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Norton Bridge - Barlaston

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Mutant Lemming

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There is an 'Anytime Single' fare shown for this journey of £2.50, however the journey involves 2 buses operated by different operators and neither station (being 'ghost' stations) has any ticket issuing facilities. The bus companies involved have their own fare structures (which differ from each other) and cost more than the "train" fare. How is one supposed to buy a "train" ticket for this service at point of use ?
 
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142094

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There is an 'Anytime Single' fare shown for this journey of £2.50, however the journey involves 2 buses operated by different operators and neither station (being 'ghost' stations) has any ticket issuing facilities. The bus companies involved have their own fare structures (which differ from each other) and cost more than the "train" fare. How is one supposed to buy a "train" ticket for this service at point of use ?

Either via collection from a station with a TOD, or by post. At point of use, I have no idea.
 

wintonian

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If a passenger is unable to buy a ticket at the start, during or at the end of their journey then they don't need to pay as it is up to the TOC's to provide adequate facilities. I used to do a journey where there was no TVM or ticket office open at this particular time of day, I could rarely find the guard and the TVMs at the interchange station were inside the locked ticket office and the station staff did not have Avantix machines, so I rarely paid for this on ay trip (I tended to get the bus out and train back)

However I doubt the bus companies will see it like that, so you could by the relevent bus tickets and write to the relevant TOC for a refund perhaps. ;)
 

yorkie

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The question, surely is what status are these buses? Are they:
- Rail Replacement buses; or
- Normal service buses that are merely recommended in lieu of the rail service that has been withdrawn and that happen to accept rail tickets?

Until we know the answer to that, the question cannot be answered.

For example the York - Whitby Coastliner service is a recommended bus that appears on departure boards etc and accepts rail tickets, but it's not a Rail Replacement!
 

causton

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The question, surely is what status are these buses? Are they:
- Rail Replacement buses; or
- Normal service buses that are merely recommended in lieu of the rail service that has been withdrawn and that happen to accept rail tickets?

Until we know the answer to that, the question cannot be answered.

For example the York - Whitby Coastliner service is a recommended bus that appears on departure boards etc and accepts rail tickets, but it's not a Rail Replacement!

The buses appear in the National Rail timetable. No other bus links I know about (Hatfield- St Albans, Watford Jn - Heathrow etc) seem to be. I've also tweeted London Midland to ask them - if they're up at this time of night ;)
 

323235

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The question, surely is what status are these buses? Are they:
- Rail Replacement buses; or
- Normal service buses that are merely recommended in lieu of the rail service that has been withdrawn and that happen to accept rail tickets?

Until we know the answer to that, the question cannot be answered.

For example the York - Whitby Coastliner service is a recommended bus that appears on departure boards etc and accepts rail tickets, but it's not a Rail Replacement!

The X1 is a commercial bus service operated by Bakerbus between Hanley and Stafford Hospital providing a rail link between Stoke - Wedgewood - Barleston - Stone

The Stone-Norton Bridge -Stafford bus I am not so sure about.
 

martinsh

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The X1 is a commercial bus service operated by Bakerbus between Hanley and Stafford Hospital providing a rail link between Stoke - Wedgewood - Barleston - Stone

but not going anywhere near the station in Stone ! :roll::roll:

The Stone-Norton Bridge -Stafford bus I am not so sure about.
It's run by Wardle Travel (Arriva subsidiary) - but very few journeys actually go through to Stone - and again, nowhere near the station.
 

AlterEgo

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I'd be interested to see if the bus driver accepted All Line Rovers, or Status Passes, or other less common tickets.
 

Eagle

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No other bus links I know about seem to be.

Other than Tilbury to Tilbury Riverside, King's Lynn to Hunstanton, Peterborough to Dereham, Peterborough to Kettering, Doncaster to the airport, York to Whitby, Darlington to Catterick, Berwick to Galashiels, Hull to Barton-on-Humber, Risborough to Chinnor, Yeovil Pen Mill to Yeovil Junction, Reading to Heathrow, Bristol to the airport, Kingham to Chipping Norton, Redruth to Helston, St Austell to the Eden Project, Bodmin to Padstow, Exeter to Bude, Taunton to Minehead, Woking to Heathrow, and Inverness to Ullapool?

All the above appear in the May 2012 NRTT.
 

Mutant Lemming

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I'd be interested to see if the bus driver accepted All Line Rovers, or Status Passes, or other less common tickets.

http://www.bakerbus.com/downloads/bus_routes/8268c175a9b10183fafb33f0307ecda2.pdf

According to this 'valid rail tickets are also accepted on the X1. Please check when buying your train ticket.

Still doesn't answer the question of where one would buy the advertised £2.50 Anytine single at either Norton Bridge or Barlaston nor about the validity on the other connecting Norton Bridge-Stone service.
 

Solent&Wessex

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The difference between Wedgwood, Barlaston and Norton Bridge stations and the bus links mentioned above is quite distinct.
a) the bus links above are just that, links. Whilst they may be shown in the NRTT they are link services that supplement the railway network. You either buy a through ticket or pay the driver. This sort of information is clearly shown in the bus links section of NRES and staff fares manual.
b) the bus service to Wedgwood, Barlaston and Norton Bridge is a Rail Replacement Service, as those stations are still open, and still part of the National Rail network. The use of a local bus service to provide the rail replacement service is somewhat unique - I assume to save costs as it has been on going for some time.

A "normal" rail replacement bus (for say engineering works) would not run as a stage carriage, but would run instead of the train to and from stations only. If you happened to travel from and to unstaffed stations en route then anecdotal evidence suggests that you essentially get a free ride (unless the TOC provides a means of paying)

Ticketing wise it is very different:
a) A bus which is running as rail link (eg York - Whitby and all the others mentioned above) is very different. You may buy through tickets, but cannot always use rovers, rangers, railcards, PRIV cards etc. The ticketing circumstances differ on each link. In essence each link is an add-on.
b) A Rail Replacement Bus runs instead of a train, and so the NRCoC applies and the full range of normal rail fares and discounts apply.

The London Midland Route Map shows the three stations as black dots on a thick green line - this indicates "Lines and Stations with frequent London Midland services". A star next to the three station names says "stations served by rail-replacement bus services".

In addition, an NRES journey search brings up the buses and offers the £2.50 fare from Barlaston to Norton Bridge as quoted by the OP.

I visited the area, and the three stations about 2 months ago. The pictures I took are available HERE.

You will note that Barlaston and Wedgwood have the full compliment of London Midland posters, timetables, maps and station signs. Norton Bridge has been washed off the face of the earth, and you wouldn't even know the station was there. It is very poor for a station that is still open.

Ticketing wise, what should happen? Well, my answer would be that as the bus is a rail replacement service the full range of rail fares and discounts apply. It is up to the TOC to provide suitable means of paying for your fare. If the full range of tickets is not available at the joining station then the same thing would apply as a normal rail replacement bus service - you pay at your destination or if that is unstaffed, then you essentially get a free ride. How that would wash with the bus driver, I do not know. Although I did seriously contemplate getting on and asking for a PRIV single to Norton Bridge please! I would be interested to hear what London Midland have to say.

The stations are still open, and have never been formally closed. Therefore the buses are "rail replacement buses".

I am not aware that any closure proceedings have been started, although following my recent visit I am doubtful trains will ever return, especially to Norton Bridge which will require extremely expensive works to re open properly (i.e. building a new footbridge to access the platform). This station is in the same boat as Polesworth with its one train a day in one direction since they removed the footbridge to access the other platform - except that at Norton Bridge removing the footbridge denied access to the island platform! (does anyone have any shots of the outside, front of the station when it was still open?)
 
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AlterEgo

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http://www.bakerbus.com/downloads/bus_routes/8268c175a9b10183fafb33f0307ecda2.pdf

According to this 'valid rail tickets are also accepted on the X1. Please check when buying your train ticket.

Still doesn't answer the question of where one would buy the advertised £2.50 Anytine single at either Norton Bridge or Barlaston nor about the validity on the other connecting Norton Bridge-Stone service.


Oh I know they are all allowed - I meant actually witnessing it in practice with an obscure pass or rover!
 

Eire Sprinter

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Very interesting stuff - I first learned of these stations in recent weeks.

One can even buy a SailRail ticket from Irish Ferries to Norton Bridge/ Wedgwood and Barlaston and presumably the same (from a staffed station) back!

Nice pictures there kwvr45.

It's amazing the amount of stations and lines that don't have a meaningful/any train service and yet are technically open.

And, if I understand what happened correctly, if a footbridge was removed at Norton Bridge shouldn't legislation stipulate that after the works carried out it be replaced.

On the plus side at least the stations are in situ.
 
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