I'm not sure how new this feature is, but I nearly ended up on an invalid train today because of it.
I was in Barnsley and wanted to get to Bradford (this would be the return leg of my Bradford to Barnsley Anytime return). I checked the Rail Planner Live app on my phone, which suggested that I could take a train to Huddersfield, and then change to a direct service to Bradford Interchange. I usually make this journey via Leeds, but the timing of this journey was more suitable so this was what I was going for.
A couple of hours later, just before I left the house for the bus, I happened to be on my laptop and I thought I'd just re-check the journey times on NRE. Again, the Barnsley - Bradford journey via Huddersfield was there. I clicked on it and then noticed (in surprisingly small text considering the, in my opinion, vital importance of the sentance) in the top left of the screen the text "You need to buy more than one ticket for this journey."
Now I'm not sure how I feel about this. First of all, on NRE it doesn't even show you the two different tickets that it has chosen for me. I assume that it is trying to tell me to buy a Barnsley to Huddersfield Off-Peak Return and a separate Huddersfield to Bradford Off-Peak Return. But without clicking on the big "Buy Now" button, as far as I can tell there is no way to see the two tickets it's actually telling me I need to buy.
I don't know about anyone else, but when I use NRE I usually just quickly enter the start and finish point of my ticket, check the times / where I need to change, and then close the window. I would therefore assume that any results it gives me would be valid on my ticket. Apparently this is now not the case.
Secondly, I have a Bradford - Barnsley Anytime return. Upon checking the Barnsley - Bradford leg on my smartphone app (made by Thales, the most "official" app there is I believe") I was given in the results a journey that actually isn't valid on a Bradford-Barnsley ticket. If I hadn't actually looked on NRE (complete chance that I did!) and noticed that NRE is actually suggesting I need two tickets, I would almost have certainly faced some sort of penalty fare / fine for travelling on an invalid train.
I would have been much happier with this had it had advertised a Bradford - Barnsley Anytime return, route: Huddersfield.
What are your thoughts on this? Is this a new feature on NRE? If it's here to stay then I think it should be made clearer what it is actually telling you. Apologies if this post isn't very clear, I'll try and re-write it if it confuses!
I was in Barnsley and wanted to get to Bradford (this would be the return leg of my Bradford to Barnsley Anytime return). I checked the Rail Planner Live app on my phone, which suggested that I could take a train to Huddersfield, and then change to a direct service to Bradford Interchange. I usually make this journey via Leeds, but the timing of this journey was more suitable so this was what I was going for.
A couple of hours later, just before I left the house for the bus, I happened to be on my laptop and I thought I'd just re-check the journey times on NRE. Again, the Barnsley - Bradford journey via Huddersfield was there. I clicked on it and then noticed (in surprisingly small text considering the, in my opinion, vital importance of the sentance) in the top left of the screen the text "You need to buy more than one ticket for this journey."
Now I'm not sure how I feel about this. First of all, on NRE it doesn't even show you the two different tickets that it has chosen for me. I assume that it is trying to tell me to buy a Barnsley to Huddersfield Off-Peak Return and a separate Huddersfield to Bradford Off-Peak Return. But without clicking on the big "Buy Now" button, as far as I can tell there is no way to see the two tickets it's actually telling me I need to buy.
I don't know about anyone else, but when I use NRE I usually just quickly enter the start and finish point of my ticket, check the times / where I need to change, and then close the window. I would therefore assume that any results it gives me would be valid on my ticket. Apparently this is now not the case.
Secondly, I have a Bradford - Barnsley Anytime return. Upon checking the Barnsley - Bradford leg on my smartphone app (made by Thales, the most "official" app there is I believe") I was given in the results a journey that actually isn't valid on a Bradford-Barnsley ticket. If I hadn't actually looked on NRE (complete chance that I did!) and noticed that NRE is actually suggesting I need two tickets, I would almost have certainly faced some sort of penalty fare / fine for travelling on an invalid train.
I would have been much happier with this had it had advertised a Bradford - Barnsley Anytime return, route: Huddersfield.
What are your thoughts on this? Is this a new feature on NRE? If it's here to stay then I think it should be made clearer what it is actually telling you. Apologies if this post isn't very clear, I'll try and re-write it if it confuses!