Cosham to Chichester - fare query

[Staxxman]

I have been travelling to Chichester from Cosham with an annual season ticket for a number of years now. My season ticket has just expired, and I am reluctant to renew it for another year as I feel I am getting ripped off.

An annual ticket from Hilsea to Chichester is approximately £600 a year cheaper than Cosham, yet they are the same distance and have same number of stations between Chichester, as shown here. http://www.bukitlawang.com/routes/routes.aspx

I know there is more to the pricing than distance, but I'm not sure how they can justify there being a close to 40% difference in the cost.

My question(s) is why is this the case? Also, is there a way around it? I know people who travel the same route as me, but buy a Hilsea to Chichester ticket instead of Cosham. I'd be fine doing that for a single ticket, but surely that wouldn't be allowed with a season ticket, even though technically it should be allowed?

 

[yorkie]

Hilsea to Chichester is valid via Cosham; it's well within 3 miles of the shortest route.

A Season ticket is valid for any number of journeys between any intermediate stations on any permitted route, at any time, within the validity period, between the origin & destinations printed on the ticket.

It's often the case that you can pay a lower fare for a longer journey, and you can always start and/or finish short on any Season ticket or almost any "walk-up" single or return ticket if you wish.

Why are some fares much higher than others? Because train fares aren't logical and are not priced by distance. There are many examples all over the country where it is cheaper to pay for a longer distance journey and start/finish short.

Some of these anomalies can't be fixed. Some can be, and those ones generally are 'fixed' by increasing the price of lower fares (but not always). Sometimes the train companies get really underhand by changing the routeing of tickets e.g. they could potentially change the Hilsea to Chichester routeing to "Not via Cosham". This may require Department for Transport approval, but even if it does, the DfT are generally anti-passenger so would probably agree to it.

This fare is set by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). They may leave the anomaly in place, or they may reduce the fare from Cosham, or they may increase the fare from Hilsea. If GTR do change it, an increase to the cheaper fare is more likely than a decrease of the higher fare. Whether or not GTR can get away with that, I am unsure, but don't expect the DfT to be on our side.

 

[Staxxman]

Thanks Yorkie, very helpful. Looks like I've been paying over the odds for too long. The annoying thing is, before I bought my previous annual ticket, I did ask at the ticket counter if I could buy a ticket from Hilsea to Chichester instead of Cosham, and got a very blunt reply "No, you can't do that!".

 

[Waldgrun]

Did it not be the case that you could use any station in a group for interchange if you where traveling to a destination outside that group.
Hilsea and Cosham being part of the group for the Portsmouth Area for routing purposes .

 

[yorkie]

Did it not be the case that you could use any station in a group for interchange if you where traveling to a destination outside that group.
Hilsea and Cosham being part of the group for the Portsmouth Area for routing purposes .

The Group Stations rule isn't applicable to these journeys.