Worcester to Gloucester : why is there no off peak fare available?

[GoneSouth]

Travelling from Worcester FS to Gloucester last week I was told of a quirk in the fare system that meant it was actually cheaper to buy a ticket to Stonehouse, which is obviously further than Gloucester. Wasn’t sure about this but checked later and found:
Single to Gloucester £13.70
Single to Stonehouse £12.60

I did a bit of investigation and it turns out it’s right. Not only is it cheaper to Stonehouse, it’s also only £12.60 to Stroud (even greater distance) and only £13.80 to Kemble. Haha, presumably that makes the fare from Gloucester to Kemble £0.10, and Gloucester to Stroud and Stroud to Stonehouse must be FREE. Happy commuters tomorrow then

Seriously though, this makes no sense!

Apologies, I guess this sort of thing has cropped up on the forum many times before but does anybody else have ridiculously silly fares like this? Guessing it’s all related to which stations get grouped together but even so, it shouldn’t ever be cheaper to travel further should it?

 

[greatkingrat]

The Anytime Day Single to Gloucester is £13.70, and the Anytime Day Single to Stonehouse is £16.00. The anomaly is that while there is also an Offpeak Single to Stonehouse for £12.60, there is no Offpeak ticket to Gloucester available.

 

[GoneSouth]

The Anytime Day Single to Gloucester is £13.70, and the Anytime Day Single to Stonehouse is £16.00. The anomaly is that while there is also an Offpeak Single to Stonehouse for £12.60, there is no Offpeak ticket to Gloucester available.

Thank you, now I see why. But actually I don’t see why... shouldn’t there be an off peak fare to Gloucester too? No wonder people get confused with rail fares

 

[NorthOxonian]

Thank you, now I see why. But actually I don’t see why... shouldn’t there be an off peak fare to Gloucester too? No wonder people get confused with rail fares

It seems to partly be because different companies set the fare from Worcester to Gloucester versus the Golden Valley stations (and Swindon which is 60p more than Gloucester despite being far further south).

Worcester to Gloucester is set by CrossCountry - until Worcs Parkway opens this seems odd because CrossCountry don't serve Worcester. I believe Worcester passengers can travel via Birmingham, but I assume many will take the irregular but direct GWR service.

For the Golden Valley stations, the fare is set by GWR as well, though CrossCountry does offer higher fares for that journey, which allow travel via Birmingham - the cheap GWR tickets don't allow that.

To fix it, GWR could set cheaper "Not via Birmingham" fares as they do for the southern destinations.

 

[GoneSouth]

Really? Worcester to Gloucester via Birmingham for £13.60, now you’ve blown my mind as last time I did Brum to Gloucester it was about £26 for an off peak single. None of this makes sense.

I wish XC would keep their money grabbing fingers out of it. Come on GWR, let’s have some cheaper GWR only tickets to Worcester! I travel on a GWR train and XC don’t even serve FS or SH so shouldn’t be involved in setting fares or pinching revenue! Bonkers!

Are there any other areas with similar nonsense!

 

[NorthOxonian]

Really? Worcester to Gloucester via Birmingham for £13.60, now you’ve blown my mind as last time I did Brum to Gloucester it was about £26 for an off peak single. None of this makes sense.

I wish XC would keep their money grabbing fingers out of it. Come on GWR, let’s have some cheaper GWR only tickets to Worcester! I travel on a GWR train and XC don’t even serve FS or SH so shouldn’t be involved in setting fares or pinching revenue! Bonkers!

Are there any other areas with similar nonsense!

Actually, it seems that route isn't valid! Presumably it was in the past, which is why CrossCountry set the fares, but Crosscountry appear to set the fares for a route they dont even serve!

I had assumed it was, because that would at least make this system somewhat logical, but nope.

 

[GoneSouth]

Actually, it seems that route isn't valid! Presumably it was in the past, which is why CrossCountry set the fares, but Crosscountry appear to set the fares for a route they dont even serve!

I had assumed it was, because that would at least make this system somewhat logical, but nope.

It does almost make sense because I’ve done Droitwich to Cheltenham with itinerary suggesting change at University or SH is valid. This is also no longer an option. Via SH are the only fares that display now. Obviously next time I do this route I’ll be buying a ticket to Stonehouse to save 4 quid