MSE News: The train firms that charge evening peak fares from 3pm

Livingthedream

Roustabout wrote: »

I find the ticketing mind bogglingly difficult to understand and if I was caught with the wrong one on a train and the attendant got arsy I would telly him to take a hike.

Problem is the train companies and railway bylaws think that anybody without a valid ticket is a fare dodger and therefore, give's them powers to fine or for people who refuse to pay, arrested at the next station by transport police.

Roustabout wrote: »

As far as I am concerned the Peak and Off Peak bands should be set in stone nationally so they are the same across the network.

Totally agree, however, all the major cities have different evening rush hours.

Roustabout wrote: »

With regards to overcrowding. This is happening in my area because trains that actually had more coaches were replaced by totally ineadequate 2 coach trains. How the operator thinks they can get the contents of 4 or 6 coaches into 2 is beyond me.

I'm afraid it's cost cutting by the train company under the pretence 'these are the units the Department for Transport gave us' and you the passengers have to live with it.

Roustabout wrote: »

also if I ever had to stand on a train I would go and sit in 1st class and if the attendant didnt like it he would have to get me arrested.

Again, those bylaws designed not in your favour but the train company's, if the train manager asks you to pay a excess or to move and you don't do either then it's the transport police at the next station.

geordieracer

Indeed livingthedream but they have to protect their revenue somehow dont they?

Anyway the whole article is a bit more misleading as East coast trains are only cutting the time for the 'Super off peak' ticket not all off peak tickets

geordieracer

Roustabout wrote: »

I find the ticketing mind bogglingly difficult to understand and if I was caught with the wrong one on a train and the attendant got arsy I would telly him to take a hike.

As far as I am concerned the Peak and Off Peak bands should be set in stone nationally so they are the same across the network.

With regards to overcrowding. This is happening in my area because trains that actually had more coaches were replaced by totally ineadequate 2 coach trains. How the operator thinks they can get the contents of 4 or 6 coaches into 2 is beyond me.

Also if I ever had to stand on a train I would go and sit in 1st class and if the attendant didnt like it he would have to get me arrested.

you just seem like an arrogant jackass who thinks himself funny..

good luck with all of that and as livingthedream said enjoy your meeting with the BTP.. That would be well funny wouldn't it.

Livingthedream

geordieracer wrote: »

Indeed livingthedream but they have to protect their revenue somehow dont they?

Agree, however, like computer/console software, pirates find away around it and the anti-piracy on genuine software obstruct genuine users and its the same for travelling by train for fare dodgers.

It's us the honest punters who have a valid or a ticket we thing is valid that have to put up with all the barriers, random gestapo revenue protection inspector checks and peak hour manned gates, whilst the veteran fare dodger blags his way for a free ride again.

bunking_off

Simon11 wrote: »

Another article having a cheap shot at the railway industry whilst have little knowledge of how it works :mad:

Well that's hardly surprising now is it. Take the case of Preston-London : first direct train that's off-peak is 0958, arriving at 1212. But get the train from Lancaster, a stop further up the line, and you can catch the 0738 (arrive 1012) or 0838 (arrive 1112), both of which stop at Preston on the way and travel off peak. So (uninformed) Preston customers would pay 5x as much for a 15 minute shorter journey.

Perhaps when there's the vaguest bit of logic to the system we won't be so critical, or game the system to exploit its stupidities.

geordieracer

caoimhin wrote: »

I would like to know how a train at 6:00am that's virtually empty from Manchester to London can count as "peak"? Especially since some stations allow you to travel off-peak to London on the first train (e.g. Carlisle allows you to go off-peak to London at 6:49am)

Peak times need to be regulated and souldn't be allowed to start before 7:00am for the morning and 4:30pm for the afternoon.

because its based on what time the train gets into london... some anomolies for sure but ii think its fair enough... I know in the past i have travelled around lunchtime to liverpool and there was loads of seats down the whole train.. So if they can get more people on those trains that were emptier before then much better for the people who are prepared to pay the top money to be in comfort i reckon

[Deleted User]

The worst thing I find is that there's nowhere on train companies websites which states clearly when peak time stops and starts

Want to stop overcrowding ? Only sell as many tickets as your trains can hold. Simples

minerva_windsong

How to solve overcrowding - fewer first class carriages! I don't understand why Virgin, for example, need their trains to have four first class carriages, as generally when I travel (at a peak time on a Friday afternoon) they don't have enough passengers in first class to fill one. Two is probably more than enough, and then convert two carriages that are currently first class into standard class. And on that note, I think £15 for an upgrade to first class at the weekend is over the odds, so my suggestion would be drop it to a tenner and/or add the option to upgrade for the same price at non-peak times in the week.

Also if you have a railcard you can dodge paying over the odds - I had an interview in London on Tuesday, came back to Lancashire on the 4:57 from Euston (ie smack bang in the middle of 'peak' time) and still got the train for £46 return due to having my railcard. Obviously that doesn't apply to everyone, but it's useful information to know.

bunking_off

That one is a particular irritation. I hate being in the situation where I've had to pay full fare on a morning peak train (£135 single!!), but am sat next to OAP travelling for £30 on their senior railcard. I have to travel at that time to get to a business meeting, and the justification for the extreme fare is because the train's overcrowded. Is it really necessary for the pensioner to travel at that time, versus waiting a while? Perhaps there should be a discount against the full fare for senior cards, rather than peak travel at off-peak pricing?

Nothing against pensioners, it's just that it can't be good for the economy as a whole...

cactusdust

Roustabout wrote: »

Also if I ever had to stand on a train I would go and sit in 1st class and if the attendant didnt like it he would have to get me arrested.

Then I hope you get everything you deserve.

It's not railway staff you should be taking out your grievances with.