Does anyone know how to buy an return ticket when a train is partly cancelled.
I wanted an off peak return between A and C via B. The price is the same for A to C as for B to C.
In the past I would just go to a station and buy a return ticket but station A is not manned and B needs a car journey.
However the early trains between A and B have been cancelled and not replaced by buses. I will have to pay for a normal bus between A and B to get the train I wanted. Trains between A and B are running for the return journey (at the moment).
I had two options on line:
1. Buy a return from B to C with reservations in the trains I wanted to travel on and pay for bus A to B and return train B to A. This costs more in total
2. Buy a return from A to C and pay for one bus journey between A and B. However because the journey planner showed the train cancellation between A and B, it would not let me book a reservation on the train I wanted to travel on between B and C. It would only let me proceed with a reservation on a later train that connected with the first running train between A and B. So I have a reservation on a train that I will not be using and no reservation on the one I will be using.
If I had time I suppose I could change the reservation but it’s not possible because the nearest manned station is B and not convenient. And on the day it will be too late.
And of course this would not be a problem with advance tickets but two advance tickets in this case are more expensive than an off peak return and offer less flexibility.
Or I could drive to B and park there but station parking charges are verging on the extorionate.
The lesson might be to better plan in advance but in that case I would probably have got the ticket and reservations I wanted, but turned up at station A to find the train cancelled and no rail replacement buses.
I wanted an off peak return between A and C via B. The price is the same for A to C as for B to C.
In the past I would just go to a station and buy a return ticket but station A is not manned and B needs a car journey.
However the early trains between A and B have been cancelled and not replaced by buses. I will have to pay for a normal bus between A and B to get the train I wanted. Trains between A and B are running for the return journey (at the moment).
I had two options on line:
1. Buy a return from B to C with reservations in the trains I wanted to travel on and pay for bus A to B and return train B to A. This costs more in total
2. Buy a return from A to C and pay for one bus journey between A and B. However because the journey planner showed the train cancellation between A and B, it would not let me book a reservation on the train I wanted to travel on between B and C. It would only let me proceed with a reservation on a later train that connected with the first running train between A and B. So I have a reservation on a train that I will not be using and no reservation on the one I will be using.
If I had time I suppose I could change the reservation but it’s not possible because the nearest manned station is B and not convenient. And on the day it will be too late.
And of course this would not be a problem with advance tickets but two advance tickets in this case are more expensive than an off peak return and offer less flexibility.
Or I could drive to B and park there but station parking charges are verging on the extorionate.
The lesson might be to better plan in advance but in that case I would probably have got the ticket and reservations I wanted, but turned up at station A to find the train cancelled and no rail replacement buses.
