Train tickets are confusing

[lnr]

I'm sure train ticketing was supposed to have got more easy to understand. This weekend I took a train from Shelford to Harpenden - travelling down the Liverpool Street line to Tottenham Hale, getting the Victoria Line tube to Kings Cross St Pancras, and then getting a train from St Pancras to Harpenden. Apparently the off-peak return for this journey should have been £52.50 - but when I went to buy one from the ticket machine at Shelford station this ticket wasn't available. In fact the machine refused to believe Harpenden even existed - so in a rush not to miss my train I bought the first return I could think of to London - an off-peak return to London Terminals costing £22.60.

So I got to Tottenham Hale - and since I'd thought I would have a cross-London ticket with me I hadn't brought my Oyster Card - and had to pay the full price single fare from Zone 3 to Zone 1 - which is £4.30. At St Pancras I bought my return to Harpenden which was another £22.50. I had an utterly fantastic time at Heather's HenFest (see photos on Facebook) before coming home again on Sunday, and paying another £4.30 on the tube. This took my total fare to £53.70 - amazingly only £1.20 more than the off-peak return should have been. And in fact if I'd had my Oyster with me it would have been *cheaper* to split the tickets this way.

Not being 100% sure I'd actually been supposed to use a London Terminals ticket to Tottenham Hale (though the guys checking tickets on the way in and out just waved me through they did barely glance at it) I figured I'd have a quick check online - and it turns out that though an off-peak return to London Terminals (valid from Shelford to Liverpool Street) is £22.60 the off-peak return to Tottenham Hale (one stop shorter on the same train) is supposed to be £30.20! I'm now completely baffled to say the least!

I do wonder if I should complain to Greater Anglia though, given that their machine failed to sell me a ticket which would have been cheaper than the ones I did get! But I'm also wondering if in future I may be able to find other journeys which are cheaper on two tickets plus Oyster than on the cross-London fare!

(Edit: I've just checked and the zone 1-3 off-peak Oyster fare is £2.60 - which would have reduced the total price to £50.30 - so if the Terminals ticket *is* valid to Tottenham Hale it looks like it really is actually cheaper to buy two returns and use Oyster on the tube than buy a return all the way through).

Comments

[viclet.livejournal.com]

I believe a lot of people split tickets these days, but I suspect that if you miss one of the trains due to a previous one being late/the underground being screwed, they wouldn't have to let you on a later train (if you have reserved seats), whereas if you book it straight through they do. I suspect a lot of journeys will be cheaper though, especially for me as I have an Oyster card through work, so I always tend to book from the train terminal rather than where I start off.

[lnr]

These were all the standard off-peak prices - no reservations involved at all! (And yes, that's exactly why I don't usually split Advance tickets it's not worth the risk).

[samholloway.livejournal.com]

Even if you split tickets, you are still protected if you miss a later train owing the delay of an earlier train - this is written in the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, and also in the guidance given to rail staff (aka The Manual). (You may however encounter rail staff who are unaware of this, so be prepared to politely stand your ground.)

The only rule with split tickets is that the train must call at the station where you split.

[lnr]

That's the first time I've heard of it with Advance tickets - and it's certainly *not* an argument I'd want to get into when stuck, late, in Peterborough.

[samholloway.livejournal.com]

I agree, I think what the documents say and what happens in practice are very different.

In those cases, I think it's best to accept whatever overpriced ticket they offer to sell you (or even accept a penalty fine) but then write and get a refund after the fact.

TOCs are generally pretty good about replying to complaints (although my experience has been that paper letters elicit the best responses) - please let us know what you get back from GA.

[lnr]

I have enough trouble with the fact that East Coast's webpage keeps trying to sell me a ticket for Shelford to London which is only valid on the Liverpool Street line for a planned journey via Cambridge and the Kings Cross line. So far printing out the email confirmation from East Coast with the train times on it and waving it at FCC staff has always worked in practice (and the ticket lets me through the barriers at KX!) but it's very wearing - so I've got to remember to select the more expensive correct ticket when booking.

I ought to get round to complaining to East Coast to get them to fix their site - but life's too short and it shouldn't have to be my job.

[sparrowsion]

I've had conflicting advice in this situation: advanced ticket for second train, first train has problems so I miss connection. Train manager on first train says that because I got on the right train and it's not my fault that I'm going to miss the one I have a reservation for my ticket should be honoured. Train manager on second train disagrees, and only through polite arguing that a colleague of his had told me my ticket was valid do I get away with it. Wish I knew who was correct, because it's a journey I do a lot, it's a fragile connection, and the unsplit still advanced ticket is 150% more expensive.

[lnr]

I was interested to note that when I was catching trains through Leeds and Manchester the other week the train managers were making *very* strict announcements before the train left about Advance tickets *only* being available for the booked train. I'd not want to try and argue it on one of those.