Anytime Day Travelcard minimum fare with Network Railcard: £18.10 "at all times" - is this correct?

[alistairlees]

On the Network Railcard website it says

The minimum fare payable for Anytime Day Travelcards is £18.10 at all times.

This is in contrast to the general minimum fare paragraph where it says:

The minimum discounted adult fare payable is £13 on all journeys Monday to Friday. This adult minimum fare does not apply at weekends or on Public Holidays.

From this I thought that the Anytime Day Travelcard (ADT) minimum fare would be £18.10, even at weekends or on bank holidays. It seems not, though: a Potters Bar to Zones 1-6 Travelcard is normally £23.40, but is discounted with a Network Railcard on sites like Trainline or Southeastern to £15.45 at weekends. During the week the normal £23.40 / £18.10 with a Network Railcard at 10.00 or later applies.

Is the Network Railcard website wrong? Or is the data wrong? Or have I misunderstood this?

Thanks

 

[MichaelAMW]

It's irrelevant because at the weekend you would buy an off-peak travelcard, which would attract the full discount. On a weekday for that journey an off-peak TC would be at the £13 minimum fare and you are able to buy a discounted Anytime TC at the £18.10 minimum fare, even though you can't go in the morning peak, in case you want to return when there are evening restrictions back out of London, which there may or may not be, depending on the particular journey.

 

[alistairlees]

Yes, I know that I can buy an ODT. If you look carefully, that isn't the question I am asking. The question I am asking is: why does the data say one thing, while the Network Railcard website says another? Which one is right?

 

[Starmill]

The Network Railcard website is notorious for not being kept up to date, so I am disinclined to believe it if there is a contradiction. However, I suspect that you already know that, and I wonder if there isn't another piece to this puzzle.

 

[PeterC]

I don't see why an anytime travelcard is offered as an alternative to an off peak travelcard at weekends in the first place (Trainline offered me both for a Saturday journey). Are some trains from Potters Bar classified as peak on Saturdays or Sundays?

 

[bb21]

Travelcard minimum fares apply at all times, so the implementation is incorrect and the Railcard website is correct on this one.

TfL used to produce leaflets explaining minimum fare thresholds, but they stopped doing that a few years ago so the information is now hard to come by.

 

[alistairlees]

Travelcard minimum fares apply at all times, so the implementation is incorrect and the Railcard website is correct on this one.

TfL used to produce leaflets explaining minimum fare thresholds, but they stopped doing that a few years ago so the information is now hard to come by.

Thanks. I assume you mean ADT minimum fares apply at all times? So far as I know, ODT (and FTC?) minimum fares apply on weekdays only.

It may also be the case that implementation is correct; but that the data are wrong. I would certainly lean towards that interpretation given that every website I have looked at so far (including National Rail) behaves in that way.

 

[PeterC]

Thanks. I assume you mean ADT minimum fares apply at all times? So far as I know, ODT (and FTC?) minimum fares apply on weekdays only.

It may also be the case that implementation is correct; but that the data are wrong. I would certainly lean towards that interpretation given that every website I have looked at so far (including National Rail) behaves in that way.

For what trains do you need an anytime ticket at weekends?

Surely offering the ticket at all for weekend travel is the primary mistake.

 

[bb21]

Thanks. I assume you mean ADT minimum fares apply at all times? So far as I know, ODT (and FTC?) minimum fares apply on weekdays only.

It may also be the case that implementation is correct; but that the data are wrong. I would certainly lean towards that interpretation given that every website I have looked at so far (including National Rail) behaves in that way.

AIUI ODT minimum fares also apply at all times (or at least they were intended to be). It was at one stage aligned to the price of the Off-Peak 1-6 price although I haven't looked at what they are now.

I have never seen any mention of minimum fare on FTCs, etc, so cannot really say, but would imagine they are aligned to the minimum fare on ODTs(?).

 

[Haywain]

For what trains do you need an anytime ticket at weekends?

For those where an Off Peak fare is not available, which is widely the case for singles and sometimes the case for returns. Not for Travelcards though.

 

[PeterC]

For those where an Off Peak fare is not available, which is widely the case for singles and sometimes the case for returns. Not for Travelcards though.

So why are three different travelcard prices quoted? So far I haven't been able to find a Saturday service where any except the cheapest are required. To me this is a far bigger issue that giving a possibly over generous discount.

Yet another reason to just say s*d it and get the car out.

 

[Haywain]

Because Potters Bar also has a Super Off Peak Day Travelcard, valid only at weekends, and thus putting the Off Peak Day Travelcard in the same situation as the Anytime. In an ideal world neither ticket would be available at weekends so that the issue is simplified, but the fares data says otherwise.