is usually 'Moorthorpe's on the border so not valid'.

I complained to Northern last August when the total refusal of sale last happened and eventually got a RTV in compensation, my last email to them included a screenshot of the Northern website letting me buy a Plusbus as an add-on to a Moorthorpe - Meadowhall journey.

The same issue happened last week so I went to the Arriva Northern website to get a fresh screenshot to go along with my complaint, however I can no longer get the Northern site (or any others that I tried) to offer me a Plusbus for that journey anymore.

I'm not aware of any change in Plusbus validity so presumably it's a journey planner coding issue somewhere.

Would appreciate other thoughts/confirmation it is still valid before I send another complaint off.

Cheers.

 

[causton]

To assist guards in the future, an origin of MHS, a destination of J924 and a ticket type of PBD may help them find it easier

 

[marcouk2]

To assist guards in the future, an origin of MHS, a destination of J924 and a ticket type of PBD may help them find it easier

When I was doing the journey myself it's what I used to do, telling the guard how to issue them, typical error was them trying to issue it as one ticket: Moorthorpe - Sheffield+Bus obviously giving coming back as 'No Fares Available'

However I now live in Barnsley so travel separately down to Meadowhall and my friend is less willing then myself to show them what to do unfortunately.

 

[CyrusWuff]

PlusBus tickets shouldn't be sold to accompany a rail journey within the area of validity. In the case of Sheffield, that's the whole SYPTE area.

Normally, stations on the SYTPE/WYPTE boundary are treated as being in both for ticketing purposes, which may explain the refusal, but in this case Moorthorpe is shown on the PlusBus zone map as being outside the area, so qualifies.

From the PlusBus website:

12. Can I use PLUSBUS if my train journey is between two stations that are within the same town (or city region)?

Sorry, no. At least one station (the origin or the destination station) of your train journey must be located outside an individual towns PLUSBUS travel zone or city-wide region (these are: Greater Manchester; South Yorkshire; West Midlands; West Yorkshire).

For example: If you are travelling by train from Dewsbury station to Sheffield station and want bus travel in Sheffield, then you can buy PLUSBUS ticket. This is because Dewsbury is in West Yorkshire and Sheffield is in South Yorkshire. However, you cannot buy and use a PLUSBUS ticket if your train journey is between two local stations that are within the Sheffield PLUSBUS travel zone (e.g. Sheffield and Meadowhall), or between two stations within South Yorkshire (e.g. Rotherham and Sheffield).

 

[bradford758]

Moorthorpe is physically inside WY, and would expect no problems. However Darton is physically in SY so would wonder if this would be a problem.

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

 

[marcouk2]

PlusBus tickets shouldn't be sold to accompany a rail journey within the area of validity. In the case of Sheffield, that's the whole SYPTE area.

Normally, stations on the SYTPE/WYPTE boundary are treated as being in both for ticketing purposes, which may explain the refusal, but in this case Moorthorpe is shown on the PlusBus zone map as being outside the area, so qualifies.

From the PlusBus website:

Thanks Cyrus, that was my understanding and going to be the basis of my argument so good to have it confirmed that I haven't missed a change somewhere.