British Rail

Loobeylou

On holiday recently with my OH we found ourselves at St Ives railway station wishing to get the next train back. However, when we went to pay for our tickets we were advised they could not issue a single fare, but that we would have to purchase a return. As we had walked to St Ives, we only wanted two single fares. We asked if we could use the return part of the ticket on a different day, but no.

The train was in, everyone was getting on and we were in danger of missing it, so we bowed to pressure, paid for two returns and got on the train.

However, where do we stand with British Rail on this? You would not get on a bus and have them insist you pay for a return fare. Surely BR cannot stipulate that you HAVE to purchase a return ticket for a single fare? They did just this, but is it legal?

N9eav

It is probably cheaper to buy a return anyway, unless you book some cheap singles in advance. Complain anyway it's always worth a try.

PS it's no longer British rail....

Altarf

They should have sold you a single, but the difference in price between a single and return from St Ives is between 10p and 20p (offpeak/peak), so although you were 'done' it was not by much.

Either:

The staff member didn't know how to sell a single (although this may sound unbelievable I had a recent experience where the staff at Vauxhall station didn't know how to sell tickets from Vauxhall and South-West Trains customer services didn't believe such tickets existed until I made them look at the National Rail Enquires web site); or

They were trying to do you a favour (despite what you had said about walking) and given the small difference between a return and single have been told to always sell returns. I can imagine they get quite a few irate passengers who buy a single each way, then find out the minimal difference between the single and return price.

If you want to argue it out though, have a look at the National Rail Enquiries web site which will give you a price for a single ticket and then complain to First Great Western. They will probably just send you a £5 rail voucher.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
https://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk

Loobeylou

Many thanks for your response. However, a couple of points:

- We realised after the event that there were official looking signs stating only the price of a return ticket. No price for singles.

- They were adamant that they would not issue a single fare.

Believe me, we took the bus after that (just as convenient although a little slower), so for their sillyness in the fares system British Rail (or whoever!) lost out.

Altarf

Loobeylou wrote:

Many thanks for your response. However, a couple of points:

- We realised after the event that there were official looking signs stating only the price of a return ticket. No price for singles.

- They were adamant that they would not issue a single fare.

So which station were you travelling to from St Ives?

rdwarr

Please don't use the phrase "British Rail" to describe the "we care only for profit" companies that have taken its place In this case you were dealing with First Great Western.
Anyway, it's possible in this case that return fares may have been cheaper than singles and that is why they sold them. As suggested, have a complaint at http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ to get the definitive answer and, hopefully, an apology.

Lawe

From St. Ives, where were you travelling to?
I take it it was only a short hop bewtween two or three stations?

As for British Rail..... a name now only used for history and legal bits, quote from the website:

Under the 1993 Railways Act, the old British Rail was split up and sold off. By November 1997, British Rail had been divested of all its operating railway functions.
The remaining functions of the British Railways Board are now discharged by BRB (Residuary) Ltd. The company is owned by the Government and reports to the Department for Transport.
As a residuary body, the company is responsible for discharging a variety of functions, including obligations in respect of liabilities acquired by British Rail as a major employer over nearly half a century and as a direct result of the privatisation process.

Loobeylou

Oh my goodness me - I seem to have started something when I called it British Rail! To those who seem unduly affected or offended by this mis-naming, I stand corrected.

Yes, we were only going a couple of stops up the line, and as we had walked in and traipsed around we felt it would be nice to get the train back. However, we did not make the same mistake again!

And thanks for the links for a complaint.