Hi,
I've had an Annual Season ticket from Leicester to London for a number of years and upon purchasing have always been issued with a ticket that states "London Terminals". Subsequently when I arrive at St Pancras Intl via East Midlands Trains, I then transfer onto the First Capital Connect line and travel 2 stops to City Thameslink to complete my journey....not once being stopped or having my ticket rejected by the barrier at either destination.
A month or so ago when making the change at St Pancras the barrier suddenly rejected the ticket and I was informed by the FCC staff / Revenue collector that my ticket was not valid, the reason given was that I was not permitted to travel between "London Terminals" and my ticket only covered me as far as my first "London Terminal e.g. St Pancras.... all despite me completing the same journey for a number of years and being sold the ticket from a ticket office barely metres away!
There were lots of frustrated commuters in the same boat, particularly as when purchasing the tickets.....the various computer terminals default to the wording "London Terminals" and not "City Thameslink"....so it's impossible to purchase a ticket for this route..unless you buy a Travel-Card which you quite clearly don't need to travel 2 stops on FCC.
From debating this on a number of occasions with the barrier staff etc as St P....I've now been told that I can travel North from St Pancras on FCC as I guess which I sometimes do as this is a "permitted route" between London to Leicester......which makes sense.
However I've also been told that if I boarded a FCC train between Leicester and St Pancras heading SOUTH eg. Perhaps changing from EMT to FCC at Luton....then I'd be fine to travel through to City Thameslink as this would be my arrival "London Terminal"...despite passing through the same St Pancras station! In the interests of time I'm naturally not going to do this.
In a nut-shell...what they are saying is that I would have to travel North from St P...to travel south as they would then ignore St Pancras on the South journey through to City Thameslink! Additionally I'm not permitted to change at a London Terminal to continue my journey to my intended "London Terminal".
I now know from lots of recent research that "London Terminal" means the 1st Terminal you arrive at from the North eg. St Pancras....but it's the follow-up explanation about if I approach on an FCC train that they ignore St Pancras that puzzles me.
I'm certainly not going to be changing trains at Luton, but didn't know if anyone was experiencing similar issues or someone more savy than me could clarify?
FCC may be right, but the perception is that this has suddenly become a money making exercise as on some days the barrier's are fine and allow entrance and on other's they reject the tickets. When fronted on why this is.....they ultimately admitted that it depends who is in charge of the gate and if they want a lot of grief from frustrated commuters.....
It's also laughable that the computer does not allow the counter-staff to issue a ticket that states "City Thameslink" and now defaults to a travel-card which clearly isn't a requirement....this was confirmed by the gate staff at St P who confirmed you can "no"t buy a ticket from Leicester to St P....that combines EMT + FCC.
I'm not sure why because if I travel through to Essex for example, I can buy a ticket that combines EMT and C2C....so why should FCC be any different?
Any guidance / clarification or thoughts appreciated.
Cheers
I've had an Annual Season ticket from Leicester to London for a number of years and upon purchasing have always been issued with a ticket that states "London Terminals". Subsequently when I arrive at St Pancras Intl via East Midlands Trains, I then transfer onto the First Capital Connect line and travel 2 stops to City Thameslink to complete my journey....not once being stopped or having my ticket rejected by the barrier at either destination.
A month or so ago when making the change at St Pancras the barrier suddenly rejected the ticket and I was informed by the FCC staff / Revenue collector that my ticket was not valid, the reason given was that I was not permitted to travel between "London Terminals" and my ticket only covered me as far as my first "London Terminal e.g. St Pancras.... all despite me completing the same journey for a number of years and being sold the ticket from a ticket office barely metres away!
There were lots of frustrated commuters in the same boat, particularly as when purchasing the tickets.....the various computer terminals default to the wording "London Terminals" and not "City Thameslink"....so it's impossible to purchase a ticket for this route..unless you buy a Travel-Card which you quite clearly don't need to travel 2 stops on FCC.
From debating this on a number of occasions with the barrier staff etc as St P....I've now been told that I can travel North from St Pancras on FCC as I guess which I sometimes do as this is a "permitted route" between London to Leicester......which makes sense.
However I've also been told that if I boarded a FCC train between Leicester and St Pancras heading SOUTH eg. Perhaps changing from EMT to FCC at Luton....then I'd be fine to travel through to City Thameslink as this would be my arrival "London Terminal"...despite passing through the same St Pancras station! In the interests of time I'm naturally not going to do this.
In a nut-shell...what they are saying is that I would have to travel North from St P...to travel south as they would then ignore St Pancras on the South journey through to City Thameslink! Additionally I'm not permitted to change at a London Terminal to continue my journey to my intended "London Terminal".
I now know from lots of recent research that "London Terminal" means the 1st Terminal you arrive at from the North eg. St Pancras....but it's the follow-up explanation about if I approach on an FCC train that they ignore St Pancras that puzzles me.
I'm certainly not going to be changing trains at Luton, but didn't know if anyone was experiencing similar issues or someone more savy than me could clarify?
FCC may be right, but the perception is that this has suddenly become a money making exercise as on some days the barrier's are fine and allow entrance and on other's they reject the tickets. When fronted on why this is.....they ultimately admitted that it depends who is in charge of the gate and if they want a lot of grief from frustrated commuters.....
It's also laughable that the computer does not allow the counter-staff to issue a ticket that states "City Thameslink" and now defaults to a travel-card which clearly isn't a requirement....this was confirmed by the gate staff at St P who confirmed you can "no"t buy a ticket from Leicester to St P....that combines EMT + FCC.
I'm not sure why because if I travel through to Essex for example, I can buy a ticket that combines EMT and C2C....so why should FCC be any different?
Any guidance / clarification or thoughts appreciated.
Cheers