Difficulty booking LNER through services during ECML disruption

[cosmo]

Hi all, bit of an interesting query here but here goes.

Trains between Doncaster and Peterborough on the ECML are being diverted via Lincoln Central on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th December. LNER have updated their website accordingly - but have decided to capitalise on the fact this disruption occurs around the same time as the Lincoln Christmas Market and have added some Lincoln stops on services that wouldn't usually call there (Lincoln will get 5 trains a day over the weekend, with 3 northbound and 2 southbound.)

Special Lincoln Christmas Market Timetable
Due to planned engineering works, our normal timetabled services between London and Lincoln will not run on Saturday 4 or Sunday 5 December. On these days a special timetable will be in place. Simply search for a journey to find the available travel times.

This has directly influenced me to try and get tickets booked to Lincoln with LNER, as this "disruption" actually makes a journey from Newcastle to Lincoln 30-60m quicker than it would usually be (either changing at Doncaster or Newark North Gate/Castle for an EMR service). It goes without saying that I specifically want to book for a through train on this weekend, as this time saving is what led me to plan the trip in the first place. (If I was booking tickets for any other date, I'd look into split ticketing or the best option for changing trains while buying Advance fares etc - I'm a far more learned individual re. fares than I used to be!)

Having analysed the timetable, I've realised that the only train I can get over the 2 days that leaves a reasonable amount of time to look round the market is this one (1Y24, the 0956 ex. NCL). I went to book it, however I've run into a problem in so far as no Advance fares are available for this journey, despite them being in the timetable.

This wouldn't normally be a query, as I understand tickets can sell out quickly - but what's confusing is that I can book myself on the exact same train as far as Peterborough or London (which are both longer journeys) with an Advance ticket! To be specific, it'll set me back £22.40 with a railcard for an Advance Single 1st (Newcastle to Doncaster), or £42.20 if I wanted Peterborough.

I've done a few searches and it seems London-Lincoln tickets are still purchasable on these diverted trains - but are double the price of trains from 2 days earlier! Am I missing something here, because otherwise the only option I can find to get to Lincoln on the 4th/5th weekend would be to get the Doncaster fare and then pay an extra £23.20 for an Anytime Day Single (1st) from Doncaster to Lincoln (which it goes without saying I'm not really prepared to do)?

Thanks in advance

 

[yorkie]

Hi all, bit of an interesting query here but here goes.

Trains between Doncaster and Peterborough on the ECML are being diverted via Lincoln Central on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th December. LNER have updated their website accordingly - but have decided to capitalise on the fact this disruption occurs around the same time as the Lincoln Christmas Market and have added some Lincoln stops on services that wouldn't usually call there (Lincoln will get 5 trains a day over the weekend, with 3 northbound and 2 southbound.)



This has directly influenced me to try and get tickets booked to Lincoln with LNER, as this "disruption" actually makes a journey from Newcastle to Lincoln 30-60m quicker than it would usually be (either changing at Doncaster or Newark North Gate/Castle for an EMR service). It goes without saying that I specifically want to book for a through train on this weekend, as this time saving is what led me to plan the trip in the first place. (If I was booking tickets for any other date, I'd look into split ticketing or the best option for changing trains while buying Advance fares etc - I'm a far more learned individual re. fares than I used to be!)

Having analysed the timetable, I've realised that the only train I can get over the 2 days that leaves a reasonable amount of time to look round the market is this one (1Y24, the 0956 ex. NCL). I went to book it, however I've run into a problem in so far as no Advance fares are available for this journey, despite them being in the timetable.

This wouldn't normally be a query, as I understand tickets can sell out quickly - but what's confusing is that I can book myself on the exact same train as far as Peterborough or London (which are both longer journeys) with an Advance ticket! To be specific, it'll set me back £22.40 with a railcard for an Advance Single 1st (Newcastle to Doncaster), or £42.20 if I wanted Peterborough.

I've done a few searches and it seems London-Lincoln tickets are still purchasable on these diverted trains - but are double the price of trains from 2 days earlier! Am I missing something here, because otherwise the only option I can find to get to Lincoln on the 4th/5th weekend would be to get the Doncaster fare and then pay an extra £23.20 for an Anytime Day Single (1st) from Doncaster to Lincoln (which it goes without saying I'm not really prepared to do)?

Thanks in advance

LNER may have chosen not to enable Advance fares to Lincoln or it may be a mistake; I am not sure.

Either way, the solution is not to book through LNER but instead to use a split ticket provider; Trainsplit has a seat selector so no real disadvantage over the LNER site.

In this case, Trainsplit comes up with splits at Durham and Doncaster, and you will be issued all tickets on one handy PDF document, so no real disadvantage in splitting either.

 

[cosmo]

LNER may have chosen not to enable Advance fares to Lincoln or it may be a mistake; I am not sure.

Either way, the solution is not to book through LNER but instead to use a split ticket provider; Trainsplit has a seat selector so no real disadvantage over the LNER site.

In this case, Trainsplit comes up with splits at Durham and Doncaster, and you will be issued all tickets on one handy PDF document, so no real disadvantage in splitting either.

Yeah just checked TrainSplit again and realised I wasn't picking 1st class, that explains why the train wasn't on there

It's coming up as Doncaster and the Anytime single to Lincoln though (I'm trying to book the direct train specifically, since the time saving is what's selling me here). I'll keep on it but thanks for the response!

 

[Wallsendmag]

The Lincoln stops were only added last Friday and caused us a worry or two until they showed up on Saturday. I'll check with the reservation team to make sure nothing's been missed. Having said that they,look quite full and obviously there are less trains running so the trains that run are likely to be busier causing the price to rise.

Apparently the trains are very full that weekend which has caused the price spike. Generally our leisure traffic is well over 90% of normal.

 

[cosmo]

The Lincoln stops were only added last Friday and caused us a worry or two until they showed up on Saturday. I'll check with the reservation team to make sure nothing's been missed. Having said that they,look quite full and obviously there are less trains running so the trains that run are likely to be busier causing the price to rise.

Thanks for the response Yeah there's definitely availability to Peterborough as I type this, and the train is advertised at stopping at Lincoln on the website, I just can't buy an Advance there! I get it's not a usual route for the trains though, and again thanks for taking the time to query this

 

[island]

Advances are sold to fill spaces on trains that the TOC doesn't think will sell at full price. If they think that people will pay the walk up price, why would they sell the seat for less?

 

[Haywain]

Yeah there's definitely availability to Peterborough as I type this, and the train is advertised at stopping at Lincoln on the website, I just can't buy an Advance there!

I think the problem is that because that is not a normal journey there will be no forecast demand which means there will be no availability. A lot of this is now automated so it can go unnoticed.

 

[Paul Kelly]

I think the problem is that because that is not a normal journey there will be no forecast demand which means there will be no availability.

This sounds a bit like a "wrong-side failure" to me; wouldn't it be better if there was a default availability that could be adjusted if necessary based on predicted demand?

 

[Haywain]

This sounds a bit like a "wrong-side failure" to me; wouldn't it be better if there was a default availability that could be adjusted if necessary based on predicted demand?

Not really my area so I don't know the ins and outs of how it works, but I have asked the relevant team.

I've done a few searches and it seems London-Lincoln tickets are still purchasable on these diverted trains - but are double the price of trains from 2 days earlier! Am I missing something here, because otherwise the only option I can find to get to Lincoln on the 4th/5th weekend would be to get the Doncaster fare and then pay an extra £23.20 for an Anytime Day Single (1st) from Doncaster to Lincoln (which it goes without saying I'm not really prepared to do)?

If you are still looking for tickets, it might be worth keeping an eye on the website for availability. I have nudged a few people and some adjustments may now be made.

 

[cosmo]

If you are still looking for tickets, it might be worth keeping an eye on the website for availability. I have nudged a few people and some adjustments may now be made.

Thanks so much for this! I've just checked now and it's the same situation (advances available Doncaster/Peterborough but not Lincoln) but I'll certainly keep checking.

 

[cosmo]

Situation update: still no Advance tickets NCL-LCN. Availability still to DON and PBO.