The routeing guide and associated ticketing system is a complete kludge. The current version being a machine readable 'encoded' version of a set of rules and maps going back to when? The Railway Clearing House days in the 19th Century? With various bodges through TOC\Route specific fares, various 'hidden' ticket restrictions to get it to 'work' the way the industry want it to .
Fares regulation has often prevented train companies increasing fares as much as they wanted to. It's not foolproof by any means, and sometimes TOCs are caught disregarding the rules, but it's better than nothing.
Any new system would need to have appropriate safeguards in place; if anyone has any ideas on how such a system could be constructed, I'd be interested to hear them.
How many of the general public on the 'Clapham Omnibus' consult the Routeing Guide? Probably close to zero. How many staff, guards and gate line refer to it? Probably near zero. It is a completely humourless version of Mornington Crescent or Numberwang.
It's no different in concept to the rules that underpin journey planners in many other countries; the key differences are that here in Great Britain the average person
could see the methodology,
if they want to.
Posters on these forums often complain about people being overcharged, or given the wrong advise but is it any wonder with such a labyrinthine system.
Without knowing exactly what examples you are citing, it's difficult to comment on this. But what I will say is that generally speaking the average person can simply state where they are travelling from, and to, and be sold the appropriate fare. There are a few exceptions but they are much more likely down to restriction encoding rather than routeing matters, and that's arguably beyond the scope of this thread.
There is also a strong case to say that people should be offered combinations of tickets, but that's again beyond the scope of this thread and literally anyone can book on a website that will find the cheapest combination in the vast majority of cases.
100m routes from Falkirk to Ramsgate. Good Heavens.
Would you propose that the permitted routes are rationalised, for example we could only allow Falkirk - Edinburgh - Newcastle - Doncaster - York - Peterborough - London KGX/STP - Ebbsfleet - Ramsgate, with no deviations. Or we could allow a select few deviations to allow travel via Carlisle (with no deviations) and via the 'classic' lines (again no deviations)?
Some people would argue that allowing all reasonable routes between Falkirk and Ramsgate is an example of a system appearing as simple to a customer; you can buy such a ticket and take any reasonable route without having to purchase an excess fare (as is often the case on the European continent)
Others would argue that there should be no such fare as any such fare is inherently complex; instead passengers should construct an itinerary and then be sold a bespoke fare that is calculated by whatever means (such as mileage) and then be told that is what they must do. This could be seen as simple as is the same concept as a Ryanair fare, which is deemed by many people and indeed advertised by Ryanair as being "simple".
Get 10 people in a room and ask them for their opinion on this and you will probably get 10 different answers.
Suggested solutions are welcome but no-one has yet come up with a workable plan that is universally agreeable.
So, until then....
I'm not a lawyer, I'm simply explaining that whatever interpretation of the ambiguities a court may adopt, with the current structure of the routeing guide, the process of searching for the cheapest fare is not complex. It's straight forward, though very inefficient and too time consuming to be of any practical use.
You are entailed to this opinion but I am not sure I agree.
How would you define/measure "the cheapest fare" for a given journey?