Guardian article: XC's Head of Communications gives out incorrect information

[cjohnson]

XC's management team are doing a "live" Q&A on their Facebook page from 5pm this evening if anyone fancies quizzing them about it...

 

[Ferret]

A First Class tickets on the [09:05] direct service from Plymouth to Aberdeen costs £501. This is for an Anytime single, as there are no First Advance tickets available.

That sounds a little more plausible!!! Wonder if there's availability if the Advance tickets are split at New St and maybe at other points too!

 

[John @ home]

Wonder if there's availability if the Advance tickets are split at New St

I think that was the reason the journalist interviewed XC's Head of Communications in the first place.

 

[AllWork]

I think the 'interview' has been staged or edited, it just doesn't read right to me. It looks like Richard Gibson brings up the St Austell-Birmingham-Macclesfield fares up, but then the interviewer quotes the prices as if they knew them all by heart. Sure XC don't come across well, but I'd be really surprised if that is the whole unedited interview.

Looking at the other parts of the piece I think that most of the 'interviews' were undertaken by phone or, possibly in some cases, email. The interview with the Sommelier is a prime example:

GW: Thank you You were incredibly helpful. And you are the head sommelier?

LG: Yes.

GW: What's your name?

LG: David Galetti.

Not that this is an excuse for the arrogant answers from XC!

AllWork

 

[ex-railwayman]

We never had a Sommelier in Travellers Fare times.....

Cheerz ex-railwayman.

 

[embers25]

Xc response:

"The newspaper article on Saturday used selective excerpts from a much longer interview, which makes it very hard to comment on. For some journeys, buying more than one ticket can make good sense (eg the answer to Scott’s question for his journey from Cupar is a good example). Regards, Andy"

So no apology yet then...

 

[calc7]

And a TOC's endorsement of split ticketing!

 

[embers25]

lol yes the irony!!!

 

[bnm]

Xc response:

"The newspaper article on Saturday used selective excerpts from a much longer interview, which makes it very hard to comment on. For some journeys, buying more than one ticket can make good sense (eg the answer to Scott’s question for his journey from Cupar is a good example). Regards, Andy"

And a TOC's endorsement of split ticketing!

But only selective endorsement. The question was:

"I travel down to Bristol from Cupar in Scotland to watch bath rugby 3 times a year any chance of a good deal on ticket price of train never seem to get the cheap ones when I book 12 weeks in advance"

The reply:

"Hi Scott. If you can’t find the ticket you want direct from Cupar, try for an Advance ticket from Edinburgh to Bath or Bristol and get a single or day return to Edinburgh. You could use our ‘ticket alert’ service on the website to notify you when the fare you’re seeking is available and the ‘best fare finder’ may also be helpful. Regards, David"

Highly unlikely to be the cheapest option when splitting. Through APs with CrossCountry can nearly always be beaten on price by splitting into shorter distance APs.

 

[yorkie]

They're ignoring the split ticket questions now. No denial and no apology.

There's no way they are going to answer David Jones' question regarding Stockport - Bournemouth being cheaper than Stockport - Reading. They're picking out the ones they want to answer, that's for sure!

We've had several threads recently about the reservations. Perhaps someone can ask a very simple question: what is the policy when the reservation system stops working? Is it a case of the train effectively becomes like any other non-reserveable train? or does it become a case of musical chairs as invisible reservations are still in force?

I note the suggestion of going to paper reservations has been asked, I very much doubt it will get a proper answer though!

 

[bnm]

Gotta love this piece of spin:

"Our Off Peak tickets have only been valid after 0930 since 2008, but we’d allowed them to be used for some journeys before this time as we progressively introduced the range of Advance fares. We make these available at all times on trains where capacity is generally available. Sometimes this allows longer through journeys on one train, at other times lower fares are available to reflect the capacity on two connecting services. Regards, David"

 

[All Line Rover]

They're ignoring the split ticket questions now. No denial and no apology.

There's no way they are going to answer David Jones' question regarding Stockport - Bournemouth being cheaper than Stockport - Reading. They're picking out the ones they want to answer, that's for sure!

We've had several threads recently about the reservations. Perhaps someone can ask a very simple question: what is the policy when the reservation system stops working? Is it a case of the train effectively becomes like any other non-reserveable train? or does it become a case of musical chairs as invisible reservations are still in force?

I note the suggestion of going to paper reservations has been asked, I very much doubt it will get a proper answer though!

Which makes the whole "meet the manager" thing a bit pointless! :roll:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Gotta love this piece of spin:

"Our Off Peak tickets have only been valid after 0930 since 2008, but we’d allowed them to be used for some journeys before this time as we progressively introduced the range of Advance fares. We make these available at all times on trains where capacity is generally available. Sometimes this allows longer through journeys on one train, at other times lower fares are available to reflect the capacity on two connecting services. Regards, David"

I don't even understand that response...

 

[swt_passenger]

Gotta love this piece of spin:

"Our Off Peak tickets have only been valid after 0930 since 2008...

Another own goal as well - the long distance XC routes (eg south of Reading to north of Derby etc) still had offpeaks available all day (well from 0530 anyway) up until Jan this year.

We had a thread about it towards the end of last year when the newly hiked prices appeared online...

 

[ralphchadkirk]

They seem to have thrown away their only chance of correcting the previously incorrect information and apologising. Unfortunately they seem to be in bluster mode. Not very good PR!

 

[embers25]

Even FCC are more honest and open in their chats than this. It's frankly appalling.

 

[Minilad]

This attitude is normal for Arriva companies. As are poor maintenance, poor timekeeping, poor reliability, poor... you get the idea.

Care to back those statements up with hard facts and not just rhetoric

 

[All Line Rover]

I'm surprised they responded to the Stockport to Reading/Bournemouth question (or at least acknowledged it for the time being). Although to say that "The fares from Stockport do look muddled" is just, well... . The fares are "muddled" on all of their routes, not just from Stockport!

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Care to back those statements up with hard facts and not just rhetoric

Quite. I notice from PPM that XC in P13 obtained 92.4%, up 2.2% from the year before. This is higher than a few notable operators (East Coast, Greater Anglia etc).

 

[Clip]

Quite. I notice from PPM that XC in P13 obtained 92.4%, up 2.2% from the year before. This is higher than a few notable operators (East Coast, Greater Anglia etc).

Shh dont let facts get in the way of a good rant

 

[embers25]

Don't have the facts to agree or disagree with Ivo but certainly being better than two franchises previously owned by NX is nothing to shout about!!!! To be fair my only real issue with XC is their fares as the overcrowding is to a degree out of their control. Delays certainly seem to have gone down too.

 

[Failed Unit]

Quite. I notice from PPM that XC in P13 obtained 92.4%, up 2.2% from the year before. This is higher than a few notable operators (East Coast, Greater Anglia etc).

But everyone knows that East Coasts problems are down to network rail and the wires constantly coming down. Or poor signal regulation and following cross-country services that stop at Durham when the East Coast one does not.

Did they mention they have the most reliable IC fleet in the UK as well with those much hated voyagers.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Don't have the facts to agree or disagree with Ivo but certainly being better than two franchises previously owned by NX is nothing to shout about!!!! To be fair my only real issue with XC is their fares as the overcrowding is to a degree out of their control. Delays certainly seem to have gone down too.

Ok, they are doing better than: East Coast; Greater Anglia; First Capital Connect; First Great Western; London Midland; Southern and Virgin Trains.
Happy?

 

[Failed Unit]

Ok, they are doing better than: East Coast; Greater Anglia; First Capital Connect; First Great Western; London Midland; Southern and Virgin Trains.
Happy?

Is that it, I thought that list would be longer.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Is that it, I thought that list would be longer.

I only scan read it, there could be a few more but I think I got them all. Either way, it's in quite a good position. p13 is also the only period where all operators got above 90%.

 

[All Line Rover]

Ok, they are doing better than: East Coast; Greater Anglia; First Capital Connect; First Great Western; London Midland; Southern and Virgin Trains.
Happy?

They get excellent PPM results. And for commuters in particular, that's a very good thing.

But they're awful at PR!

 

[DaveNewcastle]

But they're awful at PR!

I for one will not be making my travel choices based on a Company's PR skills - on the contrary, I might even feel a bias against a TOC whose 'spin' and 'hype' exceeds their actual results - There are many more relevant factors.

[Its notable that the often missed British Rail somehow managed to endear itself to the nation's pasengers partly as a consequence of its poor abilities in PR]

 

[Failed Unit]

They get excellent PPM results. And for commuters in particular, that's a very good thing.

But they're awful at PR!

Some would say the good PPM is because of thier easy paths, but I bet XC would love quicker paths. I think planning a services that interacts with 4 mainlines is a little challenging. They maybe could do Derby - Birmingham quicker but they hold there own on the ECML

Would love to see the honest answer about APs - why sell them when you can fill the train anyway. But then splitting on the same train shouldnt happen with that logic.

 

[bnm]

Would love to see the honest answer about APs - why sell them when you can fill the train anyway.

Because XC get all the revenue (less sales commission) from them. Most other fare types see them only get an ORCATS share.

 

[junglejames]

Gotta love this piece of spin:

"Our Off Peak tickets have only been valid after 0930 since 2008, but we’d allowed them to be used for some journeys before this time as we progressively introduced the range of Advance fares.

This bit made my day. Proved my point that part of the reason Off Peak and Anytime tickets are sky high, is because there are too many advances. Introduce more advances, and walk up fares go up.

XC would of course claim they were being nice and running at a loss with the walk up fares (bearing in mind they dont get all the revenue) until they introduced more advance tickets. But that'd just be a bit of spin.

All in all, some of the questions provided more answers than the directors. Very poor.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Care to back those statements up with hard facts and not just rhetoric

I thought the drivers went slow on purpose, thus causing bad timekeeping
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Did they mention they have the most reliable IC fleet in the UK as well with those much hated voyagers.

Well they have to be good for something. Voyagers cant be 100% awful

Actually no Im being unfair. XC and Voyagers are very consistent and reliable........


Consistently bad
Reliably smelly
Consistently uncomfortable

 

[SussexSpotter]

Came across this which I found quite interesting regarding rail fares, it's a quote from a recent article in 'The Guardian', an interview with Richard Gibson who is the head of communications - Cross Country Trains, with 'The Guardian' asking him questions about the rail fare system.

See what you think about this........

______________________________________


RG = Richard Gibson
GW = Guardian Weekend

______________________________________

GW: I tried to book a CrossCountry train journey from St Austell to Macclesfield. The only available ticket was £147.50, eight weeks ahead. Train companies boast about low advance fares – the trade-off for pricey walk-on fares. What's going on?

RG: Not all journeys have an advance fare. We set the fare between St Austell and Birmingham, so we can offer an allocation of advance fares for that part of the journey. But Birmingham to Macclesfield is set by another operator.

GW: But both segments of the journey are aboard CrossCountry trains.

RG: The way fares are set, we cannot provide allocation of advance fares on the second part.

GW: Why?

RG: Because that is the way the system is set.

GW: Who sets the system?

RG: The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc). They would be quite happy to explain the national fare structure.
train

GW: I then booked the two parts of my journey separately on your website. I bought one ticket from St Austell to Birmingham, and one from Birmingham to Macclesfield, on the same CrossCountry trains I'd been quoted £147.50 for. The new price was £65. That's £80 cheaper.

RG: Yeah.

GW: How can you justify that?

RG: If you choose to buy multiple tickets for a simple journey, you may find it's considerably cheaper. But you're not getting the guarantee of the service all the way through. If your train from A to B was delayed, and you missed the train from B to C, you'd have to buy a new ticket.

GW: Do you think that's a fair way to treat your customers?

RG: This is the industry system and you'd need to contact Atoc.

GW: Do you think it's fair that one person could pay £147.50, but another could split the tickets and pay £65 for the same journey on the same trains?

RG: I think the fare of £147.50, at less than 50p per mile, is a fair price for the 300-mile journey.

GW: But in the end I paid just £65!

RG: I think that £147.50 to travel from St Austell to Macclesfield is a fair price for the journey.

GW: You keep telling me it's fair, but when people read this they're going to say: it's absurd and you're ignoring my question. Why can't CrossCountry write on their ticket site, "It may be cheaper to book your journeys separately."

RG: Because not every customer wishes to do what you've tried to do.

GW: Not every customer wishes to save money? It is a hassle, but you should still tell them. Why won't you?

RG: Because that would be confusing to customers.

GW: I think customers would like to save money.

RG: I think we disagree on what we think our customers would prefer.

GW: In an ideal world, would the fare system be different?

RG: I have no idea what an ideal world would look like, I'm afraid.

GW: Do you think CrossCountry should be transparent about the fact they can't control all of their ticket prices?

RG: I don't think it would be useful for customers to put a section on our website to explain how the fare system works. I think it's providing a level of complication.

GW: I think the customers are grown up enough to understand it.

RG: I tell you what, I will pass your suggestion on to the revenue team and the commercial director to see if they are able to do anything with it.

GW: Please do.
______________________________________