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Cannot buy a ticket to Bradford Interchange on theTrainline

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DevonTraveller

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I recently travelled from Newton Abbot to Bradford Yorkshire.
I have done this many times before and have been able to buy a return ticket on theTrainline.com.

I have to use trainline as my company has an account with them.

When I tried this last week I was only offered an overnight journey.
I checked on National Rail enquiries and there are CrossCountry trains every hour from Newton Abbot to Leeds, with a northern rail service to Bradford Interchange. I had thought that Interchange was closed, but people I spoke to in Bradford said it was open.

Last week I spoke to trainline enquiries who were unable to give an explanation. They don't offer an email contact, so I can't get an explanation that way.

I ended up buying a return to Leeds and 2 singles to Bradford Interchange, which I found were tickets to Bradford Yorks Stations. The route given was Leeds - Bradford Forster Square - Walk!

I have booked again today by getting a return Newton Abbot to Bradford Forster Square, which is the same price as Newton Abbot to Leeds - so the 2 singles I bought were not necessary.

Can anyone explain why I don't get a route on regular trains if my destination is Bradford Interchange, but I can if I enter Forster Square?
 
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island

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The normal advice we give in these circumstances is not to use thetrainline, but if you have to, then I am somewhat confused. Have you tried searching your desired itinerary on a WebTIS-powered site such as Southern or East Coast?
 

142094

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Just had a look on thetrainline.com and it is doing the same for me - only showing one journey to Bradford Interchange, which is the overnight one you have stated. I've also searched for Newton Abbot - Bradford Stations and it will only show journeys to Forster Square.

Nothing immediately springs to mind, apart from a problem with the website or the booking engine.
 

34D

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Could someone try (I am on my phone at present) adding a via point of perhaps Rockdale, to see whether the route into Interchange is given?

I have booked again today by getting a return Newton Abbot to Bradford Forster Square, which is the same price as Newton Abbot to Leeds - so the 2 singles I bought were not necessary.

Just to clarify that a ticket that names Bradford IS necessary (either the singles, or a zero excess).
 

142094

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For reference eastcoast.co.uk is showing all journeys to Bradford Interchange. I'll have a check via Rochdale on thetrainline.

EDIT: it is showing the journeys via Rochdale but they are around 2+ hours longer than the direct train to Leeds and a change from there to Bradford.
 

calc7

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Assuming you're buying a return then the ticket will be to Bradford Yorks Stns and so can be used on either route from Leeds?
 

bb21

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Assuming you're buying a return then the ticket will be to Bradford Yorks Stns and so can be used on either route from Leeds?

Correct.

If it were me, I will just buy a ticket to Bradford F Square, as the ticket will be printed "Bradford Yorks".
 

IanD

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Comes up the same via Bramley - 1 overnight journey.

Just looked to see what it would offer for a journey from London to BDI with Grand Central that I have just booked on RSH for £13.55 (YP) on Saturday 01/08.

Suggests getting the GC London-BDI service as far as Doncaster then changing and changing again at Leeds to arrive BDI 5 minutes after the GC train you alighted from at Doncaster! And the fare? Not the £20.50 undiscounted fare equivalent to the above but £94.50! Won't even offer the GC fare if you check for slower routes.

The trainline is rubbish. The fact that businesses use it as their sole supplier just shows how advertising hype can overcome common sense. And also shows how British business is not really interested in reducing their overheads.
 

DevonTraveller

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Could someone try (I am on my phone at present) adding a via point of perhaps Rockdale, to see whether the route into Interchange is given?



Just to clarify that a ticket that names Bradford IS necessary (either the singles, or a zero excess).

Thanks for the reply - by unnecessary I meant that I could have bought a ticket to Bradford for the same price as Leeds, rather than that a ticket to Leeds would work to Bradford.
 
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trainline.com

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Hi DevonTraveller,

We're keen to look into this for you and provide an explanation, can you contact us via Twitter - @thetrainline and provide the email address which your account is registered to.

Thanks.
 

LexyBoy

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Hi DevonTraveller,

We're keen to look into this for you and provide an explanation, can you contact us via Twitter - @thetrainline and provide the email address which your account is registered to.

Thanks.

What if one would prefer not to shout one's email address to the world?

 

IanD

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If it doesn't work for anyone who has so far tried it, why do they need to know your email address at all.
 

yorkie

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Hi DevonTraveller,

We're keen to look into this for you and provide an explanation, can you contact us via Twitter - @thetrainline and provide the email address which your account is registered to.

Thanks.
Welcome to the forum. I will activate the PM function for you, so you can contact members directly on here (and vice-versa) however first you need to activate your account by clicking the link that was emailed to you (you must have changed email address since signing up).
 

DevonTraveller

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Hi DevonTraveller,

We're keen to look into this for you and provide an explanation, can you contact us via Twitter - @thetrainline and provide the email address which your account is registered to.

Thanks.

Could trainline publish an email address on their contact us page or in this post so that I and others can email them directly?

I don't see why I should publish my or my company's email address in order to deal with a trainline customer relationship matter.
 
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tony_mac

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I am sure he means to send a direct message via twitter, and not to publish it.
I think that probably needs a twitter account if you don't have one.
 

yorkie

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Once 'trainline.com' has re-activated their account, I can enable PMs so you can make direct contact through this forum.
 

IanD

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Correct.

If it were me, I will just buy a ticket to Bradford F Square, as the ticket will be printed "Bradford Yorks".

Just receved my ticket from RSH and it is printed From "London Terminals" To "Bradford Interch".

Don't recall seing this before, the reservation says "London Kings X" and "Bradford Interch" (as expected).
 

34D

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Just receved my ticket from RSH and it is printed From "London Terminals" To "Bradford Interch".

Don't recall seing this before, the reservation says "London Kings X" and "Bradford Interch" (as expected).

Precisely what ticket is this, please?
 

142094

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Would expect it to be Bradford Yk Stns? Think even the Grand Central only tickets still show Bradford Yk Stns.
 

IanD

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It's a STD Advance Single Route AP GC ONLY with a YP railcard.
 

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reb0118

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I have noticed more & more that TOC Only advance tickets are issued to/from a specific station in a group rather than the generic group station itself.

e.g. An EC Only Glasgow to York advance would normally be issued from Glasgow Central whereas an EC & Connections from Glasgow Cen/QSt

Of course being the railway exceptions will occur! :)
 

IanD

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Don't like the sound of that.

Had this ticket been printed "London Kings Cross" to "Bradford Interchange" and I had been using it in a split with a ticket to another London Terminal, I could lose the right to travel on a later train if my first was delayed.

Same argument could be used with a cross Glasgow transfer using advances if one said "Glasgow Central" and the other "Glasgow Queen Street".
 

snail

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The trainline is rubbish. The fact that businesses use it as their sole supplier just shows how advertising hype can overcome common sense. And also shows how British business is not really interested in reducing their overheads.
It's only rubbish because they charge an admin fee on bookings. Business accounts should qualify for commission on sales, so should work out cheaper. The booking engine is no different to some of the TOC sites.
 

IanD

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The route it suggested for me to get to Bradford was just rubbish. Get on a train that is going directly to my destination but change twice to arrive 5 minutes later is just plain crazy.

Isn't the booking engine devloped by them and then used by some TOCs (such as c2c)? If so the fact that some TOC sites are just as bad is down to them too.

Qualifying for comission on sales is OK but when the ticket suggested is 4 times the cheapest then you've not saved anything.
 

snail

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I don't like the Trainline for their customer-unfriendly approach but calling them useless just because they get one ticket routing wrong is a bit over the top.

Have you told them, as suggested by the Trainline rep that posted earlier?
 

IanD

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I'm not basing my opinion on one experience. And I'm not basing it on my experience alone.

If the rep is reading then presumably they will have sorted it by now.

I'm not saying that the other booking engines are 100% perfect but if a business would rather tie themselves to one supplier when in this case it is so easy to shop around then they are not always going to get the best deal.

I like and generally use RSH (primarily because of the Tesco vouchers :D, I'm not too keen on their customer service though) but I would not buy from them without checking what fares are being offered on other sites - hence my checking thetrainline on this occasion.
 

snail

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I'm not saying that the other booking engines are 100% perfect but if a business would rather tie themselves to one supplier when in this case it is so easy to shop around then they are not always going to get the best deal.
But do you know what kind of deals businesses can get from the Trainline or other providers? Its pretty common for larger procurement deals to be exclusive as these give the best overall prices. You appear to be assuming that business prices are the same as those paid by regular passengers. I would expect the business price to be lower in the long run for staying with one provider, even if the occasional fare is higher than it need be.
 

bb21

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How strange! The only thing I can find is a £12.55 fare Route AP GC Only, so I assume that some more recent revision than NFM12 has been applied.

In addition brfares suggest that the fare is priced to Bradford Yk Stns rather than Bradford Interch.

I must admit that I am stumped.

Edit:

Even worse, I cannot find Route AP GC Only fares at all in The Manual.
 
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