Has all confidence been lost in Avanti West Coast ?

[father_jack]

I ask this because I'm on 9M55 1156 Glasgow to Euston and I am alone in Coach G which also as a reserveable coach has no seats at all booked in it. I moved from U the unreserved one because its a sauna but there are only 6 people baking slowly in there. Granted it's the slower via Birmingham train but it's a Friday. Is it that the yield management is awry ? Are they scared to sell that train in case something needs cancelling and it's the "better" one to cancel ? I did look at Seatfrog and the first class auction went for only £38....

Anyone's thoughts ?

 

[hexagon789]

I ask this because I'm on 9M55 1156 Glasgow to Euston and I am alone in Coach G which also as a reserveable coach has no seats at all booked in it. I moved from U the unreserved one because its a sauna but there are only 6 people baking slowly in there. Granted it's the slower via Birmingham train but it's a Friday. Is it that the yield management is awry ? Are they scared to sell that train in case something needs cancelling and it's the "better" one to cancel ? I did look at Seatfrog and the first class auction went for only £38....

Anyone's thoughts ?

Overtime ban all this week and strikes earlier in the week.

Reduced timetable today and tomorrow.

 

[DarloRich]

Has all confidence been lost in Avanti West Coast ?

No - next question

( It is strike week - i travelled by LNER the other day and had a similar experience. Would we say confidence has been lost in them?)

 

[janb]

Coach G is an unreserved coach now. It's become my first choice because awareness of this doesn't seem as high amongst the masses as U and C.

 

[father_jack]

Overtime ban all this week and strikes earlier in the week.

Reduced timetable today and tomorrow.

Granted that as well but advance tickets would be on sale a good way out long before any strikes were announced, they couldn't have all refunded ?

 

[Jimini]

Coach G is an unreserved coach now. It's become my first choice because awareness of this doesn't seem as high amongst the masses as U and C.

Hadn't clocked that -- thanks for the info!

 

[father_jack]

Hadn't clocked that -- thanks for the info!

Indeed, me neither. But does it bring us back to a reduction in advance tickets and pushing people to more expensive flexible types that they've made a (potentially) third non reservable coach ?

 

[43066]

Overtime ban all this week and strikes earlier in the week.

Reduced timetable today and tomorrow.

A lot of people have stayed away this week. Sheffield was deserted yesterday despite EMR and XC still operating.

 

[hexagon789]

A lot of people have stayed away this week. Sheffield was deserted yesterday despite EMR and XC still operating.

Happens most of the time it seems, from what various forumers have reported over the months.

 

[mangyiscute]

Although my friend has reported that their Reading to Birmingham train earlier today was standing only even before reaching Oxford, so clearly some routes are still super busy (although a 4 coach will always struggle on that route)

 

[OscarH]

Indeed, me neither. But does it bring us back to a reduction in advance tickets and pushing people to more expensive flexible types that they've made a (potentially) third non reservable coach ?

If I remember right, I don't think G was ever reservable, because Avanti preferred to be able to swap a 9 and 11 car without hassle. The difference post refurb is that G is standard not first

 

[Bletchleyite]

Although my friend has reported that their Reading to Birmingham train earlier today was standing only even before reaching Oxford, so clearly some routes are still super busy (although a 4 coach will always struggle on that route)

Avanti West Coast don't operate any Reading to Birmingham services. XC is I think generally regarded to be reliable (which is impressive given what it interacts with) but well under capacity.

 

[Djgr]

A lot of people will avoid travelling during strike days for obvious reasons.

A separate issue is what confidence there is in the railway industry as a whole, which is linked to the confidence (or lack thereof) in the UK "government".

 

[Bletchleyite]

If I remember right, I don't think G was ever reservable, because Avanti preferred to be able to swap a 9 and 11 car without hassle. The difference post refurb is that G is standard not first

I believe that's correct. Of course previously Avanti would sell plenty of walk up tickets to fill it - now the sham compulsory reservations show trains as "sold out" when in fact there's tons of room. I travelled on one such train on Sunday and it was remarked upon by quite a few people.

I can see why they want the CR thing (to be able to take specific trains on and off sale easily) - but a couple of coaches' worth of counted places on top really wouldn't go amiss.

 

[Russel]

I think confidence and trust has gone and it's not just Avanti, unfortunately, rail just isn't a reliable way to travel at the moment.

I have an advance ticket booked for the 22:00 Avanti off Euston to Tamworth next Friday, however, knowing it's the last train of the night I'll be checking RTT, National Rail etc from about 19:00 rather frequently just in case it's cancelled and I need to run to Euston to get an earlier train, this isn't something I'd have bothered doing a couple of years ago...