Paying full train fare for rail replacement bus

[gecko18000]

Hi all,

Hopefully not too contentious a question, but what do people think about paying a full train fare when the actual service will be a replacement bus?

Personally I'm a bit bitter about it. I need to travel from Edinburgh to Lancaster, and the train usually takes just over two hours, whereas due to engineering works over the weekend, the replacement bus service will take more than double this. Presume this isn't covered by 'delay repay' as it is pre-planned engineering works, but I still feel like the journey should be cheaper than the standard rail fare would be.

 

[plugwash]

It sucks, but at the same time I can see why the railway wouldn't want to encourage travel on days when there are no trains.

 

[David Goddard]

If you happen to know in advance there will be a replacement bus then it's sometimes worth checking out the scheduled road services on the same route, which will be as fast if not quicker, and probably cheaper as well. NX have some great prices on many routes, so always worth a punt.
For short trips, such as when we have RR buses between Reading & Wokingham, most people in the know (and especially ENCTS pass holders) use the local service bus instead (pass holders then go free)

 

[Journeyman]

Personally it doesn't bother me. It's just one of those things.

 

[mikeg]

Doesn't bother me you can see in advance most if the time. And besides aren't buses usually more expensive than trains? Or they can be where I live.

 

[RT4038]

Doesn't bother me you can see in advance most if the time. And besides aren't buses usually more expensive than trains? Or they can be where I live.

They may be, or they may not, depending on the journey you are making. I suggest a bit of research rather than making an assumption.

 

[mikeg]

Just going on the cost of buses where I live. Also if there's no notice of a rail replacement bus then usually there's a delay so you can claim for that.

 

[westcoaster]

The thing to remember is. The contract is between you and the toc to get you from point A to point B. It does not stipulate how this is to be done. It could be a train, bus, car or helicopter.
When you purchase the ticket that is the contract formed, they just have to get you from A to B.

 

[Deafdoggie]

If fares were cheaper when an RRB then more people would travel and thus make the problem worse. I'm not saying the railway are deliberately pricing people off, but...

 

[island]

Didn‘t EMR bring in cheaper fares for people forced to use the long term replacement bus between Bedford and Wellingborough?

 

[30907]

Didn‘t EMR bring in cheaper fares for people forced to use the long term replacement bus between Bedford and Wellingborough?

ISTR that was for season tickets?

In that particular case, 95% of the holders would be using the RRB 95% of the time, and it applied to one specific route over an extended period. The administrative workload would also be minimal.

By contrast, in the case of Offpeak and Anytime Return tickets you would have no way of knowing if the holder actually travelled on the affected days or even the specific route. (Advances have already been discussed.)
There would be an enormous workload in producing discounted fares for the various routes that could be affected by engineering work over a year.

I fear that, as a general rule, planned engineering work is something travellers have to reckon with.

 

[gecko18000]

It sucks, but at the same time I can see why the railway wouldn't want to encourage travel on days when there are no trains.

True!

If you happen to know in advance there will be a replacement bus then it's sometimes worth checking out the scheduled road services on the same route, which will be as fast if not quicker, and probably cheaper as well. NX have some great prices on many routes, so always worth a punt.
For short trips, such as when we have RR buses between Reading & Wokingham, most people in the know (and especially ENCTS pass holders) use the local service bus instead (pass holders then go free)

Thanks - I did actually check National Express and Megabus but neither are running that route again yet.

 

[lkpridgeon]

Hopefully not too contentious a question, but what do people think about paying a full train fare when the actual service will be a replacement bus?

If travelling from an un-manned station without a ticket machine on what I thing is considered a "paytrain", RRB journeys tend to cost a grand total of 0 so I've no qualms there! However back on topic, as long as they get me from A-B in a reasonable amount of time I really don't care about having to pay for the ticket as quite often I know the situation in advance and can plan accordingly ie: avoid journeys where multiple RRB's are required. Same applies in the situation where they provide a taxi to the nearest station with a service that'll get me to place B (this generally happens when SWR decide they can't be bothered to serve my station).

In other words, for me at least it averages out. The savings in a taxi fare most likely offset the lower value service of a RRB a few times a year.

 

[trainophile]

As a point of personal interest , the OP's replacement bus journey sounds like it would take upwards of four hours. If this is the case, is it safe to assume that it will be a coach, not only for the more comfortable seats but also the, ahem, on board facilities? No excuse for a local type basic bus when the engineering work is known about in advance.

 

[roversfan2001]

As a point of personal interest , the OP's replacement bus journey sounds like it would take upwards of four hours. If this is the case, is it safe to assume that it will be a coach, not only for the more comfortable seats but also the, ahem, on board facilities? No excuse for a local type basic bus when the engineering work is known about in advance.

If the OP was travelling this weekend just gone, the replacement buses were only north of Carlisle rather than all the way to Lancaster. They were timetabled to take just shy of 3 hours, and if they were the same as the ones they used two weekends ago, they were coaches rather than buses.

 

[pitdiver]

I once had a RRB between Bletchley and London Euston. This was normal for a Sunday morning. But on one occasion it was an actual bus. A double decker in fact. To make matters worse the driver didn't know the way for part of the journey.