Rail ticket lunacy

cmotd

Apologies if this has been discussed before but I was very surprised to discover this cheap ticket option today:

Went to my local station today:

"Off peak return to Kings Cross please."

"that will be £46."

"Have you got any cheaper tickets?"

"Yes, buy a return ticket to Dartford and it is only £36.20"

" I don't want to go to Dartord - it is the other side of London with three changes of train."

" You don't have to - just get off at Kings Cross and ignore the rest of the journey."

"Are you telling me that it is cheaper to buy a ticket to somewhere I am not going that is further away?"

"Exactly - welcome to the strange universe of train ticketing."

Is it me that's barmy or the rest of the world?

Don't know if it works elsewhere but worth a try if you are going to London I would have thought.

daveyjp

Plenty of such anomalies around as ticket prices are based on demand, not distance travelled.

From my local station I can go to two major destinations. One is a three mile trip, the other a 7 mile trip. The shorter trip fare is 20% more.

Buying a ticket for the journey you want, but in reverse can also be cheaper - i.e. you are in Manchester and want to go to Liverpool. Buying a Liverpool to Manchester ticket could be cheaper.

You just need to check your times are OK for you to use a return portion of the ticket for your outward journey and vice-versa.

nickcc

Booked from Redruth to Bristol parkway single £36, usual price £86 to temple meads. Warned by train manager not to get off at temple meads as the gates are manned and I would be fined for getting of early.

[Deleted User]

nickcc wrote: »

Booked from Redruth to Bristol parkway single £36, usual price £86 to temple meads. Warned by train manager not to get off at temple meads as the gates are manned and I would be fined for getting of early.

So what if you were going to get off a Temple Meads, then get back on again and finish the rest of the journey to Parkway?

nickcc

jack_pott wrote: »

So what if you were going to get off a Temple Meads, then get back on again and finish the rest of the journey to Parkway?

No problem as long as you don't leave the station past the ticket collectors. You would still have to use the same train though as the ticket was for that specific train.

[Deleted User]

I hadn't noticed you were talking about a ticket booked in advance, it's OK to break a journey part way with a turn-up-and-go ticket.

elverson

See the guide here

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1179615&postcount=9

esuhl

Train ticket prices make no sense.

The tracks near me form a square, with my station at one of the corners. Naturally, a ticket to the opposite corner costs more than a ticket along just one side of the square.

However, tickets are valid for travel in either direction. So I can get a ticket to the nearer station, then travel away from it to the furthest station which (in this direction of travel) is now "en-route" to the closer one. Thus saving about £5.

Anyone asking for a ticket to the station they actually want to travel to will be charged more than they need to pay because of the stupid pricing system.

They've made it deliberately complicated. They probably scam enough money from passengers to cover all their losses from fare evasion!

nickcc

Last year we booked a long weekend break, we upgraded to First class. We ended up on the Sunday afternoon well in time to catch the earlier train, unfortunately when asking the train manger if we could use this train travelling in any carriage we were advised not to as revenue protection would charge us the extra for travelling One hour earlier than the train we had booked, life's a !!!!!. My comment means female dog.

esuhl

nickcc wrote: »

Last year we booked a long weekend break, we upgraded to First class. We ended up on the Sunday afternoon well in time to catch the earlier train, unfortunately when asking the train manger if we could use this train travelling in any carriage we were advised not to as revenue protection would charge us the extra for travelling One hour earlier than the train we had booked, life's a !!!!!. My comment means female dog.

Argh! That sounds like a "first class" service!

I remember buying a ticket for a 3.5hr train journey. I decided to travel first class (the only time I've ever done so)... Only to find that only ONE of the four trains I caught even had a first class section. What a con!

Johnmcl7

esuhl wrote: »

They've made it deliberately complicated. They probably scam enough money from passengers to cover all their losses from fare evasion!

I don't know, I kind of feel it's more 'Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence' and it's not hard to believe it's the latter with the rail system here.

John