Maidenhead to Aldermaston

[ess]

These fares have route . and route any permitted. What's the difference?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Anyone got any idea what's going on here?

Tickets from Maidenhead to Newbury are historically similarly priced as those from Maidenhead to Aldermaston (route "Any Permitted") but there's no route "." alternative from Maidenhead to Newbury.

If it's some glitch, however, it also affects Maidenhead to Midgham and Maidenhead to Thatcham, also Twyford to Aldermaston, Marlow to Aldermaston and possibly other flows as well, as these all seem to have both route "Any permitted" and cheaper route "." alternatives.

 

[JB_B]

In terms constraints on where you can go they're the same except that route: . forbids travel via ...erm.. Southsea Hoverport(!)

For almost all journeys, almost all of the time "route: ." and route: any permitted" are equivalent.

( see e.g this thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/any-permitted-vs-any-permitted.201380/ for reasons why it could make a difference )

I seem to remember seeing GWR priced seasons ( in the Theale area?) with different prices for route: . and route: any permitted - I think it's just a mistake.

( Found that thread now - https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/season-kintbury-reading-twyford-anomaly.195713/#post-4304978 )

 

[yorkie]

It's a mistake; the route dot fares are supposed to override the Any permitted fares.

Route dot was introduced because it is ostensibly simpler )) and thought to cause less confusion than "any permitted", this is because some people at the DfT deem the term "any permitted route" to be too complicated.

 

[Wallsendmag]

It's a mistake; the route dot fares are supposed to override the Any permitted fares.

Route dot was introduced because it is ostensibly simpler )) and thought to cause less confusion than "any permitted", this is because some people at the DfT deem the term "any permitted route" to be too complicated.

To be pedantic, route "." was introduced because the systems couldn't handle no route at all.

 

[kieron]

I think both of you are right; replacing "any permitted" with something else was a policy decision taken after a consultation; and using "." for it was a choice made as to how this policy should be implemented.

To me, the most interesting thing about this situation is that it hasn't been fixed, even though it's easy enough to find the tickets which are affected by this mistake. This means that people have had time to get used to the fact that a season ticket has gone from £3000/year to £1500/year, and would notice if someone tried to change it back now.