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Buying an All Line Rover - clerk can't find it...

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Bungle965

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There are multiple ticket issuing systems in place, all with different ways of bringing up those tickets.
I think this is part of the problem, numerous different TIS's to learn, a booking clerk at Avanti/Virgin over the years will have had to learn numerous different ways to issue tickets.
From my recollection Tribute, Shere Smart, Avocet and now moving onto PICO imminently all with their own set of peculiarities for staff to learn and remember.
 
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ForTheLoveOf

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I think this is part of the problem, numerous different TIS's to learn, a booking clerk at Avanti/Virgin over the years will have had to learn numerous different ways to issue tickets.
From my recollection Tribute, Shere Smart, Avocet and now moving onto PICO imminently all with their own set of peculiarities for staff to learn and remember.
Oh dear, and I thought Avocet was supposed to be the bees' knees, the solution for the next 15 years or whatever, when it was introduced towards the end of VTWC's tenure in summer '18... Load of corporate BS as usual then!
 

ForTheLoveOf

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There are multiple ticket issuing systems in place, all with different ways of bringing up those tickets.
Or, in layman's terms, because the industry can't be arsed to club together to ensure some sort of universal standard for ticket retailing.
 

Bungle965

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Oh dear, and I thought Avocet was supposed to be the bees' knees, the solution for the next 15 years or whatever, when it was introduced towards the end of VTWC's tenure in summer '18... Load of corporate BS as usual then!
Good grief I would never describe Avocet as the bees' knees in any stretch of the imagination! However for Virgin it was the "Create Amazing" "With Heart" Ticket issuing system of choice, until they lost the franchise and First/Trenitalia decided they wanted a different one.
 

ForTheLoveOf

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Good grief I would never describe Avocet as the bees' knees in any stretch of the imagination! However for Virgin it was the "Create Amazing" "With Heart" Ticket issuing system of choice, until they lost the franchise and First/Trenitalia decided they wanted a different one.
Haha, you can say that again. It was a steaming pile of excrement right from the start and I still have difficulties getting lots of kinds of tickets from Avanti ticket offices, due to being encumbranced by it.
 

philthetube

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All Rovers,Rangers are (I think) listed on the National Rail journey planner, is there any reason why, on the purchasing link there could not be what to ask for instructions, then available to both staff and travellers.
There are multiple ticket issuing systems in place, all with different ways of bringing up those tickets.
I am aware, however to have something available to the public, which they could show to office staff having problems would solve many issues, certainly would have for me on a couple of occasions.
 

RJ

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It could cause more problems than it would solve.

It relies on the reader having the comprehension and interpretation skills to understand the instructions. And a lot of staff will not take any notice of what's on a random bit of paper shown by a member of the public.
 

David Goddard

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I've bought a Centro (now n-network) day ticket from out of area a couple of times (once at Ely and once at Reading) and on both occasions the clerk was more than grateful when I first asked for the ticket, then when they paused for thought I quoted the code- C1D.
Also managed to buy a Strathclyde Roundabout ticket from a Virgin Trains conductor with no issues (cant remember if I had the code or if he was able to find it on the terminal by just the name though)
 

Bletchleyite

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Not everybody sees the world through the same lenses. Some people won't think to look for such a menu and won't be able figure out how to do it unless it is explained to them and they remember. We do what we can to help each other out.

I wonder has anyone ever successfully purchased one from a Merseyrail ticket office? :D

The wording here is interesting:

" Not valid for boarding or alighting train services operated by CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, Virgin Trains East Coast,or Virgin Trains after 04:29 and before 10:00 at the following stations "

Clearly valid on East Midlands Railway, Avanti and LNER at any time then :D :D :D
 

Bletchleyite

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I am aware, however to have something available to the public, which they could show to office staff having problems would solve many issues, certainly would have for me on a couple of occasions.

It'd be better that you could simply purchase Rovers online. It wouldn't be via a normal ticketing system, just a simple "shopping basket" type website and fulfilled by post (or indeed e-ticket, if viable). TBH, you could even make them available online or via a call centre only (a contract to say Trainline or one of the others) - they are so niche that there isn't really a great need for ticket offices to sell them if it causes more trouble than it's worth. Though it'd probably be quite easy for a ticket office to use the same website to sell one, and it could tell them how to actually issue it.
 

David Goddard

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Better to be available from ticket offices and online. Can't see how selling Rovers causes ticket offices trouble, as many manage to do it without any issue.
With all of this push for online purchasing, smart ticketing etc there is a serious risk of reducing the demand for ticket offices to a point that TOCs start to look at closures again. We therefore need to make sure that the ticket offices can get as much business as they can.
 

Wallsendmag

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Oh dear, and I thought Avocet was supposed to be the bees' knees, the solution for the next 15 years or whatever, when it was introduced towards the end of VTWC's tenure in summer '18... Load of corporate BS as usual then!
During our TIS replacement procedure we had demos of both Pico4UK and Avocet. Two very different products , we use Avocet for our onboard TIS but it didn't tick enough boxes to be our Travel Centre TIS. Pic4UK looked impressive but there was a major hurdle that meant we couldn't choose it.
 

Bletchleyite

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@Bletchleyite could you shout about that "loophole" any louder? Might want to think about editing that message!

I did consider that but it is glaringly obvious what is meant by it and the electronic restrictions are probably correct, so I think anyone suggesting they could use that are out of their mind. However, if you feel it appropriate hit the report button and let the mods decide, as they are more of an expert in whether someone would actually get away with something so obviously taking the mick than I am.
 

Wallsendmag

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I wonder has anyone ever successfully purchased one from a Merseyrail ticket office? :D

The wording here is interesting:

" Not valid for boarding or alighting train services operated by CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, Virgin Trains East Coast,or Virgin Trains after 04:29 and before 10:00 at the following stations "

Clearly valid on East Midlands Railway, Avanti and LNER at any time then :D :D :D
I'll pass that on thanks.;)
 

ForTheLoveOf

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I did consider that but it is glaringly obvious what is meant by it and the electronic restrictions are probably correct, so I think anyone suggesting they could use that are out of their mind. However, if you feel it appropriate hit the report button and let the mods decide, as they are more of an expert in whether someone would actually get away with something so obviously taking the mick than I am.
It's not really a question of taking the Mick (except if you are arguing that EMT doesn't include EMR). How is someone unfamiliar with the railways supposed to know that VTWC and VTEC actually refers to their successor TOCs, which go by completely different names?
 

MotCO

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There are multiple ticket issuing systems in place, all with different ways of bringing up those tickets.

Isn't that the nub of the problem? Why do you need multiple systems? Is it for resilience in case one supplier goes bust? Can a national organisation (is it RDG?) devise a new system which all TOCs could buy into over the next few years, i.e. when a TOC's system needs replacing, they opt in to the national system.

There was a similar issue in the NHS. The idea was that all hospital health records should be accessible anywhere in the country. They commissioned four companies to provide four different systems (none of which worked!). My simple solution would be to devise a standard hospital Patient Administration System which all hospitals had to adopt once their existing system were time-expired. Thus over 5 - 10 years, all hospitals would be using the same system which would mean that records could easily be shared. Alas, it was probably to simple a solution. :lol::lol:
 

RJ

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@Bletchleyite could you shout about that "loophole" any louder? Might want to think about editing that message!

In my experience the ALR AM peak restrictions were not known about/enforced so it makes little difference!

Similarly I used East Midlands Flexi Rovers very regularly in my Loughborough commuting days and was never challenged for showing it at the barriers at St Pancras or on fast London - Leicester services without any supporting tickets!
 

bearhugger

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I've attached a pdf of Rover Codes. I can't remember off-hand where exactly I got the information from but it could be ueful to print off / store on phone to use at a ticket office.
 

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Mag_seven

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I'm guessing maybe they have Priv (75%) discount applied, judging by how cheap they are.

Looks like it and I suspect it is not up to date either as the PRIV prices shown in this recent post by @RJ are higher:

I've extracted the rail rover data for this year from the NFM35 (current fares round) data supplied by the Rail Delivery Group at http://data.atoc.org/data-download . This is filtered to only show the Priv railcard discounted prices as this information isn't that easy to find and I've included the child fares this time.

Code:
Rover Code    Description                       NLC     Location            Railcard    Class Rest    Adult Fare    Child Fare
14R           ALL LINE ROVER 14DAY              I662    FRM OF BRIT.14DY    PRV         2     AL         £204.50        £98.15
14R           ALL LINE ROVER 14DAY              I662    FRM OF BRIT.14DY    PRV         1     AL         £312.50       £150.00
R07           ALL LINE ROVER 7DAY               I661    FRM OF BRIT 7DY     PRV         2     AL         £135.00        £64.80
R07           ALL LINE ROVER 7DAY               I661    FRM OF BRIT 7DY     PRV         1     AL         £204.50        £98.15
AP3           ANGLIA PLUS 3 DAYS IN 7           K285    ANGLIA PLUS         PRV         2     B4          £12.35         £4.00
AP1           ANGLIA PLUS DAY RANGER            K285    ANGLIA PLUS         PRV         2     B4           £6.20         £2.00
BV1           BITTERN ONE DAY RANGER            I013    BITTERN ROVER       PRV         2     B6           £2.90         £1.45
CCD           CAMBRIAN COASTER DAY RANGER       I395    EXPLORE CAMBRIAN    PRV         2     B1           £3.70         £1.80
FF7           CENTRAL SCOTLAND ROVER            J450    CENTRALSCOTROVER    PRV         2     8F          £13.75         £6.90
CVP           CHERWELL DIDCOT DAY RANGER        I078    CHERWLL BAN-DIDT    PRV         2                                 
CVO           CHERWELL OXFORD DAY RANGER        I079    CHERWLL BAN-OXFD    PRV         2                                 
CVR           CHERWELL READING DAY RANGER       I080    CHERWLL BAN-RDNG    PRV         2                                 
CED           CHESHIRE DAY RGR                  I351    CHESHIRE DAY RGR    PRV         2     B3           £6.30         £3.00
CRD           CORNWALL RANGER                   J118    RIDECORNWALL        PRV         2     B3           £3.30         £1.65
CE1           COTSWOLDS 1DAY                    I257    COTSWOLD 1-DAY      PRV         2     CE           £2.60         £1.30
C48           CST PKS 4IN8 RVR                  I113    CST PKS 4-8 RVR     PRV         2     B3          £20.45         £9.80
CAM           CUMBRIA DAY RANGER                I021    CUMBRIA DAY RGR     PRV         2     A1          £11.80         £5.65
CRR           CUMBRIA RNDN RBN                  I365    CUMBRIA RND RBN     PRV         2     A1           £8.20         £3.95
CUC           CUMBRIAN COAST DAY RANGER         I366    CUMBRIAN CST RGR    PRV         2     A1           £5.35         £2.55
DER           DEVON EVENING RANGER              I384    DEVON EVNING RGR    PRV         2     DO                          
TSA           DEVON RANGER                      I857    DEVON RANGER        PRV         2     B3           £3.40         £1.70
EY9           E YORKS R ROBIN                   I455    E YORKS R ROBIN     PRV         2     B3           £6.60         £3.15
EM1           EAST MIDLANDS DAY RANGER          I165    EAST MIDS DAYRGR    PRV         2     B3          £10.00         £4.90
E37           EAST MIDLANDS ROVER 3 DAYSIN 7    I115    E MIDS FLEX RVR     PRV         2     B3          £22.80        £10.90
EM7           EAST MIDLANDS ROVER 7 DAYS        I775    E MIDLANDS 7 DAY    PRV         2     B3          £29.70        £14.20
VDR           EXPLORE CARDIFF & VALLEYS         I494    EXPLORE CDF VL      PRV         2     B1           £3.70         £1.80
W37           EXPLORE NORTH WALES               H515    NMIDWALES 4IN8      PRV         2     B1          £17.25         £8.30
SW3           EXPLORE SOUTH WALES               H746    SOUTH WALES 4IN8    PRV         2     B1          £17.25         £8.30
ECC           EXPLORE THE CAPITAL               I512    EXPLORE CDF CAP     PRV         2     AW           £1.15         £0.50
SW4           EXPLORE WALES                     H743    WALES PASS 4IN8     PRV         2     B1          £24.75        £11.90
D07           FODC ROVER 3 IN 7                 I650    FODC ROVER 3IN7     PRV         2     B3          £13.50         £6.75
D37           FODC ROVER 8 IN 15 DAYS           I659    FODC ROVER8IN15     PRV         2     B3          £21.80        £10.90
S37           FOSS ROVER 3 IN 7 DAYS            I863    FOSS ROVER 3 IN7    PRV         2     B3          £16.30         £8.15
WR7           FOSS ROVER 8IN 15 DAYS            I862    FOSS ROVER 8IN15    PRV         2     B3          £21.80        £10.80
TSR           FOSW ROVER 3 IN 7 DAYS            I855    FOSW ROVER 3IN7     PRV         2     B3          £27.30        £13.65
SW7           FOSW ROVER 8 IN 15 DAYS           I621    FOSW ROVER 8IN15    PRV         2     B3          £38.10        £19.05
GWE           GREAT WEST WAY EAST 1 DAY         I544    GWE                 PRV         2     W1          £62.10        £31.05
GE7           GREAT WEST WAY EAST 7 DAY         I544    GWE                 PRV         2     W1         £143.10        £71.55
GG7           GREAT WEST WAY GLOBAL 7 DAY       I559    GG7                 PRV         2     W1         £215.10       £107.55
GWW           GREAT WEST WAY WEST 1 DAY         I539    GWW                 PRV         2     GW          £21.60        £10.80
GW7           GREAT WEST WAY WEST 7 DAY         I539    GWW                 PRV         2     W1          £62.10        £31.05
TV1           HADRIANS WALL COUNTRY LINE        I299    HADRIANS W CNTRY    PRV         2     B3           £5.75         £2.75
HE7           HEART OF ENGLAND ROVER 7 DAYS     I664    HT OF ENGLAND 7D    PRV         2     B3          £30.00        £14.40
H37           HEART OF ENGLAND RVR 3DAYSIN7     I122    HT ENG RVR 3IN7     PRV         2     B3          £22.90        £11.00
TSV           HEART OF WESSEX RANGER            I858    HT OF WSX RANGER    PRV         2     YZ           £5.50         £2.75
WH8           HIGHLAND ROVER                    H263    HIGHLAND ROVER      PRV         2                 £23.75        £11.90
KDR           KENNET DAY RANGER                 I784    KENNET DAY RGR      PRV         2     B1           £3.40         £1.70
LDR           LANCASHIRE DAY RANGER             I065    LANCS DAY RANGER    PRV         2     B3           £6.30         £3.00
LD1           LINCOLNSHIRE DAY RANGER           I383    LINCS DAY RANGER    PRV         2     B3           £7.50         £3.60
NDD           NORTH DOWNS DAY RANGER            I358    NTH DOWNS DY RGR    PRV         2     B3           £4.50         £2.25
NE8           NORTH EAST 4 IN 8 DAY ROVER       I743    FONE FLEXI RVR      PRV         2     B3          £26.80        £12.85
NE7           NORTH EAST 7 DAY ROVER            I803    FONE 7 DAY RVR      PRV         2     B3          £30.80        £14.80
SR3           NORTH EAST ROUND ROBIN            I152    NORTH EAST RND R    PRV         2     B3          £13.20         £6.35
NER           NORTH ENGLAND 4 IN 8 DAY ROVER    I447    NTH ENGLAND RVR     PRV         2     I1          £19.75         £9.50
NES           NORTH OF ENG CITY EXP 4 IN 8      I524    NTH ENG CTY EXP     PRV         2     I1          £24.75        £12.20
NMW           NORTH WALES ALL ZONE              H522    N WALES ALL ZNER    PRV         2                  £9.50         £4.70
N37           NORTH WEST 4 IN 8 DAY ROVER       I120    FONW 4IN8DAY RVR    PRV         2     B3          £20.45         £9.80
NW7           NORTH WEST 7 DAY ROVER            I772    FONW 7 DAY RVR      PRV         2     B3          £24.40        £11.70
NWR           NORTH WEST ROUND ROBIN            I465    NTHWST RND ROBIN    PRV         2     B3          £10.45         £5.00
NC8           NORTHCOUNTRY ROVER 4 DAYS IN 8    I744    N CNTRY FLEXIRVR    PRV         2     B3          £25.50        £12.25
ODR           OXFORDSHIRE DAY RANGER            I432    OXFD DAY RGR        PRV         2     B1           £4.50         £2.25
SCU           SETTLE & CARLISLE LINE            I733    SETT-CARL RANGER    PRV         2     A1           £8.20         £3.95
SPD           SOUTH PENNINES DAY RANGER         I466    SOUTH PENNIES DR    PRV         2     B3           £6.30         £3.00
ST9           SPIRIT OF SCOTLAND 4FROM8         J176    SRT OF SCOT 4-8     PRV         2     A1          £37.25        £18.65
ST8           SPIRIT OF SCOTLAND 8DAYSIN15      J170    SRT OF SCOT 8-15    PRV         2                 £47.25        £23.65
SID           ST IVES LINE DAY                  I294    ST IVES LINE DAY    PRV         2     A1           £1.00         £0.45
TBR           THAMES BRANCHES DAY RANGER        I066    THAMES BRANCHES     PRV         2     O9           £5.50         £2.75
TR3           THAMES ROVER 3 DAYS               I367    THAMES ROVER        PRV         2     B1          £13.50         £6.75
TR7           THAMES ROVER 7 DAYS               I367    THAMES ROVER        PRV         2     B1          £24.40        £12.20
TTD           TYNE & TEES DAY RANGER            I875    TYNE & TEES         PRV         2     B3           £6.05         £2.90
WM1           WEST MIDLANDS DAY RANGER          I274    WEST MIDS DAYRGR    PRV         2     B3           £7.00         £3.40
WRR           WHERRY LINE RANGER                I437    WHERRYLINERANGER    PRV         2     B4           £2.90         £1.45

EDIT: looks like @Darandio just beat me to it.
 

David Goddard

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Useful listing, but does this only show those which there are PRIV fares for? Cant see any PTE based tickets on there for example
 

RJ

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I've attached a pdf of Rover Codes. I can't remember off-hand where exactly I got the information from but it could be ueful to print off / store on phone to use at a ticket office.

That looks like a copy and paste of the information I extracted from one of 2018's fares database for the benefit of Priv holders who don't have easy access to this information anywhere :)

There are a load of rovers and ranger missing that aren't available with Priv.
 

bearhugger

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The information on the pdf I posted was at least a year old, the main reaon I posted it was for the relevant codes to make finding rovers easier for retailers. I didnt realise that the prices were priv rates so apologies for that.
 

bearhugger

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That looks like a copy and paste of the information I extracted from one of 2019's fares database for the benefit of Priv holders who don't have easy access to this information anywhere :)

There are a load of rovers and ranger missing that aren't available with Priv.
Must have been your data I had used! i did have a quick search but couldn't find the post.
 

Barnsley

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I've attached a pdf of Rover Codes. I can't remember off-hand where exactly I got the information from but it could be ueful to print off / store on phone to use at a ticket office.
Cheers for that! Printed out and pinned in our office for the others!
 
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