221129
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With that attitude, you would likely be removed fairly quickly.
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Travelling on Crosscountry?
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And who would be doing the removing? XC staff? I doubt that very much. BTP? Sure, but in my experience they’ll take hours to turn up.
I was unable to book a walk up ticket between Birmingham and Derby recently, but after a couple of days Advance fares became available!
I think there could be basis or a legal case; there is potentially evidence that XC could be abusing a dominant market position.
I think the DfT could be pushed a bit further for clarification and justification.
Are XC enforcing reservations on their shorter distance runs, or just the long distance trains?
It does indeed look that way. What I've seen is very damning, with XC saying trains are "sold out" of walk-up fares, only for more Advance fares to be subsequently released.
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I had no problem going from Southampton to Bournemouth. Bought my ticket from TVM and simply got on train.
Haywain
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That does not back up the claim that was, and is, being made about the socially distanced capacity not being made available. There may well be issues about how XC are managing their capacity but that is not the same thing.
Fairs but it certainly hasn't been enforced on any of my journeys (not on LNER either although I think generally most people had a reservation anyway).
I was at Taunton yesterday when a double Voyager failed as it's emergency brake kept coming on.
We all eventually detrained and joined the preceding XC HST (to Edinburgh) and there was clearly no restrictions as we all rammed on, luggage and bikes too.
An aside, I had a rover ticket. Can you ask for a seat reservation with a rover ticket?
We all eventually detrained and joined the preceding XC HST (to Edinburgh) and there was clearly no restrictions as we all rammed on, luggage and bikes too.
An aside, I had a rover ticket. Can you ask for a seat reservation with a rover ticket?
You can indeed. A ticket office can sort one for you.
No seat reservation checks on 1V44 this morning - no need either since it's near empty. Makes me wonder whether "no seats available" on a through ticket was down to popularity that has suddenly waned or whether XC thought that issuing a tiny handful was in their own best interests.
father_jack
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Bumping this up, this evening I am on the 1753 Derby to Bristol TM. 9 car (5 plus 4 voyager) via Lichfield and Aston for the cranks in the audience. 2nd carriage from the front and only me and one other in the carriage. No "counted places" available on the reservation system so assume if you try to buy any ticket online your booking will fail.
Looking at Birmingham to Bristol, places are available (fares are £31 on XC or £24.63 on Trainsplit), so it's not "full" from Birmingham. I can't see the status until Birmingham though.
XC Guards have been asking people to leave two empty rows and use window seats only, so that would be only 1/6th capacity. Absolute madness.
Haywain
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Agreed, this is ridiculous. I understand that LNER are moving to using every window seat other than at tables where it will be one window seat and one aisle seat. Why other operators are not taking a similar approach I don’t know.
185143
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py_megapixel
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Bloody hell... how many social distancing stickers to you need?...?!?!?
This is a disgraceful waste of taxpayers money, in my opinion.
I've just come back from Switzerland. If it was up to me, I'd force all of XC's managers to go to Switzerland, show them how to run a railway and tell them to get on and do a decent job.
Of course, in reality, the DfT will think XC are doing a great job of deterring passengers from travelling by rail.
I worked out it's at least 100 per coach, which means for a 9 coach (5+4) Voyager you're probably looking at about 1000 signs once you count those in the vestibules too. I'm sure all those signs make it totally safe. Not. An insane over reaction on the part of XC.
ashkeba
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Printouts to help out? It's not only restaurants that need bailouts.
ashkeba
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Nothing would surprise me any more.Are you suggesting it's an elaborate scheme to support struggling print shops?
Did Birmingham-Derby yesterday lunchtime and Derby-Birmingham in “rush hour”. First one was a 3-car Turbostar, other was 4+5 Voyager. Had tried to buy tickets and reserve the day before but everything was “sold out” for any useful times, unless I wanted to go a couple of hours early and pay £85 for first class.
Leaving Birmingham the 170 had probably less than 30 passengers aboard, from what I could make out from the platform.
On the return, Derby station was a complete ghost town, there were maybe 10-15 people on the platform. I boarded the second coach from the front (front was first class) and there were two other people in it. At rush hour on a Friday evening.
The journey was actually Sutton Coldfield - Birmingham - Derby - Chesterfield and return; at no point during any of those legs was there a single ticket check, and the only staff members encountered were cleaners on the trains (except for the Voyager TM doing a headcount), although station barriers were operational at Birmingham and Derby.
Claiming these trains were “sold out” is outrageous.
There were, however, no over-enthusiastic announcements about leaving two seat rows, only using window seats and so on. The only one was the request to wear face masks.
Leaving Birmingham the 170 had probably less than 30 passengers aboard, from what I could make out from the platform.
On the return, Derby station was a complete ghost town, there were maybe 10-15 people on the platform. I boarded the second coach from the front (front was first class) and there were two other people in it. At rush hour on a Friday evening.
The journey was actually Sutton Coldfield - Birmingham - Derby - Chesterfield and return; at no point during any of those legs was there a single ticket check, and the only staff members encountered were cleaners on the trains (except for the Voyager TM doing a headcount), although station barriers were operational at Birmingham and Derby.
Claiming these trains were “sold out” is outrageous.
There were, however, no over-enthusiastic announcements about leaving two seat rows, only using window seats and so on. The only one was the request to wear face masks.
221129
Established Member
Any TOC website will have the same problem for any booked tickets on XC
It's nothing to do with technological ability. It would be simple enough to have as complicated an interface on a ticket machine as you like, or not.
The difficulty is a real world one, designing an interface which works for the highest number of people and confuses the least.
A machine which presented two options labelled "ticket search" and "journey search" would baffle most people.
43074
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It also leads to the farce where a 7 car HST rolls into Sheffield, which stops at Derby but with "no seats available" (i.e. plenty as I watched it depart Sheffield!), which then pushes people onto the 5 car 222 behind which also stops at Chesterfield so is even busier. Same between Sheffield and Leeds with Northern services.
A very questionable strategy which above all else must be losing them a significant amount of what little ticket revenue (compared to normal) is being generated at the moment.
Not really, as the revenue for any TOC permitted tickets will be distributed according to the existing formulae. Nobody knows which train passengers actually use.
Or that'd at least be the case in normal times. At the moment the people concerned with revenue are the Government. And them not as much as you'd think they should be...
Doctor Fegg
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and stay there. Then give the franchise to someone who isn't Arriva.
If you have money to burn, feel free
But if you use Trainsplit, you do not need to worry about the "options" as the website does it for you.
If you select e-ticket, you will get one PDF containing all the e-tickets, so it's no more onerous than a through ticket.
You will also only need to pay for 1st class for the sections of the journey that have "sold out" in standard, for example the 1123 is £63.82 on Trainsplit, or £125.20 on XC/HT. That's a big difference (see screenshot)
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Sniffingmoose
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Its grim for those like me who live in Burton on Trent who only have no choice but to use Crosscountry. I have not used the train since the start of lockdown. Crosscountry have put me off travelling. My neighbour works in Birmingham and is working from home each day at the moment but she will have to go back into the office next week, She has asked me what should I do as she is struggling to make a reservation? To commute 5 days a week thats 10 reservations a week. What a hassle. Do the department of transport realise that Crosscountry is not just a long distance operator but a commuter railway as well. I suggested that she could drive 11 miles to Lichfield and you will have no problems on Westmidlands Trains from Lichfield or just try the train on the day as other posters have suggested. Whats the situation if you buy a seson ticket and find you cannot use the train as there are no reservations left This cant go on surely.
ForTheLoveOf
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You don't need a reservation, end of.
There's no way in hell I'd waste my time getting 10 reservations a week to get something that doesn't even guarantee a specific seat.
XC have done a very good job at alienating customers but it doesn't take much to see through their ludicrous bluff and bluster.
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