change of TOC & TOC specific ticket

[cmovcc]

hi,

I have a "Greater Anglia trains only" annual season from Cambridge to London Liverpool Street.

sometimes I change at Cheshunt and visit some friends on the Southbury loop; this section is about to be taken over by London Overground.

I'm wondering if the change to LO invalidates tickets bought in advance of the change happening?

Thanks

 

[AM9]

hi,

I have a "Greater Anglia trains only" annual season from Cambridge to London Liverpool Street.

sometimes I change at Cheshunt and visit some friends on the Southbury loop; this section is about to be taken over by London Overground.

I'm wondering if the change to LO invalidates tickets bought in advance of the change happening?

Thanks

Surely a TOC only ticket only applies where there is a choice of carrier. If you have a ticket from A to B, it's irrelevant whether part of the journey is only available via a single TOC which isn't the one named on the ticket.
However, the next time you buy a ticket, the 'GA only' option probably won't be there so there may be an effective price increase because you can only get an 'Any Permitted' ticket.

 

[cmovcc]

seems possible but unlikely!

my ticket is actually from Cambridge to "London Terminals", if that was the case I could take the Great Northern service from Cambridge to Kings Cross, defeating the point of the TOC only restriction.

 

[maniacmartin]

Surely a TOC only ticket only applies where there is a choice of carrier. If you have a ticket from A to B, it's irrelevant whether part of the journey is only available via a single TOC which isn't the one named on the ticket.

I disagree with this. If the ticket is Greater Anglia only, then it cannot be used on other TOCs.

However, the next time you buy a ticket, the 'GA only' option probably won't be there so there may be an effective price increase because you can only get an 'Any Permitted' ticket.

There will almost still be a distinction - with Any Permitted also giving validity on Great Northern as it always has. The amount of people who would want to travel via the Southbury loop is probably so small in relative terms that this won't even be a consideration when the fares are set.


Whether you could argue that you can use the GA-only ticket on a route that was served by GA when the ticket was bought is another matter, but I wouldn't want to be the one trying it, and would buy a new ticket to/from Cheshunt

 

[bb21]

I think you might need to contact GA about this.

I would expect existing validity to be honoured until the expiry of your season ticket.

 

[cmovcc]

I wonder if they could be convinced to switch it from "GRT ANG TRNSONLY" to "via AUDLEY END" or maybe "NOT GREAT NORTHERN"... that would fix the issue, and give the ticket the same validity as say one from Audley End.

 

[bb21]

I doubt it, as changing it to either of your proposed routings would likely mean them having to share ORCATS revenue with LOROL.

 

[cmovcc]

indeed, however I imagine the allocation for the Southbury loop section for a Cambridge ticket would be close to zero.

the alternative is I drop the AGA specific bit, meaning instead of getting nearly 100%, they'll lose the vast majority of the revenue to TSGN.

I suspect that loss from one or two people switching like this would be more than the combined sum of the additional LO specific costs for all other AGA-specific Cambridge ticket holders combined!

 

[gray1404]

I think you might need to contact GA about this.

I would expect existing validity to be honoured until the expiry of your season ticket.

I would agree with this. They should honour it until your current season ticket expires. Your contract is formed already and they cannot, mid way through it, alter the terms of it to your disadvantage. Yes, you do submit to change of timtables, but a change of operator already to is a totally different matter. When you contact GA about this, I would like out like you use this section of the route often so it may compel them into doing something about it.

Please do post back here to let us know how you get on with them! Good luck!

 

[greatkingrat]

I'm not sure what you expect GA to be able to do about it. They can't give you permission to travel on LOROL. You would be better off contacting LOROL directly to ask if the ticket would still be honoured.

Technically, you are still able to travel via Southbury on this ticket using the peak only GA services from Hertford East via Seven Sisters.