TIcket acceptance during engineering work

[AdamWW]

TfW have closed the Coryton line for two weeks (at less than a week's notice) for electrification work.

Instead of rail replacement buses, as usual they have arranged ticket acceptance with Cardiff Bus.

They are taking a hard line that seasons and multiflexes for stations on the line will not be accepted from alternative stations - not even from Heath High Level which is a very short walk from Heath Low Level on the Coryton Line.

I don't think that the few people wanting to do so would pose an overcrowding issue - the Coryton line manages with single 153s when it has to and the Rhymney Line seems to have sufficient capacity these days.

Any idea why they are being so harsh? It seems unnecessary to me.

 

[Bungle965]

Instead of rail replacement buses, as usual they have arranged ticket acceptance with Cardiff Bus.

Nice of them to that, the Atherton Line was closed and Northern arranged absolutley nothing. There was recorded announcements stating that there was no RRB due to frequency of local bus services but then didn't arrange any acceptance on them!

 

[AdamWW]

Nice of them to that, the Atherton Line was closed and Northern arranged absolutley nothing. There was recorded announcements stating that there was no RRB due to frequency of local bus services but then didn't arrange any acceptance on them!

Well to be fair to Northern, TfW do also have a history of announcing ticket acceptance than failing to actually arrange it.

And thinking about the situation, it seems particularly unreasonable because ticket acceptance for such bus service as there is to Heath isn't being offered, presumably on the grounds that there are trains running.

 

[Watershed]

It is indeed very unreasonable, but it's typical of the contemptuous "couldn't care less" attitude that a lot of TOCs give off to their most loyal customers - commuters.

Anyone who bought a season ticket or MultiFlex before the closure was announced would, in my view, be entitled to obtain a full refund if they no longer wanted it at all, or a pro-rata refund if they no longer wanted to travel during the affected period.

I think there would also be a case for recovering your expenses in buying new tickets if you were forced to pay extra continue taking the train from reasonable nearby stations. Of course season ticket holders can always request a changeover to an alternative journey, e.g. Radyr to Cardiff, and then back again once the works are complete. As the pricing is essentially zonal, this wouldn't cost anything.

Tickets from the Coryton line are also already valid from Heath High Level by virtue of the fixed link between the two Heath stations. This enables itineraries to be offered by journey planners, thus clearly demonstrating the validity.

 

[AdamWW]

Tickets from the Coryton line are also already valid from Heath High Level by virtue of the fixed link between the two Heath stations. This enables itineraries to be offered by journey planners, thus clearly demonstrating the validity.

Yes I thought that was the case.

And I'd be surprised if anybody had any difficulty in doing so even if it wasn't permitted, but that doesn't help if someone doesn't try because they asked and got told no.

Of course season ticket holders can always request a changeover to an alternative journey, e.g. Radyr to Cardiff, and then back again once the works are complete. As the pricing is essentially zonal, this wouldn't cost anything.

I didn't know that. And if their social media team did, they didn't think to mention it.

It is indeed very unreasonable, but it's typical of the contemptuous "couldn't care less" attitude that a lot of TOCs give off to their most loyal customers - commuters.

Perhaps they work on the principle that anyone still travelling with them regularly either has no choice or will put up with just about anything. And they'd probably be right.

 

[Starmill]

They are taking a hard line that seasons and multiflexes for stations on the line will not be accepted from alternative stations - not even from Heath High Level which is a very short walk from Heath Low Level on the Coryton Line.

Some tickets could have a permitted route that way so they wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

Have they explicitly stated this? Unbelievably poor if so.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Oct 2024 ==

It is indeed very unreasonable, but it's typical of the contemptuous "couldn't care less" attitude that a lot of TOCs give off to their most loyal customers - commuters.

Anyone who bought a season ticket or MultiFlex before the closure was announced would, in my view, be entitled to obtain a full refund if they no longer wanted it at all, or a pro-rata refund if they no longer wanted to travel during the affected period.

I think there would also be a case for recovering your expenses in buying new tickets if you were forced to pay extra continue taking the train from reasonable nearby stations. Of course season ticket holders can always request a changeover to an alternative journey, e.g. Radyr to Cardiff, and then back again once the works are complete. As the pricing is essentially zonal, this wouldn't cost anything.

Tickets from the Coryton line are also already valid from Heath High Level by virtue of the fixed link between the two Heath stations. This enables itineraries to be offered by journey planners, thus clearly demonstrating the validity.

I agree. If someone paid for additional tickets from Radyr or Llandaff they should claim for their cost back.

 

[AdamWW]

Some tickets could have a permitted route that way so they wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

Have they explicitly stated this? Unbelievably poor if so.

There is no mention of any alternative to the ticket acceptance on Cardiff Bus that I can see on their web pages (at any rate one the ones they've managed to update to include this closure).

People who have asked explicitly on Twitter if they can travel from another station have been told that it's not permitted - they need to use Cardiff Bus.

Oh well at least they can use the new bus station now.