"Off Peak"

[Oswyntail]

On Sunday I purchased a ticket from Ilkley to Telford via Manchester, asking specifically for Off Peak, because I expected to be traveling back fairly late on Monday. My journey, in either direction, involved three TOCs. My meeting on Monday finished a few hours early, so I found myself traveling between 15:30 and 19:30. Now I know in some circumstances around the country that is within an evening "peak" during which Off Peak tickets are invalid. So i thought I would check. But where? The booking office at Telford seemed unmanned, and the station timetables gave no indication of any Peak times. Neither did any timetable leaflets. Just the same at Wolverhampton re Virgin, and I only just made a connection at Piccadilly. Now I gather from all the customer-oriented opinions I have read here that RPIs would be entitled to throw me in the Tower if I was caught traveling in a Peak on an Off-Peak ticket. But where is anyone in my position meant to find the information at the time of travel? I do not want to know what was correct for my journey (which passed off unchallenged). But how is a genuine and honest paying customer meant to find out the intricate details of this Byzantine system when traveling?

 

[Failed Unit]

I think we all agree that this is the problem with the railways at the moment. We simplifed fares with different restriction depending on who prices the ticket.

The best way to do this is look online and see if you could buy the ticket. For example when I book a super off peak on east coast services the return journeys which I could not use the ticket are not available to select. Otherwise in your case board the train and look for the gaurd asking for an excess. If you are not happy with what you are charged you can always claim it back later (if a mistake has been made).

Unfortunately with the multidude of tickets on offer no all staff know what is valid and what isn't. You hear stories of people been incorrectly excessed on XC trains in the peak when they use EMT priced tickets, that is what happens when you simplify fares but let TOC decide what peak times are themselves!

 

[PhilipW]

But how is a genuine and honest paying customer meant to find out the intricate details of this Byzantine system when traveling?

In short, you can't. Welcome to the Railways of Britain.

 

[tony_mac]

I think you have to ring up and hope to speak to somebody who knows!

It took me several emails (and hence weeks) to get the Super-off-peak restrictions from London Midland. The online journey planners are wrong, and they were only interested in telling me if it was or wasn't valid for any specific service that I requested.