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Curious FGW fare anomaly from North Camp

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alastair

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Can anyone explain why a CDR from North Camp to Bedwyn (48m) is £9.00 but to Oxford (45m) its £13.90. That is 54% more for a shorter distance!

In both cases you obviously have to change at Reading,the only difference with Oxford is that you might use XC for the Reading/Oxford sector,but that hardly explains it.

Thanks
 
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IanXC

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Without knowing too much about the locality, I think that the fact that the routes diverge at Reading is important. I suspect that capacity is closer to being reached on Reading-Oxford then Reading-Bedwyn.

It could also be the case that whilst the flows are both currently priced by First Great Western, historically the flows may have been priced by different operators. In the past operators price increases were linked to their performance.

Or of course it could be something completely different!
 

Harlesden

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Sorry Alastair. There are plenty such anomalies on the network. Possibly something to do with the popularity (level of traffic) to the destination station
 

wintonian

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Can anyone explain why a CDR from North Camp to Bedwyn (48m) is £9.00 but to Oxford (45m) its £13.90. That is 54% more for a shorter distance!

In both cases you obviously have to change at Reading,the only difference with Oxford is that you might use XC for the Reading/Oxford sector,but that hardly explains it.

Thanks

No but from Farnborough Stns its £11.20 to Oxford any permitted and Bedwyn £7.80 Reading Not London.

North Camp to Oxford £13.90 Not London or £37.50 +any permitted, North Camp to Bedwyn is £9.00 any permitted.

Al CDR's and priced by FGW so I would buy from Farnborough Stns.
 

yorkie

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Welcome to the forum :)
Can anyone explain why a CDR from North Camp to Bedwyn (48m) is £9.00 but to Oxford (45m) its £13.90. That is 54% more for a shorter distance!
But Bedwyn is on a different line to Oxford. If it was on the same line, then the "more for a shorter distance" argument would kick in (and yes, it does happen occasionally!)

As it's on a different line, then the two are not comparable, as rail fares are not priced by distance, they are market-based. The TOCs will charge as much as they can get away with.
In both cases you obviously have to change at Reading,the only difference with Oxford is that you might use XC for the Reading/Oxford sector,but that hardly explains it.
Many fares comparisons cannot be 'explained' in a way that many people would consider useful or logical.

In general, fares are expensive if there is no alternative, but if there is competition then the fares may be cheaper.

For example, we recently had a thread that pointed out that York - Scarborough was particularly expensive, but York - Whitby is cheap. That's because the train easily wins over the bus to Scarborough, but the Whitby fare has to be kept low otherwise no-one would go by train for that journey.

Fares aren't based on distance, logic, or perceived fairness. They are market-driven and sometimes they appear to be priced to put passengers off travelling, for example if the trains are often full.

Do fares anomalies interest you? If so, you may wish to attend one of our free Fares workshops.
 

TEW

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No but from Farnborough Stns its £11.20 to Oxford any permitted and Bedwyn £7.80 Reading Not London.

North Camp to Oxford £13.90 Not London or £37.50 +any permitted, North Camp to Bedwyn is £9.00 any permitted.

Al CDR's and priced by FGW so I would buy from Farnborough Stns.

I really can't see why anybody would buy the +Any Permitted ticket if they wanted to go from North Camp to Oxford. It allows you to travel via Guildford and London which is such a long way round, takes at least 2hrs 50minutes rather than as quick a 56 minutes direct.
 
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This particular anomaly is probably less to do with market attractiveness as the pre-Greater Western merger back in 2003-odd. North Camp-Oxford would probably have been priced by GW and largely been based on the Reading - Oxford fare, whereas North Camp to Bedwyn would have been owned by Thames Trains and, since volumes I imagine are low, would have escaped the attention of the pricing manager over the years... BTW, if you do go to Bedwyn -- it's a great place, but it's not actually quite the same as Oxford: no Uni for a start!
 

FenMan

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The off-peak fares from North Camp, Farnborough North, Blackwater etc to destinations west of Reading - Didcot, Bedwyn etc - can be very good value. With a Network Card some fares work out at under 6p a mile.

A few years ago FGW reduced many off-peak fares for local flows that don't go east from Reading, which allowed them to increase fares by a larger percentage on more popular flows whilst keeping within the overall limit dictated by DfT.
 

dzug2

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Reading Oxford would (probably) have been been Thames as well - there were next to no FGW trains then. Just 2 or 3 a day from the Cotswold Line
 

alastair

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Many thanks everyone for the interesting replies,its strange how some policy of a defunct TOC years ago can make such a difference today.

Would totally agree Bedwyn is a very pleasant place(it was on a day out there that the fare anomaly became apparent). There are some beautiful walks along and south of the Kennet & Avon canal,you can easily get as far as Crofton if you have time. There was also a very nice pub with good but not expensive food on the square just up from the station.
 
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