LNER Considering Requiring Passengers to Check-in Before Travel

[northernbelle]

Can you enlighten me as to what benefits to society are achieved by queuing at a booking office to get a reservation for a 20 min journey on a train which is around 25% full ?

It means that train operators can guarantee that loadings are managed rather than everyone turning up on the off chance and risk overcrowding.

Unless you reserve, you can't actually guarantee it being empty enough to board safely - even if it's usually the case.

 

[clagmonster]

I have not been on LNER very recently but see reports in the Trip Reports section; I and others provided passenger counts or observations on many trains, some of which were 'full' from a booking perspective and yet many spare seats were observed.

Edit: here are two examples

I did have a case when I looked on the LNER website, both through the seat reservation system and the booking engine, to find my desired train fully reserved but a 10 minute walk to my local booking office and a reservation was issued. Seemed odd at the time and still does seem odd.

 

[yorkie]

Unless you reserve, you can't actually guarantee it being empty enough to board safely - even if it's usually the case.

This can never be guaranteed, but what makes LNER different to other operators?

 

[43096]

This can never be guaranteed, but what makes LNER different to other operators?

That’s the thing isn’t it? LNER have gone reservation only whereas some other long distance operators went the other way with no reservations. “National Rail” - not here. Remind me again why the pointless RDG exists, will you?

 

[Haywain]

what makes LNER different to other operators?

Maybe it's LNER being prepared to put in the effort to see that doing this can actually work effectively and manage loadings to a suitable extent.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I did have a case when I looked on the LNER website, both through the seat reservation system and the booking engine, to find my desired train fully reserved but a 10 minute walk to my local booking office and a reservation was issued. Seemed odd at the time and still does seem odd.

I believe if you check the online seating plans during the booking process you can see which seats are not available for booking due to social distancing. Your experience isn't odd at all, reservations are very fluid.

 

[crablab]

I do consider it very poor that we're required to plan in advance and ensure we have reservations, and yet LNER haven't released *any* weekend tickets from the 14th of November onwards (tickets otherwise available up to the 11th of December).

It's really not helpful for getting people back on the railway if they can't book a weekend ticket more than a week in advance, and given we're required to have organised ourselves sufficiently to have a mandatory reservation, seems deeply ironic that the railway is unable to organise itself sufficiently to sell said tickets and reservations!

(Yes I'm aware that engineering work is ongoing, but that is planned significantly more than a week in advance! We already know when the closures are).

 

[Roast Veg]

On Wednesday I had to purchase return tickets from one of those terrible LNER journey planner ticket machines. It demanded that I reserve seats for every leg with LNER, despite the fact that I intended to travel with Northern in both directions. Apologies to anybody who subsequently couldn't get a seat...

 

[yorkie]

On Wednesday I had to purchase return tickets from one of those terrible LNER journey planner ticket machines. It demanded that I reserve seats for every leg with LNER, despite the fact that I intended to travel with Northern in both directions. Apologies to anybody who subsequently couldn't get a seat...

If you have a mobile device, next time use a site that lets you specify northern only for your journey planning query, get an e-ticket, and save yourself a lot of time

I suspect the LNER Journey planner machines only find the fastest journeys, but that's for a different thread.

This may at least partly explain why some trains appear in the system as 'full' when they really aren't

 

[Roast Veg]

The machine found my journey, but was not able (quite understandably) to offer me a seat on the Northern services. Since I couldn't progress with the booking without reserving a seat on something, I had to book onto a service after the one I intended to catch.

 

[Ianigsy]

On Friday I went from Leeds to Wakefield and return. Buying my ticket at Leeds from a Northern machine, I accepted a reservation for an LNER train from Westgate at about the time I was expecting to come back but didn't use it because there was a train from Kirkgate which was more convenient.

I was tempted to ask their Twitter feed whether I could cancel the reservation just out of curiosity as to what the response would have been.

 

[yorkie]

The machine found my journey, but was not able (quite understandably) to offer me a seat on the Northern services. Since I couldn't progress with the booking without reserving a seat on something, I had to book onto a service after the one I intended to catch.

Sounds like a bug with the machine.

 

[Bevan Price]

Can you enlighten me as to what benefits to society are achieved by queuing at a booking office to get a reservation for a 20 min journey on a train which is around 25% full ?

I would have thought that being stuck in any queue increases your chances of catching any infection that other people in the queue may have...........

 

[Ianno87]

I would have thought that being stuck in any queue increases your chances of catching any infection that other people in the queue may have...........

That's why you can do it on your smartphone via the LNER website too...

 

[Roast Veg]

Sounds like a bug with the machine.

Agreed. I would have used another machine but they were all roped off for social distancing.

 

[westv]

That's why you can do it on your smartphone via the LNER website too...

Assuming your smart phone is up to date enough.

 

[WestRiding]

Agreed. I would have used another machine but they were all roped off for social distancing.

If you register. Why oh why do you have to register for everything. As an aside how do PRIV card holders stand with booking a seat?

 

[greyman42]

If you register. Why oh why do you have to register for everything. As an aside how do PRIV card holders stand with booking a seat?

Apparently you can do it on the LNER website but i have never done it that way myself.

 

[800001]

If you register. Why oh why do you have to register for everything. As an aside how do PRIV card holders stand with booking a seat?

Do it via lner website or app, takes 2 min, asks for ticket number just put random number in, can be done up to 5 min before travel or also via ticket office and any station

 

[Wallsendmag]

Assuming your smart phone is up to date enough.

I wouldn't class a phone that can't use a browser as smart.

 

[plugwash]

There are plenty of older smartphones out there that could browse the web ok when new, but have big problems on the modern web either outright failing to connect at all because of ssl/tls version issues or if they do connect giving an experiance that is borderline unusable with modern websites.

 

[Roast Veg]

There are plenty of older smartphones out there that could browse the web ok when new, but have big problems on the modern web either outright failing to connect at all because of ssl/tls version issues or if they do connect giving an experiance that is borderline unusable with modern websites.

TLS is a nightmare on old devices. The global shift to secure browsing as standard combined with free TLS certificates has done wonders for security, but it's left some people behind. I'd also add a mad desire for incredibly poor JavaScript on every website to the list of things that can lock out devices with limited resources.

 

[Bletchleyite]

TLS is a nightmare on old devices. The global shift to secure browsing as standard combined with free TLS certificates has done wonders for security, but it's left some people behind. I'd also add a mad desire for incredibly poor JavaScript on every website to the list of things that can lock out devices with limited resources.

"a mad desire to have loads of client side rubbish on a static website" seems to be one particular thing.

 

[westv]

I wouldn't class a phone that can't use a browser as smart.

Who mentioned about phones with no browser?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Who mentioned about phones with no browser?

All you need is a web browser to use the LNER website.

 

[westv]

All you need is a web browser to use the LNER website.

So you can use the LNER website on any smartphone no matter what it's age?

 

[Wallsendmag]

So you can use the LNER website on any smartphone no matter what it's age?

As long as you have a current browser yes

 

[43096]

As long as you have a current browser yes

I'm sensing some back pedalling going on.

Gone from " All you need is a web browser" to "As long as you have a current browser"

 

[Lancs]

I'm sensing some back pedalling going on.

Gone from " All you need is a web browser" to "As long as you have a current browser"

Jeez, if your phone is that incapable, just ring them....

"If you require a reservation on an LNER train service and have been unable to reserve a seat online, please call 03457 225 333 the reservation line is open Monday – Friday 08:00-22:00. Please note that our team are only able to reserve a seat on an LNER train, we do not provide reservations for other train operators."

ps. I'm not affiliated with LNER in anyway, but discussing phone capabilities is really is beyond the bounds of mandatory reservations...

 

[crablab]

discussing phone capabilities is really is beyond the bounds of mandatory reservations...

...and puts you firmly in the minority