Routeing question: Basingstoke- Farnborough

[jkdd77]

I'm going from Basingstoke to Reading on Friday morning, and noted that, according to online journey planners, a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations SDS appears to be valid the 'long way round' via Reading. This ticket is cheaper than a SDS from Basingstoke to Reading.

However, the Routeing Guide, as far as I can interpret it, says that this journey is only valid on map WX, which is the direct route only.

I e-mailed Crosscountry to try and get a definitive answer, and they replied that a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations ticket is valid via Reading. I e-mailed them back to query this, linking to the Routeing Guide, and they said that the ticket was definitely valid, and that they would definitely accept it on a Basingstoke- Reading service.

As an aside, the online journey planners also seem to think that Basingstoke- Farnborough off-peak tickets are valid on any train if routed via Reading, which I am certain is incorrect.

I also wish to combine the cheapest valid walk-up ticket from Basingstoke to Reading with an advance ticket from Reading to Swindon [allowing the booked connection time of 7 minutes], but have had conflicting reports on whether my Reading- Swindon ticket is still valid if the train to Reading is late and I miss my connection as a result?

What do others think?

 

[yorkie]

I'm going from Basingstoke to Reading on Friday morning, and noted that, according to online journey planners, a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations SDS appears to be valid the 'long way round' via Reading. This ticket is cheaper than a SDS from Basingstoke to Reading.

However, the Routeing Guide, as far as I can interpret it, says that this journey is only valid on map WX, which is the direct route only.

I e-mailed Crosscountry to try and get a definitive answer, and they replied that a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations ticket is valid via Reading. I e-mailed them back to query this, linking to the Routeing Guide, and they said that they had their own version of the Routeing Guide, that the ticket was definitely valid, and that they would definitely accept it on a Basingstoke- Reading service.

Bring a copy of the email if you have any concerns, that should suffice!

As an aside, the online journey planners also seem to think that Basingstoke- Farnborough off-peak tickets are valid on any train if routed via Reading, which I am certain is incorrect.

I also wish to combine the cheapest valid walk-up ticket from Basingstoke to Reading with an advance ticket from Reading to Swindon [allowing the booked connection time of 7 minutes], but have had conflicting reports on whether my Reading- Swindon ticket is still valid if the train to Reading is late and I miss my connection as a result?

What do others think?

This has been done to death on this forum but as plenty has been said about it before, I recommend doing a search (the hyperlinks that follow are a result of a quick search I have done just now; there are many more examples of this being discussed). I suggest in particular reading this (which I totally agree with), and my experiences (mentioned here among other places) are in accordance with what I expect to happen. A word of warning some rail staff will have their own opinion that is in no way based on what the rules say, they then state it as fact (example) so be prepared to encounter this. But just because you are on one ticket does not mean that rail staff will get you to your destination without a fight, as this example demonstrates. If they are going to make excuses, then it can be about anything, the main thing is to be aware of the rules and your rights.

I helped someone who was wrongly issued an Unpaid Fare Notice (note: never pay up front in such a circumstance; it's much harder to get the money back than if they have to chase you) for being on a combination of Advance tickets for one journey, and getting a later train on the second ticket, due to an earlier delay when the guard did not correctly adhere to the rules. Not only was the UPFN quashed but the guard was given suitable advice by the company concerned. I am also armed with an excellent quote from someone about as high up as you can get, that is sufficient to get someone out of that situation.

Of course, you must allow sufficient interchange time between trains. I would strongly advising plenty more than the absolute minimum, although on a contractual point of view the absolute minimum should be fine, but some of the minimum interchange times are not clear. The more time you allow, the more likely staff will deem it reasonable, and if staff deem something reasonable then the issue of whether you are entitled to it may not arise, this can avoid potential arguments, disputes and stress.

I've never had a problem, out of hundreds of journeys and I very rarely buy one ticket from origin to destination, instead I either buy further (and finish short) or a rover/ranger, or a combination of tickets.

 

[t0ffeeman]

In NFM07, there's a CDR Basingstoke - North Camp routed Farnborough North for 10p LESS than Farnborough!! The SDS is more than Farnborough & Reading though...

 

[Ferret]

I'm going from Basingstoke to Reading on Friday morning, and noted that, according to online journey planners, a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations SDS appears to be valid the 'long way round' via Reading. This ticket is cheaper than a SDS from Basingstoke to Reading.

However, the Routeing Guide, as far as I can interpret it, says that this journey is only valid on map WX, which is the direct route only.

I e-mailed Crosscountry to try and get a definitive answer, and they replied that a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations ticket is valid via Reading. I e-mailed them back to query this, linking to the Routeing Guide, and they said that they had their own version of the Routeing Guide, that the ticket was definitely valid, and that they would definitely accept it on a Basingstoke- Reading service.

This is an all time classic! Somebody in XC Customer Relations thinks they have a different routeing guide to the ATOC one?! Are you able to PM me this person's name?!

 

[Solent&Wessex]

I'm going from Basingstoke to Reading on Friday morning, and noted that, according to online journey planners, a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations SDS appears to be valid the 'long way round' via Reading. This ticket is cheaper than a SDS from Basingstoke to Reading.

However, the Routeing Guide, as far as I can interpret it, says that this journey is only valid on map WX, which is the direct route only.

I e-mailed Crosscountry to try and get a definitive answer, and they replied that a Basingstoke- Farnborough Stations ticket is valid via Reading. I e-mailed them back to query this, linking to the Routeing Guide, and they said that they had their own version of the Routeing Guide, that the ticket was definitely valid, and that they would definitely accept it on a Basingstoke- Reading service.

As an aside, the online journey planners also seem to think that Basingstoke- Farnborough off-peak tickets are valid on any train if routed via Reading, which I am certain is incorrect.

What do others think?

Crosscountry don't have a different version of the Routeing Guide, there is only one version. What they will be using is probably Journey Planner (from Fujitsu) an industry internal journey and train planning programme, on which you can also make reservations etc. This - and the majority of online journey planners which are available to the public - feed off an electronic version of the Routeing Guide. This I believe is also administered by Fujitsu but I may be wrong. What I do know is that the electronic version is riddled with errors which do not coincide with the what the paper version says. Some of the errors are minor and you wouldn't really notice - others are more substantial, such as this, and are quire balatantly incorrect.

The same software also has errors as regards validity codes and telling people that some tickets are valid when they aren't.

For example, Journey Planner recently advised me that a permitted route for a ticket from London - Bradford Yorkshire Stns was Euston - Manchester Piccadilly - Leeds - Bradford. Now by anyones interpretation of the paper guide this isn't valid, yet when this route was input into Journey Planner it gave a green tick to indicate it was a valid route.

I have mentioned some of the inaccuracies with information to our managers, who are aware that Journey Planner (and hence some of the online information) is often duff, and they have raised the matter with the relevant people on more than one occasion.

 

[LexyBoy]

And Reading to London via Basingstoke is valid according to the Journey Planner too...