Can't book Dore & Totley to Hereford on 0739 departure

sheff1 · 20 Jan 2020

Someone wishes to make the following journey on 27th Jan:

Dore & Totley 0739
Stockport arr 0825 dep 0839
Hereford 1032

However NRE journey planner does not return this journey and the booking sites tried (TPE, EMR, XC & LNER) also fail to show it.

All the above sites offer an itinerary from Sheffield at 0732 which is the same train.

Any idea why an itinerary from Dore & Totley is not offered on the 0739 departure ?

RailUK Forums

iantherev · 20 Jan 2020

sheff1 said:
Someone wishes to make the following journey on 27th Jan:

Dore & Totley 0739
Stockport arr 0825 dep 0839
Hereford 1032

However NRE journey planner does not return this journey and the booking sites tried (TPE, EMR, XC & LNER) also fail to show it.

All the above sites offer an itinerary from Sheffield at 0732 which is the same train.

Any idea why an itinerary from Dore & Totley is not offered on the 0739 departure ?

Trainsplit gives this itinerary on the 0739 splitting at Chinley and Leominster.

sheff1 · 20 Jan 2020

iantherev said:
Trainsplit gives this itinerary on the 0739 splitting at Chinley and Leominster.

Yes, but that doesn't answer the question as to why the listed sites do not.

SickyNicky · 20 Jan 2020

sheff1 said:
Yes, but that doesn't answer the question as to why the listed sites do not.

It's because Chinley fails the fares check and it's not within three miles of the shortest route.

kieron · 22 Jan 2020

Chinley fails the fare check for Dore here, but Sheffield passes it. This means that NRE* gives an itinerary if you send it to Sheffield and back first. You should be able to buy a ticket by clicking through to EMR.

There's no break of journey restriction on any flexible ticket on this route, and there don't appear to be any advance tickets for that train, so you can just get this itinerary and miss out the double back.

* You may need to delete any nationalrail.co.uk cookies you have for this link to open correctly.

sheff1 · 22 Jan 2020

kieron said:
Chinley fails the fare check for Dore here, but Sheffield passes it. This means that NRE* gives an itinerary if you send it to Sheffield and back first. You should be able to buy a ticket by clicking through to EMR.

There's no break of journey restriction on any flexible ticket on this route, and there don't appear to be any advance tickets for that train, so you can just get this itinerary and miss out the double back.

Thanks. All seems a bit bizarre though and will still not get them a reservation from Dore to Stockport which was their main concern.

sonic2009 · 22 Jan 2020

sheff1 said:
Thanks. All seems a bit bizarre though and will still not get them a reservation from Dore to Stockport which was their main concern.

You may be able to get one manually issued for the train by contacting EMR by phone or social media.

kieron · 22 Jan 2020

sheff1 said:
Thanks. All seems a bit bizarre though and will still not get them a reservation from Dore to Stockport which was their main concern.

If you've reserved a seat from Sheffield to Stockport, your seat is reserved from Dore to Stockport. I don't know of a way to get a more specific seat reservation than that without dealing with a member of staff, though.

Having an itinerary from a web site has a second benefit. If you (or the passenger) encounters a member of staff who does not think the ticket is valid that way, it's something which can be used to show that it is allowed.

sheff1 · 22 Jan 2020

kieron said:
If you've reserved a seat from Sheffield to Stockport, your seat is reserved from Dore to Stockport.

But staff on here have been clear that if a passenger does't occupy their seat upon leaving the station they have reserved it from they no longer have a right to it.

kieron said:
Having an itinerary from a web site has a second benefit. If you (or the passenger) encounters a member of staff who does not think the ticket is valid that way, it's something which can be used to show that it is allowed.

I understand the passenger is now going to travel from Sheffield which, of course, adds a totally unneccesary (in a sane world) pollution producing car journey. What are the chances reservations will now not be displayed o_O

.

kieron · 25 Jan 2020

sheff1 said:
But staff on here have been clear that if a passenger does't occupy their seat upon leaving the station they have reserved it from they no longer have a right to it.

Do you recall when this was? I can't see anything in an official source which says anything like this.

That said, it's better to get reservations which reflects the exact journey the passenger wishes to make, as someone who's only going to Dore can tell that the seat isn't reserved until later in the journey.

sheff1 said:
I understand the passenger is now going to travel from Sheffield which, of course, adds a totally unneccesary (in a sane world) pollution producing car journey.

Just to check, do you feel that the rail industry is partly responsible for this decision?

I know sonic2009 made a couple of suggestions which could make it easier to request a specific reservation, but I don't know how you feel about those ideas.

sheff1 said:
What are the chances reservations will now not be displayed .

Both trains use paper reservation labels, so it's partly down to the staff involved. The CRA FAQ on nre.co.uk says that a claim for compensation may be considered if the traveller can't find a seat even after reserving one, so there would be grounds for complaint if the reservations aren't there.

Killingworth · 25 Jan 2020

Perhaps because the TPE 8.05 to Sheffield arriving 8.10 connects into the 8.18 XC towards Reading, arrive New Street 9.27 to catch 9.50 for Hereford arriving 11.16 may be a better routing.

I offer no opinion on that. Would cost £64.10 but if possible I'd consider waiting until Northern's 9.59 and use the same route for only £32.10 and arrive 13.15.

Killingworth · 25 Jan 2020

However, I've got it to work with National Rail on East Midlands from Dore at 7.39 to Hereford via Stockport arriving 10.32 for £64.30 single. See; http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/servi...ndResponseId=4&isOutboundJourneySelected=true

Curiously this National Rail itinerary directs me to TPE yet their own website doesn't offer the option of Via Stockport. When trying to book it comes up with two separate journeys and seats are bookable on both.

Doesn't explain why, but shows it can be done.

Bletchleyite · 25 Jan 2020

The NRE planner will offer non-permitted routes with a simple split ticket (at a change point) shown. Retailers other than those intending on doing splits don't.

sheff1 · 26 Jan 2020

kieron said:
Do you recall when this was? I can't see anything in an official source which says anything like this.

I, too, am not aware of any official document regarding failure to take a reserved seat immediately upon departure but my recollection is that the onboard staff commenting here (I can't remember how long ago) said they operated on the basis that if the seat was not claimed it was open for anyone to use.

Just to check, do you feel that the rail industry is partly responsible for this decision?

Knowing how busy the trains to Stockport (Manchester) can be at that time, the traveller simply wished to book a through ticket from Dore to their destination with a seat reservation on, at least, the first leg. They were unable to do so for reasons which, seemingly, are down to 'the railway'.

Killingworth said:
Perhaps because the TPE 8.05 to Sheffield arriving 8.10 connects into the 8.18 XC towards Reading, arrive New Street 9.27 to catch 9.50 for Hereford arriving 11.16 may be a better routing.

I offer no opinion on that. Would cost £64.10 but if possible I'd consider waiting until Northern's 9.59 and use the same route for only £32.10 and arrive 13.15.

Thanks, but I assume their travel times are dictated by their business schedule.

Killingworth · 26 Jan 2020

sheff1 said:
Thanks, but I assume their travel times are dictated by their business schedule.

However, in my subsequent post I added a link to the result of a National Rail search via Stockport to be able to book exactly what was required, including booked seats. Curiously with TPE although the train to be taken is East Midlands. Probably because TPE set fares on that route.

Can't book Dore & Totley to Hereford on 0739 departure

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