Southeastern HIGH SPEED loophole

[Deerfold]

The only way forward is to scrap all this and adopt the old SNCF policy of x francs per km single journey, plus 50% for a return, add 50% for Ist Class and a discount for children and pensioners, and THAT IS IT. Everyone knows where they are and people will quickly learn the most crowded lines/trains and, with everyone paying the same amount as with petrol in cars government will know where to build new lines and companies will know when and where to put on more trains as all subsidies directly to them will end. Simplistic? - obviously, but a darned sight better than the increasingly ludicrous position we've got ourselves into now.

So will it cost a different amount from Bradford Forster Square to Leeds than from Bradford Interchange to Leeds? What if you're in Leeds and the next train in is to Interchange and you bought a ticket to Forster Square?

Simple?

 

[infobleep]

How do the SNCF cope in France? Do they simply closed loads of regional lines or do the government pay extra to find them so they don't close?

 

[infobleep]

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1771216&postcount=130

Thanks for that. Read most of it, bar the documents linked to. Most interesting and alarming at times.

As long as you look innocent and are polite and friendly, you have more chance of being questioned less by staff unsure of your ticket.

However it makes you wonder if someone looks innocent could hey away with breaking the ticketing rules, if staff are basing their is this valid actions on how people look.

 

[thebigcheese]

I got stopped at St Pancras gateline last week using a perfectly valid route with an itinerary from national rail enquiries but apparently "that doesn't matter" as my "ticket was too cheap" to pass through. Cue a £9.40 excess to a ticket that wouldn't have allowed me to complete my journey anyway.

They don't seem that clued up at St Pancras so be prepared to have to pay extra and get a refund later if you are using a loophole

 

[jon0844]

There are still too many valid tickets that don't operate the gates, and if they don't see HS1 mentioned I guess they just jump to a somewhat lazy conclusion.

Mind you in recently got out of Stratford International by showing the wrong ticket (an old one in my wallet) and did so because I had a buggy and they opened the wide gate for me. So I guess you can blag it if you look confident (as you would be if you really didn't notice you had shown the wrong ticket!).

 

[infobleep]

If all tickets didn't have prices on them it would stop staff thinking they are too cheap. It's not about how cheap it is but whether it's valid.

 

[thebigcheese]

If all tickets didn't have prices on them it would stop staff thinking they are too cheap. It's not about how cheap it is but whether it's valid.

I fear we might be mistaken... the barrier staff repeated several times that they "were ticket trained"