Off peak ticket showing for a journey this Friday that's usually in morning peak

[infobleep]

Happy Christmas.

I was looking up ticket prices for this Friday on the National Rail Enquiries App and notice an off peak ticket price for both single and return journeys was showing up during the peak period. This is at a time when off peak tickets wouldn't normally be avilable for sale, only peak.

Is this a mistake; related to the engineering works and replacement buses or a relaxation of the pricing rules over Christmas? I won't mention the stations just in case it's unintended.

 

[221129]

Happy Christmas.

I was looking up ticket prices for this Friday on the National Rail Enquiries App and notice an off peak ticket price for both single and return journeys was showing up during the peak period. This is at a time when off peak tickets wouldn't normally be avilable for sale, only peak.

Is this a mistake; related to the engineering works and replacement buses or a relaxation of the pricing rules over Christmas? I won't mention the stations just in case it's unintended.

Some TOCs relax Peak restrictions over the Xmas - New Year Period

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Many TOCs relax time restrictions over Christmas due to the disruptive nature of engineering works (i.e. it would not be possible to complete certain journeys with Off-Peak tickets at all), as well as the fact that few commuters are out commuting over the Christmas-New Year period.

Any relaxation such as this will almost certainly be intentional, and you can check it by going onto BR Fares and seeing the dates when the electronic restriction data is said to apply. You may find that, as data on BR Fares is now updated daily, many restrictions will be said to start to apply on the 2nd of January.

 

[infobleep]

Some TOCs relax Peak restrictions over the Xmas - New Year Period

Many TOCs relax time restrictions over Christmas due to the disruptive nature of engineering works (i.e. it would not be possible to complete certain journeys with Off-Peak tickets at all), as well as the fact that few commuters are out commuting over the Christmas-New Year period.

Any relaxation such as this will almost certainly be intentional, and you can check it by going onto BR Fares and seeing the dates when the electronic restriction data is said to apply. You may find that, as data on BR Fares is now updated daily, many restrictions will be said to start to apply on the 2nd of January.

Thank you for confirming this. It is a nice gesture..The journey was Haywards Heath to Guildford Interestingly there is no off peak tickets at this time if travelling via Clapham Junction and that has engineering works too.

Now if only rail cards had their restrictions lifted at this time. I'm being greedy here.

Interestingly if I put in Haywards Heath to Guildford return without any via it comes up with a route via Clapham Junction going out and says the price is £60.20. The orhe route using the bus, from Gatwick Airport to Guildford, is £18.00.

If I put a single in only then the via Clapham Junction price is £21.00.

If I put in via Clapham Junction for the return journey then the price is £42.

Like I said, if I don't specify a via option for the return journey though it's calculating a £60.20 fare. Not sure what combination of tickets that fare is as £21+£18 does not equal £60.20

Earlier it seemed that by coming back from Guildford and not using the replacement bus, it waa quicker to get a tram from Wimbledon to East Croydon than go via Clapham Junction. However this option is no longer showing. Just the ones using the replacement bus. Of course no fare exists for a journey using the Tram.

Therefore I had assumed that was why it was calculating the £60.20 fare. However as the route via Wimbledon is no longer coming up when I search, that can't be the reason.

To check yourself here are the details I entered:
Haywards Htesh to Guildford from 7:00.

Guildford to Haywards Heath from 14:00

Outward journey via Clapham Junction is:
7:21 Haywards Heath to East Croydon
8:57 East Croydon to Clapham Junction
8:40 Clapham Junction to Guildford

Return journey:
14.40 Guildford to Gatwick Airport
15:00 Gatwick Airport to Haywards Heath

This was using the National Rail Enquiries App.

It's interesting to also note that they allow one 10 minutes to get from the bus drop off to the trainf or the return journey That is the length of time they officially allow one to change from a North Downs Line train to a Govia Thameslink Railway train and that is just changing platforms and not having to get from the bus terminal to said platforms. So either the time to get from one platform to the other is too long or the time to get from the bus terminal is too short or both.

 

[yorkie]

If a booking site will sell a ticket with an itinerary, and you bring that itinerary with you, the ticket has to be accepted under contract law.

At this time of year many operators relax ticket restrictions, so it is unlikely to be a mistake.

It's interesting to also note that they allow one 10 minutes to get from the bus drop off to the trainf or the return journey That is the length of time they officially allow one to change from a North Downs Line train to a Govia Thameslink Railway train and that is just changing platforms and not having to get from the bus terminal to said platforms. So either the time to get from one platform to the other is too long or the time to get from the bus terminal is too short or both.

It's not worth changing the connection time data for engineering works; surely the logical thing to do would be to add sufficient 'padding' into the bus journey time, to take this into account. Whether this has been done or not, I don't know, but a journey planner can only go by the data that it has been given, and we can only assume the relevant TOCs (GTR, GWR etc) have sensible data.

 

[Bensonby]

I must admit I was quite shocked the Southeastern are providing a “Saturday service” during working days over Christmas but were enforcing peak-time restrictions. Surely if it is a “peak time” then they should be providing a normal peak time timetable.

 

[infobleep]

If a booking site will sell a ticket with an itinerary, and you bring that itinerary with you, the ticket has to be accepted under contract law.

At this time of year many operators relax ticket restrictions, so it is unlikely to be a mistake.

It's not worth changing the connection time data for engineering works; surely the logical thing to do would be to add sufficient 'padding' into the bus journey time, to take this into account. Whether this has been done or not, I don't know, but a journey planner can only go by the data that it has been given, and we can only assume the relevant TOCs (GTR, GWR etc) have sensible data.

I see what your saying here. However it only works in one direction. Unless they actually start the bus after it's due to depart, a connection to a bus will be valid at 10 minutes and you will only have 10 minutes to make it if your train is due in 10 minutes in advance.

If you miss it due to a late train in then yes you may get compensation but on this route you would be stuck at Gatwick Airport for an hour.

 

[Belperpete]

If a booking site will sell a ticket with an itinerary, and you bring that itinerary with you, the ticket has to be accepted under contract law.

I once turned up at St Pancras with a Super Off-Peak ticket that I had bought to travel on a particular train, only to be told at the barrier that Super Off Peak tickets weren't valid on that train. Fortunately I had a reservation, so I was able to produce my matching seat reservation coupon. There was an "Ah.....", and my ticket was duly endorsed for travel and I was let onto the train.