EMT Nottingham red dot day 25th July

crehld · 16 Jul 2015

collector said:
Don't get on a train that is going to, or has come from Skegness!

You can get any other service you like.

That is incredibly clear. Unfortunately it is not expressed in this way on the EMT website. Obviously the people at EMT lack your skill for unambiguous expression. (Perhaps you should offer your services on a consultancy basis?)

collector said:
99.99% of customers will understand that - it is only a very limited number of enthusiasts that are struggling.

99.99% of customers will understand your phrasing. I'm doubtful as to whether 99.99% of customers will understand EMT's. If a high proportion of enthusiasts, who regularly make use of such offers and often have a good knowledge of ticket validity issues, find it ambiguous, I'm sceptical as to whether the average punter will.

RailUK Forums

sheff1 · 16 Jul 2015

collector said:
Why would the guard decide different?

Because they are EMT guards. There have been numerous threads on here about EMT guards making up their own rules because they don't like the actual rules.

collector said:
It's NOT hard at all!

Don't get on a train that is going to, or has come from Skegness!

You can get any other service you like.

Well why couldn't EMT say that in their publicity ... it really is not hard at all !

Starmill · 16 Jul 2015

sheff1 said:
Because they are EMT guards. There have been numerous threads on here about EMT guards making up their own rules because they don't like the actual rules.

Who can blame them? The actual conditions of this product are yet to be explained...

Scotty · 16 Jul 2015

Harpers Tate said:
Seems pretty straightforward.

But what about the first/last trains which start/end at Boston? Are they valid?

First class · 16 Jul 2015

Scotty said:
But what about the first/last trains which start/end at Boston? Are they valid?

Does it go to or come from Skegness?

No?

There you go then!

Starmill · 17 Jul 2015

This promotion reminds me of 'valid after approximately 1130' - if you arrive at Grantham and ask for the train to Nottingham, the staff are not going to tell you if it's one of the ones from Skegness or elsewhere - they will just tell you the train is going to Nottingham and look at you funny if you ask if your ticket is valid.

If you write a condition that is unclear, nobody understands it, it's unenforceable.

JaJaWa · 17 Jul 2015

collector said:
Ok, seeing as certain forum members are being overly obstructive, you CANNOT use this ticket on trains which call at, or pass through the following locations:

Nottingham (Trains to/from Skegness)
Netherfield*
Radcliffe*
Bingham*
Aslockton*
Elton & Orston
Bottersford*
Grantham (Trains to/from Skegness)
and then all stations to/from Skegness are barred.

*The ticket can be used on the very limited services to/from Norwich/Liverpool at these stations ONLY.

Sounds like you are correct:

starmill said:
This promotion reminds me of 'valid after approximately 1130' - if you arrive at Grantham and ask for the train to Nottingham, the staff are not going to tell you if it's one of the ones from Skegness or elsewhere...

I would suggest phrasing your question as "when's the next train to Nottingham that hasn't come from Skegness?" to get the required answer. I've also included a tip to be extra safe above.

Harpers Tate · 17 Jul 2015

It appears my plain English interpretation was correct after all.

bb21 · 17 Jul 2015

Good luck to "normals" trying to figure out where the train came from at Grantham while standing on the platform.

I still think that in the real world, the guard would be happy to accept this ticket inward towards Nottingham from Grantham, if you accidentally ended up on one that originated from Skeggy.

Starmill · 17 Jul 2015

Given the destination doesn't necessarily determine the origin, neither does the formation of the train, and the staff at Grantham are going to have better things to do that look up weather or not the train has come from Skegness, I'm not sure what they were thinking. Furthermore most people probably won't ask because they won't even realise they might be traveling on a train from there!

maniacmartin · 17 Jul 2015

The terms seem pretty clear to me too, but I came to a different conclusion.

It refers to the Nottingham to Skegness line, not service. A line to me is a piece of track, so my interpretation is that you cannot go on the Norwich services for that part either

However, as the twitter conversation shows, that is not what EMT intended!

Starmill · 17 Jul 2015

maniacmartin said:
The terms seem pretty clear to me too, but I came to a different conclusion.

It refers to the Nottingham to Skegness line, not service. A line to me is a piece of track, so my interpretation is that you cannot go on the Norwich services for that part either

However, as the twitter conversation shows, that is not what EMT intended!

A Nottingham to Boston and a Norwich to Liverpool train use the "Nottingham to Skegness line" without a doubt. Of course you've seen that the Twitter team have decided on something different, which precisely proves my point that if they can think something else to what it actually says, some forum members can completely fabricate their own version of a rule, and passengers and guards will have different ideas.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I've also included a tip to be extra safe above.

Ah, of course. Silly me. I didn't realise it wouldn't be valid on a Sheffield or Manchester Piccadilly train! Nor that it would become invalid if the train had to be restarted at Nottingham. Thank goodness for your 'tip', really cleared it up

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

sheff1 said:
Because they are EMT guards. There have been numerous threads on here about EMT guards making up their own rules because they don't like the actual rules.

It seems to have escaped some people's notice that an actual EMT guard just 'decided different'. I doubt it had anything to do with their opinions though, and everything to do with EMT's lack of communication.

They clearly don't care much about their guards if they're risking putting them in difficult positions with these offers.

simdmuk · 17 Jul 2015

starmill said:
I think their intention is that its a day ranger, and will probably be marked with EMT ONLY or similar (EMIDSTRAINS.ONLY I think they have). But that's obfuscated nicely by their use of the word 'return'.

Correct.Ive just got my ticket(s) and it states EMIDSTRAINS ONLY,but confusingly you get an outward and return ticket,so outward is From:NOTTINGHAM To: ALL EMT SERVICES and the return From : ALL EMT SERVICES To: NOTTINGHAM.

The booking clerk confirmed it was a rover (as did EMT on twitter ) and highlighted it was not valid on any services to/from Skegness.

youngiecj · 17 Jul 2015

The Skegness line will also be very busy that weekend. As well as the Skeggy traffic there is also the Heckington Show, which is very popular for users on the line from past experience.

EMT Nottingham red dot day 25th July

crehld

Established Member

RailUK Forums

sheff1

Established Member

Starmill

Veteran Member

Scotty

Member

First class

Established Member

Starmill

Veteran Member

JaJaWa

Established Member

Harpers Tate

Established Member

bb21

Emeritus Moderator

Starmill

Veteran Member

maniacmartin

Established Member

Starmill

Veteran Member

simdmuk

Member

Attachments

youngiecj

Member