York-Newcastle

[Hadders]

Is the XC only ticket between York and Newcastle being withdrawn? I can’t get any booking site to offer the fare from 2nd January.

Other than TPE only fares does anyone know of a cheaper way to make this journey?

 

[YorkC]

I just came on to ask the same question. The TPE Only tickets went up to about £30 a couple of weeks ago too.

 

[96tommy]

I was lookign to buy one for January the other day but couldn't find any either. A shame if they have gone, much cheaper than the off-peak day return fares

 

[ainsworth74]

I am lead to believe that they are no more from January. Which is a massive shame but I guess it was too good to last! I will likely shift my business to TPE as a result. Seems like this would lose XC money as far as I can see!

 

[Merseysider]

Was there enough space aboard XC for all the passengers drawn in by the cheap tickets?

 

[Starmill]

I just came on to ask the same question. The TPE Only tickets went up to about £30 a couple of weeks ago too.

An Off-Peak Day Return went up from £17.90 to £25. It looks to be staying at that level in the new year. The £18 CrossCountry Off-Peak Return is being withdrawn. Full price is to be a stonking £40.90.

 

[yorkie]

I mentioned it earlier this month in the thread about TPE fares:

XC are removing many (though not all) of their walk-up XC Only fares, so the only viable option for this journey will now be the TPE only.....

I probably should have made a thread about XC fares though!

They have disappeared and been brought back several times over the years.

Was there enough space aboard XC for all the passengers drawn in by the cheap tickets?

Depends on the time, day and direction of travel but in general XC are not too bad north of York.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Advance tickets may be cheaper?

EDIT: VTEC often heavily reduce their ticket prices. I’ve found some really good deals on their website numerous times.

 

[DanNCL]

It looks like it will only be the TPE only fares and the advances. A GC only return to Sunderland instead may work out a similarly cheap option (even by the time you've paid for the metro to Newcastle on top of that)

 

[bb21]

Well, splitting at Hartlepool is a trick I often used, if you can put up with the extended journey times.

 

[Segedunum]

Well I guess with the loss of the XC only walkup then all of my custom on the ECML is going over to TPE. VTEC have simply never been the cheapest option for any dates i've looked at for a solid year. And everytime I do bother to travel with them Newcastle-York it's been on the odd occasions that their service has gone up the spout

Although ironically it's VTEC i'm travelling with on Tuesday as some TPE+Connections tickets seem to chuck you on their xx30 departure from Newcastle.

 

[ainsworth74]

Was there enough space aboard XC for all the passengers drawn in by the cheap tickets?

Not been an issue that I've seen north of York. Usually they're emptier than VTEC and on occasion TPE!

Advance tickets may be cheaper?

But not flexible whilst these ticket restricted you to a specific operator you still had the flexibility.

 

[Segedunum]

Advance tickets may be cheaper?

EDIT: VTEC often heavily reduce their ticket prices. I’ve found some really good deals on their website numerous times.

Two VTEC advance singles were quite literally never cheaper than the TPE and XC walkups-

The bottom tier advance single with a railcard is £4.90 (good luck finding one of those, maybe on the 0445 to York and 0042 return). The most typical tier available is the £6.35 fare. £6.35+£6.35=£12.70 aand oh dear you've gone over the £11.90 XC walkup.

TPE meanwhile throw £3.25 advance fares (for 16-25 railcard holders) around like confetti on some services (I don't think i've ever booked the 18:04 on a Sunday at anything other than £3.25, and it's usually full and standing!) and if they don't then it's usually a £5.40 fare. And with the current refurbishment, suddenly their trains are a lot more appealing with power sockets at every bay of seats, etc.

 

[YorkC]

An Off-Peak Day Return went up from £17.90 to £25. It looks to be staying at that level in the new year. The £18 CrossCountry Off-Peak Return is being withdrawn. Full price is to be a stonking £40.90.

Ah right, I meant the offpeak return, which cost me £29.90 a couple of weeks ago and was previously also priced at £17.90.

 

[yorkie]

The TPE Only SVR is £17.90 but goes up on 2nd January.

If you bought it a couple of weeks ago then it would be the new price if your travel date was 2nd January onwards.

For travel up to 1st January, the current price should still apply.

Two VTEC advance singles were quite literally never cheaper than the TPE and XC walkups-

Agreed. I think TT-ONR-NRN must have been mistaken; those of us familiar with the pricing on this route know that VTEC have priced themselves out of this market at the moment and it does appear to be intentional, to suppress demand (based on what VTEC staff based at their HQ have said).

 

[Eboordna]

The TPE Only SVR is £17.90 but goes up on 2nd January.

If you bought it a couple of weeks ago then it would be the new price if your travel date was 2nd January onwards.

For travel up to 1st January, the current price should still apply.


Agreed. I think TT-ONR-NRN must have been mistaken; those of us familiar with the pricing on this route know that VTEC have priced themselves out of this market at the moment and it does appear to be intentional, to suppress demand (based on what VTEC staff based at their HQ have said).

Look again at the TPE prices, what you state is not correct.

Take what you hear about VTEC suppressing demand with a pinch of salt. Do you seriously believe that?

 

[roversfan2001]

Take what you hear about VTEC suppressing demand with a pinch of salt. Do you seriously believe that?

Why would they care about York<>Newcastle passengers (when there is plenty of competition) when they can focus on maximising revenue from the long-distance services to London (where they are the only operator that runs a frequent service, given the poor open-access service)?

 

[YorkC]

The TPE Only SVR is £17.90 but goes up on 2nd January.

If you bought it a couple of weeks ago then it would be the new price if your travel date was 2nd January onwards.

For travel up to 1st January, the current price should still apply.

Don't have the outward portion to hand but I was charged £29.90 at York ticket office for travel on 17/12 (see attached). I saw the price on the TVM, thought it was an error, went to the desk and IIRC was told the price had gone up that day (maybe a day or two before, can't remember exactly).

 

[yorkie]

Don't have the outward portion to hand but I was charged £29.90 at York ticket office for travel on 17/12. I saw the price on the TVM, thought it was an error, went to the desk and IIRC was told the price had gone up that day (maybe a day or two before, can't remember exactly).

Sorry, I've just seen that actually TPE changed their fares before the usual fares round date.

However the £18 XC Only fare should have still been available on that date (and still is available), so if there was an XC train at a suitable time they should have offered that.

 

[YorkC]

Sorry, I've just seen that actually TPE changed their fares before the usual fares round date.

However the £18 XC Only fare should have still been available on that date (and still is available), so if there was an XC train at a suitable time they should have offered that.

Yeah - I was offered it but I was in a bit of a rush to get back to the NE and it was about another 25 mins for the next XC.

 

[Wallsendmag]

TPE changed their price outside the fare setting rounds as it was far too successful.

 

[Hadders]

I mentioned it earlier this month in the thread about TPE fares

I knew I'd seen it mentioned somewhere.

Advance tickets may be cheaper?

Unlikely for short notice travel. Advance tickets can offer a good value but are of little use if you require flexibility.

TPE changed their price outside the fare setting rounds as it was far too successful.

That's rather naughty.

It's very disappointing if XC have withdrawn the ticket. The TPE only ticket is useful but not really of use if you're making a long distance journey with XC and need to split to avoid their extortionate fares.

Many people complain about fares regulation and say it should be removed. This case demonstrates why it should NOT be removed. Just imagine what train operating companies would do to fares if they were given free reign.

 

[Eboordna]

Why would they care about York<>Newcastle passengers (when there is plenty of competition) when they can focus on maximising revenue from the long-distance services to London (where they are the only operator that runs a frequent service, given the poor open-access service)?

That would be a fair point if all VTEC trains were full, but that only tends to be true for a very small proportion of services. Until that changes they’d like a piece of both. This is more about a limit to what they’re allowed to do as lead operator and doing what they can to stop the competition.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's very disappointing if XC have withdrawn the ticket.

XC bring in and take away XC Only tickets on that part of the ECML as often as I change my underwear.

It'll be back again in a few months when they realise they need the money.

I'm guessing they do it so often so it never becomes a permanent fare or something.

 

[Wallsendmag]

That would be a fair point if all VTEC trains were full, but that only tends to be true for a very small proportion of services. Until that changes they’d like a piece of both. This is more about a limit to what they’re allowed to do as lead operator and doing what they can to stop the competition.

Have you tried buting a flexible ticket and making a reservation between York and Newcastle on TPE? They appear to want the money but not for you to have a seat. This may have changed recently but was causing a lot of problems, "sorry you can't reserve your ticket is too expensive you have to have one of TPE's Advance tickets to reserve a seat".