Interesting article on the Guardian website where head of Communication at XC is interviewed about the expensive walk-up fares on the network.
From reading it and some opinions on Twitter, XC come out of it very arrogant and almost unprofessional. Whilst some expensive fares could be justified given the over-crowding and the fact some fares are out of their control, XC make a terrible impression in this interview.
He also falsely states you won't be covered for a delay with split tickets which is quite concerning that someone so senior doesn't understand the ticketing system and gives out false information.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/apr/13/rip-off-britain-everything-expensive?CMP=twt_gu
From reading it and some opinions on Twitter, XC come out of it very arrogant and almost unprofessional. Whilst some expensive fares could be justified given the over-crowding and the fact some fares are out of their control, XC make a terrible impression in this interview.
He also falsely states you won't be covered for a delay with split tickets which is quite concerning that someone so senior doesn't understand the ticketing system and gives out false information.
The Guardian said: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.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/apr/13/rip-off-britain-everything-expensive?CMP=twt_gu