Abellio Scotrail - 1 year on

[Altnabreac]

Think this whole area is getting way off topic, especially now we've established hardly any of it has been done by Abellio.

 

[route101]

With regards to Plusbus ive never seen it on a TVM to add to your ticket which would be helpful

 

[me123]

Welcome to Abellio aka Ryanair ....latest wheeze on my last two journeys they have started flogging Plusbus over the tannoy as we approach Edinburgh.

Sounds like a good idea to me. It's a product that I've always struggled to purchase in Scotland, and it is a great product that encourages use of public transport. Abellio's endeavour to advertise this is very much welcome. I'm sure you'll know of its existence, but it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people on your train had never heard of it.

 

[HH]

Have you any evidence to substantiate that ?

Not that I can make public.

 

[WatcherZero]

Apparently their steam services are in serious trouble.
Their franchise requirement was to trial steam on at least four lines for two years.

They are currently only operating it on two lines after recieving dispensation and are really struggling to sell tickets. Supposedly the premium £150 tickets which include a meal in dining car are selling quite well however the standard tickets they are failing to sell even after heavy discounting.

 

[FordFocus]

Do you mean there are errors within the breakdown or do you still get paper payslips? It's been about 16 years since my firm went electronic...

My TOC want to do it but it was kindly pointed out that the only grade that doesn't have access to the intranet and payslips are drivers. We asked for logins and more computers but the company 'lack of the resources currently needed'...

So that was that.

(sorry just seen that date of your posting)

 

[pemma]

Apparently their steam services are in serious trouble.
Their franchise requirement was to trial steam on at least four lines for two years.

They are currently only operating it on two lines after recieving dispensation and are really struggling to sell tickets. Supposedly the premium £150 tickets which include a meal in dining car are selling quite well however the standard tickets they are failing to sell even after heavy discounting.

I wouldn't be surprised if holiday/travel companies are buying the premium tickets and offering them as part of a Scotland holiday package - I can see them being popular especially with American tourists. Whereas the ordinary tickets are pricey compared to steam railways elsewhere so parents wanting to take their kids on a steam train will look for another option.

 

[Butts]

Club 50 is continuing as I have had a reminder to pay £15 for a renewal, it was free last year at it's inception

Will probably sign up as often it is cheaper for me to use Club 50 day Returns to get to work than a weekly season depending on my shifts.

Also they are offering a £1 return anywhere in Scotland - Thurso anyone ?

Wish they would give a discount off normal fares as well as off peak.

 

[47271]

Just on steam, I posted this on the Borders thread earlier this week:

'I was passing through Waverley on Sunday just before 5pm and chanced upon Royal Scot with one of the Scotrail Borders steam trips. It looked fantastic as it departed, albeit with a 67 bringing up the rear, but I was struck by how unevenly loaded the train was.

'There seemed to be plenty of demand for First Class dining (£130 each return) but Standard was virtually empty at £55. It looks like they've badly overpriced it, and I have to say I would think twice about shelling out £110 for us to spend the early evening in Galashiels.'

Interesting that they're supposed to be discounting, there's certainly no hint of that on their website. If that message had reached me then we might have made the trip to Tweedbank on Sunday.

 

[ld0595]

I also think a problem with the steam services is the lack of advertising. I for one haven't seen much other than the occasional billboard at a station so I can imagine many people aren't aware of it.

 

[WatcherZero]

Interesting that they're supposed to be discounting, there's certainly no hint of that on their website. If that message had reached me then we might have made the trip to Tweedbank on Sunday.

Its suggested they are passing the tickets on to 3rd party discounting websites to sell rather than selling them directly themselves.

 

[47271]

Hmm, so no marketing to speak of other than what they can do for free, and an over reliance on discount channels. They're obviously putting no money behind it.

I get emails off them occasionally and I'm definitely signed up to their marketing, you'd imagine that existing customer contacts would've been reached out to at least, that wouldn't have cost them much?

 

[WatcherZero]

Trying to access a different demographic, selling discounted tickets directly could devalue them in the eyes of the punters and reduce revenue by an expectation of a lower price.

A good example is supermarket own brands. Many are made by the same manufacturers and to the same recipe as branded stuff but its not exactly in their best interest to advertise that fact as you would then only buy the own brands in future.

 

[47271]

Trying to access a different demographic, selling discounted tickets directly could devalue them in the eyes of the punters and reduce revenue by an expectation of a lower price.

A good example is supermarket own brands. Many are made by the same manufacturers and to the same recipe as branded stuff but its not exactly in their best interest to advertise that fact as you would then only buy the own brands in future.

Regardless, the train was empty and I wasn't even promoted full price.

 

[Chris125]

They seemed to sell really well last year, did they assume it would sell as well this time around and not put the effort in?

 

[47271]

Looks like they had a bit of bother last year as well...

This year, you can get Borders on Sunday 5 September via the Scottish discount channel mentioned in the article for £35 - that's probably getting closer to what I'd pay - if anyone's interested.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/fares-slashed-on-scotrail-s-first-locomotive-trips-1-3807675


A PLANNED Scottish steam renaissance featuring special tourist trains to showcase the country’s dramatic scenery has got off to a faltering start with tickets being sold at half price to fill seats.

The revelation comes amid concern within the rail industry at ScotRail’s lack of promotion for the trips, which start today with the “Highland Rambler” between Stirling and Inverness.

The first steam excursions by Scotland’s main rail operator for 30 years ago will also go to Brora and Carlisle over the next week.

A separate set of steam trips will run on the Borders Railway from September, for which tickets have yet to go on sale.

The excursions are part of new ScotRail operator Abellio’s plans to encourage more visitors to travel by rail.

These include marketing rural lines as “Great Scenic Rail Journeys” and upgrading carriages to become “scenic trains”, with seats aligned with windows and local catering and information.

Jeff Hoogesteger, the then Abellio Group chief executive, told The Scotsman last October: “We are aware the opportunity to experience rail travel by steam train is popular with people in Scotland and with tourists.

“With effective marketing, we believe the steam train experience will increase visitor opportunities.”

Tickets for the trips have been on sale on the ScotRail website since Abellio took over in April at £114 for first class and £59 for standard class. However, this week, seats have been offered on the discount website Itison for £55 and £29 respectively.

The trains will be hauled by Tornado, a locomotive built in 2008 based on the A1 class engines which ran on the east coast main line in the 1940s.

It has made several trips to Scotland, including racing a car between London and Edinburgh on BBC2’s Top Gear.

Passengers will travel in former British Rail carriages from the 1960s, operated by Bo’ness-based Scottish Railway Preservation Society Railtours.

One industry source told The Scotsman: “ScotRail has not done much to promote the trips and they had not sold as many tickets as they had hoped.

“They don’t have the experience – it’s not the sort of thing they have run.”

He also said the Borders trips would have been better run in July or August to coincide with the Edinburgh Festival, but the line will not be ready until September.

Another rail expert said that, despite the popular appeal of steam trains, ScotRail needed to have done more to publicise the trips. He said: “Most current steam trips in Scotland are tours from England, so they are effectively trying to establish a new market.”

It is understood that ScotRail had been reluctant to actively promote the journeys until it completed negotiations with their new operator.

This came after it axed original operator West Coast Railways when the firm was temporarily banned from the rail network for running through a red light on to a main line in England.

ScotRail said it began promoting the journeys as soon as a deal was struck with new operator DBS Rail UK.

Head of marketing Nesta Gilliland said: “Ticket sales are healthy, particularly for the weekend, which are almost sold out.

“We’ve been working with VisitScotland and, thanks to a promotional offer with Itison, we are delighted to confirm we will be donating all income from this channel to Breast Cancer Care.

“In common with airlines and other transport operators, we see ticket promotions as an ideal way of encouraging leisure and off peak travel.”

 

[387star]

Their ex london midland 321s now 320/4 look good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un3z6lQzcDc

forget why they removed coaches... I know the existing fleet is 3-cars so presumably sdo wasn't an option

where are the removed coaches being stored or are they going for scrap?

 

[Carntyne]

Their ex london midland 321s now 320/4 look good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un3z6lQzcDc

forget why they removed coaches... I know the existing fleet is 3-cars so presumably sdo wasn't an option

where are the removed coaches being stored or are they going for scrap?

So they can run in multiple with the existing 318/320 on their routes. more 6 car trains!

They're being stored in doncaster I think.

 

[NotATrainspott]

With the number of Class 321s going off-lease I don't see there ever being a need for those seven carriages. Even in the most optimistic prediction there will be some Mk3 EMUs left unused so there's no chance that the extra carriages will ever be used.