LNER Considering Requiring Passengers to Check-in Before Travel

[185143]

Was it TPE or Northern? I know Northern have advances but no seat reservations(Yet) . But on TPE once i noticed loads of seats reserved Manchester to Preston.

Both for Northern services with counted place reservations.

 

[Deepgreen]

The 'turn-up-and-go' freedom and flexibility of UK rail travel is slowly but surely being eroded. With it will go much traffic to cars. The "green recovery" continues apace!

 

[Ianno87]

The 'turn-up-and-go' freedom and flexibility of UK rail travel is slowly but surely being eroded. With it will go much traffic to cars. The "green recovery" continues apace!

This is only for routes where the majority of passengers don't generally turn up and go.

The majority of services in Britain will remain fully turn up and go.

 

[DB]

This is only for routes where the majority of passengers don't generally turn up and go.

The majority of services in Britain will remain fully turn up and go.

There aren't any routes which don't normally have a good proportion of turn up and go passengers, particularly on certain stretches. LNER and XC, who seem particularly keen on imposing rules, certainly do.

 

[PeterC]

The 'turn-up-and-go' freedom and flexibility of UK rail travel is slowly but surely being eroded. With it will go much traffic to cars. The "green recovery" continues apace!

Why is it that whenever people complained about the high cost of turn-up-and-go tickets they got put down with comments that they should buy train specific advances. Suddenly everybody is saying how wonderful turn-up-and-go is and how train specific tickets are the spawn of the devil.

Groucho Marx had a nice song about this - "whatever it is, I'm against it!"

 

[DB]

Why is it that whenever people complained about the high cost of turn-up-and-go tickets they got put down with comments that they should buy train specific advances. Suddenly everybody is saying how wonderful turn-up-and-go is and how train specific tickets are the spawn of the devil.

Groucho Marx had a nice song about this - "whatever it is, I'm against it!"

It depends what you use the trains for, but for shorter journeys there's often little saving to be had.

I pretty much never buy advance tickets as I need the flexibility. Without that the railways are of little use.

 

[takno]

Why is it that whenever people complained about the high cost of turn-up-and-go tickets they got put down with comments that they should buy train specific advances. Suddenly everybody is saying how wonderful turn-up-and-go is and how train specific tickets are the spawn of the devil.

Groucho Marx had a nice song about this - "whatever it is, I'm against it!"

I suspect it's different people doing the responding. There is also a difference between saying that turn up and go should be more expensive than advances, and saying that turn up and go shouldn't exist at all. It's a premium product because I can use it to leg it to kings cross at 5 to 7 and still expect to get to to Edinburgh. If I can turn up at king's cross at 5 with a valid ticket and still be told to come back tomorrow it's not clear that I'm getting a premium product at all.

 

[yorkie]

Why is it that whenever people complained about the high cost of turn-up-and-go tickets they got put down with comments that they should buy train specific advances. Suddenly everybody is saying how wonderful turn-up-and-go is and how train specific tickets are the spawn of the devil.

Groucho Marx had a nice song about this - "whatever it is, I'm against it!"

Sorry, you lost me. What's your argument for?

 

[Deepgreen]

Why is it that whenever people complained about the high cost of turn-up-and-go tickets they got put down with comments that they should buy train specific advances. Suddenly everybody is saying how wonderful turn-up-and-go is and how train specific tickets are the spawn of the devil.

Groucho Marx had a nice song about this - "whatever it is, I'm against it!"

I've never complained about the cost of tickets, nor do I think train-specific advance tickets are wrong per se. However, I do think that 'turn-up-and-go' should be preserved as the basic tenet of UK travel, and that no single train (apart from specials, obviously) should be completely barred to 'turn-up-and-go'. Apart from anything else, what happens when other trains are cancelled - are people then barred from the next train(s) because they've not booked?

 

[QueensCurve]

I have received a survey from LNER asking a number of questions about their app and using it to check-in before travel. It seems that they are considering asking passengers with their app to confirm they have boarded the train and are sat in their seat prior to departure. Passengers checking in using the app won't have their tickets checked onboard by the guard. The survey suggests that this will be a safer way of travelling from a Covid point of view.

Checking in prior to travel is something you do at an airport, it should not be necessary to check in before travelling by train. I have made my view on this quite clear in the survey but it is worrying that LNER are even considering this. I really don't see how this would reduce ticketless travel and what would happen during disruption? What about short distance journeys made using LNER like Stevenage to London, DOncaster to York or Durham to Newcastle.

Anyone else received this survey? Any thoughts?

It sounds like a terrible mistake.

 

[route101]

It depends what you use the trains for, but for shorter journeys there's often little saving to be had.

I pretty much never buy advance tickets as I need the flexibility. Without that the railways are of little use.

On frequent short routes advances are pointless almost. Can you imagine advances between Edinburgh and Glasgow? Even Glasgow to Preston, the services are still frequent altough advances can make savings. I dont think turn up and go tickets should be expensive though, though advances can be very good value.

 

[317 forever]

Having read through the thread a simple question occurs to me which I haven't found, or may have missed, a clear answer to.

A passenger holds a ticket or combination of tickets for a journey using another operator and LNER for example Scarborough to London with TPE as the first leg and LNER as the second. The intended itinerary means that the LNER service is the penultimate train available for the journey that day. The first train is delayed meaning catching the reserved LNER service is not possible. Ordinarily you would just catch the next available train consistent with the ticket restrictions i.e. the next LNER service for an LNER advance ticket York-London. What then happens if the passenger cannot get a reservation for the final train of the day from the intermediate station?

Is the position of LNER that the passenger cannot complete there journey and is left stranded at a midway point or are reservations no longer compulsory at that point?

From my standpoint I'm not sure how trying to enforce reservations to a delayed passenger with what would have been a valid itinerary could be compatible with the conditions of travel.

Certainly if they have a through ticket, then missing the LNER train is the railway's fault albeit TPE not LNER. In such a scenario it would be immoral to deny the passenger a place on the LNER train.

If they have split tickets, then LNER are in a stronger position to blame the passenger even though he/she did not create the delay on the TPE service.

Off topic, but I've seen passengers with advance from Manchester to Stockport and East Didsbury recently...

Yes, by chance I spotted a £2 Advance single from East Didsbury to Manchester Piccadilly the other day. Perhaps trying to compete with Magic Bus.

 

[Hadders]

Certainly if they have a through ticket, then missing the LNER train is the railway's fault albeit TPE not LNER. In such a scenario it would be immoral to deny the passenger a place on the LNER train.

If they have split tickets, then LNER are in a stronger position to blame the passenger even though he/she did not create the delay on the TPE service.

Using a combination of tickets is specifically allowed by the NRCoT and TSA and therefore you do not have any lesser rights than using a through ticket.

 

[jtuk]

It depends what you use the trains for, but for shorter journeys there's often little saving to be had.

I pretty much never buy advance tickets as I need the flexibility. Without that the railways are of little use.

This. I only ever buy advances when either in or out of London, or I know exactly what trains I'll be taking and can abuse things somewhat (e.g. after an evening kick off I'll be fairly certain to take the only train that gets me home), nothing else offers enough of a saving to be worth it

 

[yorksrob]

I see that the flimsy bog roll tickets have now appeared at Wakefield Westgate station, which is run by LNER.

I guess that they feel obliged to action every half baked proposal the DfT come up with.

 

[whoosh]

It's driven me away, I'm travelling up to Newcastle this weekend for work and I'll be driving, I just can't be bothered to faff around with LNER...

Won't you do more 'faffing around' using the 'pay at the pump' facility when you fill up? More than once possibly.

 

[D.K.TAYLOR]

I see that the flimsy bog roll tickets have now appeared at Wakefield Westgate station, which is run by LNER.

I guess that they feel obliged to action every half baked proposal the DfT come up with.

Same here at Coseley West Mids came in over the weekend and changed the printers to bog roll tickets

 

[yorksrob]

Same here at Coseley West Mids came in over the weekend and changed the printers to bog roll tickets

A sign of decline IMO.

I noticed they'd installed those modern looking machines with the separate printer attachment a while ago. I wondered when it would change.

 

[crablab]

Are these just e-tickets printed out on a piece of paper for you?

Would seem to be a step forward in that case!

 

[cactustwirly]

Won't you do more 'faffing around' using the 'pay at the pump' facility when you fill up? More than once possibly.

You don't have to use a pay at pump at a petrol station, and anyway it's not anymore faff than using a ticket office to buy tickets. Actually even easier cos they will actually sell you your fuel without any hassle.

 

[DorkingMain]

I know everyone despises the bog roll tickets, but having used machines with the standard square tickets which had a tendency to jam, spit out smudged or blank tickets, etc they seem like a welcome alternative.

As for mandatory reservations - I'm really not sure I understand the gripes. You can make one up to 5 mins before the train leaves, you just have to type a few details in the LNER website, and will spit one out if your ticket doesn't have one. It's really not the biggest nuisance in the world (compared to wearing a mask for hours at a time on board)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Are these just e-tickets printed out on a piece of paper for you?

Would seem to be a step forward in that case!

In essence, yes. Though there won't be a booking reference sat behind them, so you couldn't reprint them if lost.

The problem with them is that that station won't be able to issue cross London tickets any more.

As for mandatory reservations - I'm really not sure I understand the gripes. You can make one up to 5 mins before the train leaves, you just have to type a few details in the LNER website, and will spit one out if your ticket doesn't have one. It's really not the biggest nuisance in the world (compared to wearing a mask for hours at a time on board)

The problem with them is if the train you need to use (or all remaining trains that day) is full.

 

[DorkingMain]

In essence, yes. Though there won't be a booking reference sat behind them, so you couldn't reprint them if lost.

The problem with them is that that station won't be able to issue cross London tickets any more.



The problem with them is if the train you need to use (or all remaining trains that day) is full.

That problem isn't with the mandatory reservations, as such, it's with the absurd social distancing measures everyone is expected to enforce meaning capacity is reduced heavily. It's still better to have an organised system than some of the other utter chaos that seems to happen on TOCs like TfW where the conductor randomly decides the train is too full and forbids anyone getting on.

 

[GoneSouth]

I know everyone despises the bog roll tickets, but having used machines with the standard square tickets which had a tendency to jam, spit out smudged or blank tickets, etc they seem like a welcome alternative.

As for mandatory reservations - I'm really not sure I understand the gripes. You can make one up to 5 mins before the train leaves, you just have to type a few details in the LNER website, and will spit one out if your ticket doesn't have one. It's really not the biggest nuisance in the world (compared to wearing a mask for hours at a time on board)

If you were booked onto a train that you missed because of a connecting service (Scarborough to kings cross seems to be one that’s quoted several times on here) would you still be able to get the reservation on the website? Surely your booking reference has already been allocated a reservation and you can’t get another, definitely not if it’s an advance ticket.

That problem isn't with the mandatory reservations, as such, it's with the absurd social distancing measures everyone is expected to enforce meaning capacity is reduced heavily. It's still better to have an organised system than some of the other utter chaos that seems to happen on TOCs like TfW where the conductor randomly decides the train is too full and forbids anyone getting on.

Are TfW then obliged to ensure the passenger completes their journey if no other service is available? I imagine there is the possibility of passengers being stranded at stations with infrequent services and no staff for assistance.

 

[crablab]

The problem with them is that that station won't be able to issue cross London tickets any more.

Begins with I and ends in O

 

[DorkingMain]

If you were booked onto a train that you missed because of a connecting service (Scarborough to kings cross seems to be one that’s quoted several times on here) would you still be able to get the reservation on the website? Surely your booking reference has already been allocated a reservation and you can’t get another, definitely not if it’s an advance ticket.

In effect you can put 0 or . in the ticket number and it will accept them. It recommends you do that if you don't yet have a ticket

Are TfW then obliged to ensure the passenger completes their journey if no other service is available? I imagine there is the possibility of passengers being stranded at stations with infrequent services and no staff for assistance.

Yes

 

[Bletchleyite]

Begins with I and ends in O

Eh?

 

[crablab]

Eh?

ITSO :P

 

[takno]

ITSO :P

What's that got to do with paper tickets then?

 

[Bletchleyite]

What's that got to do with paper tickets then?

Not a lot. Does any TOC even issue single and return point to point tickets on it?

Is an element of this all about the way LNER seem to just want to move to an airline/Eurostar pricing/ticketing concept?