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Are TOCs allowed to not issue certain types of tickets?

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Darandio

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Have you tried to buy one? I can go all the way to the checkout phase without being told i'm not allowed.
 

Darandio

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I'd just use their M-Pass and show the PDF on my phone. I appreciate some wouldn't want to do this.
 

ForTheLoveOf

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I've noticed that ScotRail have banned rover and ranger tickets because of covid which was sensible while the trains were for key workers only, now that Scotland is opened up for tourism and you can now travel for leisure are they still allowed to ban the sale of these types of tickets?

Source: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/combined-tickets-travel-passes/central-scotland-rover
They are not fares which they are obliged to sell under the TSA, and their franchise agreement likely doesn't force them to sell them either, so yes.

It's the same as with Advance fares. Back when the shift was first made from a primarily walk-up long-distance railway to a primarily book-ahead one, the public was assured that the operators had no commercial incentive to discontinue cheap Advance fares.

Well look what happens when the doo-doo hits the fan. Surprise surprise, the cheap and flexible fares suddenly disappear from under your feet like quicksand.
 

Darandio

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Having a quick look through their feed at other queries it seems the information isn't consistent. Here is one example with a query from last week about a Central Scotland Rover:

Can you buy this at stations?

You can indeed. It's worth noting any ticket that has a ferry option such as highland rover etc. is currently not available to buy, we await feedback from ferry operators before we can sell these again. ^Ste
 

Darandio

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I see you actually now have the correct answer @Mathieu which is that it is available. They really don't help themselves though.
 

Brissle Girl

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They are not fares which they are obliged to sell under the TSA, and their franchise agreement likely doesn't force them to sell them either, so yes.

It's the same as with Advance fares. Back when the shift was first made from a primarily walk-up long-distance railway to a primarily book-ahead one, the public was assured that the operators had no commercial incentive to discontinue cheap Advance fares.

Well look what happens when the doo-doo hits the fan. Surprise surprise, the cheap and flexible fares suddenly disappear from under your feet like quicksand.
I don't think you can regard the situation we've been in as an example of how TOCs have reneged on any previous promises. I'd argue that since advance fares are primarily there to encourage discretionary travel, and to use them to manage capacity by limiting them on busier trains, there was actually a very strong rationale for withdrawing them (if that is what happened). Besides, if it did happen it would have been at the directive of the DfT (or equivalent devolved bodies), rather than the TOCs making commercial decisions. So a great conspiracy theory, but it doesn't stand up I'm afraid.
 

district

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I tried to sell the Spirit of Scotland 4 in 8 on my STAR, the option is still there but the fares (adult/child with/without railcards) have all gone :(
 

Ianigsy

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The Central Scotland rover doesn't include any ferries though- I'm sure I read elsewhere that it was CalMac who'd asked for this as they were quite strict in ensuring that only island residents and delivery vehicles were allowed to travel.
 

fishquinn

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I tried to sell the Spirit of Scotland 4 in 8 on my STAR, the option is still there but the fares (adult/child with/without railcards) have all gone :(
I'm guessing there's no way to manually enter a price into systems like that?
 

Dak31

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I've noticed that ScotRail have banned rover and ranger tickets because of covid which was sensible while the trains were for key workers only, now that Scotland is opened up for tourism and you can now travel for leisure are they still allowed to ban the sale of these types of tickets?

Source: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/combined-tickets-travel-passes/central-scotland-rover


Are you sure about that "open for tourism"as it applies to the railway. Just been up to Scotland and Scotrail were very much pushing the trains for essential journeys and keyworkers only line.

Indeed their website still leads with "ScotRail is playing a critical role during the Coronavirus crisis to provide transport for those who absolutely have to travel". It's supposed to change again in early August.
 

HamworthyGoods

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I've noticed that ScotRail have banned rover and ranger tickets because of covid which was sensible while the trains were for key workers only, now that Scotland is opened up for tourism and you can now travel for leisure are they still allowed to ban the sale of these types of tickets?

Source: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/combined-tickets-travel-passes/central-scotland-rover

They are under no obligation to sell these tickets, in fact they could permanently withdraw the rover tickets if they so desired (unlikely), they aren’t a contracted product.
 

Jonny

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The issue is that Scotrail falls under the auspices of the Scottish Assembly and Government rather than the main franchise system, so the final decision may have come from somewhere in there.
 

district

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I'm guessing there's no way to manually enter a price into systems like that?
Theres a manual fares function but I don’t believe you can do rovers and rangers with this function. It also wouldn’t print the date box coupon either. It’s a shame as I was researching it for me!
 
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