Moderators note: split from Porterbrook Cl.769 'Flex' trains from 319s, initially for Northern
I'm hoping that someone will see sense soon and split Bedford's ticketing to being TL only, EMT only or any route and close the 'gap' in fares to deter the use of EMT services at Bedford and lessen the crowding on them.
Would the 'Thameslink only' fare be cheaper than the current 'Any Permitted' fare? If so who is going to make up the revenue shortfall.
If the 'Any Permitted' fare increases then passengers will simply split at Luton/Luton Airport.
If the 'Any Permitted' fare increases then passengers travelling to London via Bletchely would be unfairly penalised (would you also propose an increase to fares from Martson Vale stations to London to keep them in line?, if not passengers could buy from somewhere like Kempston Hardwick and start short)
How are you going to deal with the capacity issues? We already have the situation at stations like St Albans where passengers are unable to board and get left behind. If you transfer all the Bedford EMT passengers to Thameslink then even more will get left behind further up the line.
Passengers from Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham need to realise that there is a shortage of capacity into London and consequently the train will be busier the nearer it gets to London. This is no different to other lines - Reading, Milton Keynes and Peterborough immediately spring to mind but it also happens at between Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester with the first Virgin service of the day. Extremely civilised until it gets to Stoke at 0800 then wedged with commuters between Stoke and Manchester. If they weren't allowed to travel on that train where would they go? There's insufficient capacity on other trains to accommodate them.
