MSE TicketySplit app discussion

dzug1

albionwarrior wrote: »

no they are not

Examples please

One-Eye

Shown below is the app result for a journey from Chinley to Manchester on the 18:54 train. I can supposedly pay £7.00, saving £1.30 on the £8.30 fare. This result is TOTAL GARBAGE.

The fare on the Strines to Manchester leg is actually £1.95, not £3.80 - so I could pay £5.15 by splitting the journey.

I would rather pay £4.55 for the through ticket as shown above from the National Rail website - saving £2.45 on your more expensive split.

By purchasing the £4.55 ticket I would also get a free return journey later that night if I wanted!!!!

Former_MSE_Adam

Hi One-Eye,

This is a great spot, but unfortunately this looks to be a fault with the National Rail website.

To purchase tickets, you have to buy through a train operator. In this case, National Rail refers you to purchase them through Northern Rail. Both it, as well as thetrainline, take the train and redspottedhanky all quote the cheapest ticket price as £8.30.

The Strines to Manchester Piccadilly leg also show at £3.80.

Please let me know if you were using any specific railcard to obtain these fares, or anything else that could help me investigate further.

Thanks,
MSE Adam

dzug1

The fare one eye is on about is a cheap evening return - not a single. Unless you look for returns, you won't find it

One-Eye

MSE_Adam wrote: »

Hi One-Eye,

This is a great spot, but unfortunately this looks to be a fault with the National Rail website.

To purchase tickets, you have to buy through a train operator. In this case, National Rail refers you to purchase them through Northern Rail. Both it, as well as thetrainline, take the train and redspottedhanky all quote the cheapest ticket price as £8.30.

The Strines to Manchester Piccadilly leg also show at £3.80.

Please let me know if you were using any specific railcard to obtain these fares, or anything else that could help me investigate further.

Thanks,
MSE Adam

Extract from the Northern Rail website:-



It is not a fault with the National Rail website - which I have always found to be the best one to use. It is a fault with the other websites that only show the fare if you enquire for a return. National Rail will show you a return fare where it is cheaper than a single (when you enquire about singles) but some others do not.

No railcard is required, and I assure you that station staff, train conductors and thousands of locals are totally aware of this ticket. This Greater Manchester cheap evening return has been running continuously for years and details can be found HERE

Splitting tickets may save people money sometimes, but it is not the only way, and may not be the best way. At the moment Tesco is selling 8-pack of Cadbury's Twirl at £2.99, whereas 4-packs are on sale at £1.00. In some cases the splitting ticket app works like offering a 50p off voucher for an 8-pack ie. a decent money saving deal but one that costs more than buying 2x 4-packs.

Despite everything I have said, splitting can be useful. If you extend your app to advance fares, here is an example for you to test it on. Sheffield depart 08:05, Glasgow Arrive 12:28 (change Manchester, both trains run by Trans Pennine Express). Try it for about 6 weeks in advance. Sheffield-Glasgow single shows as £104.30, but Sheffield-Manchester available at £5.00 and Manchester-Glasgow available at £16.00, total £21.00 giving a saving of 80% - the best I have ever seen.

Former_MSE_Adam

Thanks for this, One-Eye.

At the moment the scope of our tool is limited to single tickets only.

Whilst in the future we hope to expand it's capabilities, we hope that at present the tool is still very much useful. We'll be sure to test the Sheffield-Glasgow route!

Thanks,
MSE Adam

dancingfairy

Is it possible to have an option for Birmingham (All) just like London or Manchester.
Many Thanks.
df

System

Excellent idea, looking forward to using it properly next time I travel Earley to Gravesend. By the way; love the name :rotfl:

Jeff_Bridges_hair

dancingfairy wrote: »

Is it possible to have an option for Birmingham (All) just like London or Manchester.
Many Thanks.
df

An all Birmingham stations does not exist within the essence of what i think you are wanting.. At the moment this is the grouping for birmingham stations IIRC

Birmingham Moor Street, Birmingham New Street, Birmingham Snow Hill

Notice how it does not have international on ther ewhich some people may think is part of the Birmingham stations as it has Birmingham in the title. And also you may actually get people thinking it meant ALL stations in birmingham.

This is what Airlie Bird was alluding too earlier in the thread. They need to ensure they put the restrictions and validity of peoples ticket on the site when they go live with it.

EDIT: To add a 'London Terminals' ticket does not also include travel to all London terminals - depending on where you are coming from.. I.e coming from brighton to 'London Terminals' does not allow you travel to London St Pancras even though it is on the same Thameslink line - it only allows up to City Thameslinnk IIRC so again its another to be wary about when selecting 'London Terminals.

matth1j

Just one minor comment - the colour combination of black text on dark green background (as shown in One-Eye's screenshot above) is quite hard to read on my laptop.

Also, is there going to be a version for non-mobile users, or should we just use the mobile site (which I did)?

It found my Reading/Bath commute split at Didcot ok.