Short notice APEX tickets : why do they have to include a seat reservation ?

[Mathew S]

Where are those fares available? I can't find them on brfares.com and I've never seen one when buying that journey (at least once a week for the last year, almost always on the TP services).

I'll answer my own question, which is that they're only available for Manchester to Wigan returns, and not Wigan to Manchester returns. Looks like I might be buying some back to front tickets in the next few weeks then.

 

[Starmill]

You got it. And a season ticket if you're likely to spend £25 in a week.

 

[Mathew S]

You got it. And a season ticket if you're likely to spend £25 in a week.

I'd missed that, thanks.

 

[philthetube]

I'd rather see it go the other way. Stop putting reservations out, but instead have marked reserved and unreserved coaches/areas. Then make it really easy for anyone, a walk-up buyer included, even if already holding a ticket, to select a reservation from the seating plan, either as soon as they decide or when they get to the station.

Bye bye Euston scrum (and equivalents) while not losing flexibility in the way you would if you went compulsory reservation.

I am not sure how this gets rid of the Euston scrum, surely people without reservations are still going to run to the unreserved cars in order to be sure of a seat, but in addition people without reservations are also going to end up running in order to get window seats/forward facing seats or seats together in order to not have couples/families separated.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I am not sure how this gets rid of the Euston scrum, surely people without reservations are still going to run to the unreserved cars in order to be sure of a seat, but in addition people without reservations are also going to end up running in order to get window seats/forward facing seats or seats together in order to not have couples/families separated.

It would substantially reduce it because the vast majority of passengers would have reservations. The unreserved coaches would essentially exist only for last-minute runners. Everyone else would grab themselves a reservation as soon as they knew which train they would take.

With a seat selector, there is no reason for anyone to have a seat they don't like unless one is not available at all.

 

[Starmill]

That won't solve the problem of all of the seats already being reserved though will it...

 

[Bletchleyite]

That won't solve the problem of all of the seats already being reserved though will it...

No point running if you know you're going to be standing. And if there are no reserved seats left some people may choose to take the next train on which a reservation is available and go for a coffee/meal.

I'm not saying it'd get rid of it, but looking at loadings vs. reservation levels on the PIS I would expect a *substantial* reduction.

 

[BucksBones]

Not when it is causing overcrowding. Once it can be 8 or 12-car, they should start selling them then.

I don't think it's quite as simple as that; another factor is that WMT have a huge issue with unused seats. Sometimes they are taken up with luggage due to either the unwillingness of passengers to use the (deep, well-designed) luggage racks on the 350s, instead surrounding themselves with their belongings meaning people can't sit down, or people carrying way more luggage than is technically permitted under the conditions of carriage. I recently saw a couple taking up not just the bay of 4 they were sitting in but also the one opposite with all their stuff whilst people were standing. (The guard came through and did a ticket check and didn't say anything!) People also seem very fond of lying down across 2 seats on the 350s for some reason!

These issues often create the impression the trains are fully loaded when they are not. It wouldn't be difficult at all to crack down on these problems.

Personally I think cheap advance tickets are good thing as they enable people to travel who might otherwise struggle to afford to, and they take a large number of cars off the road.

Anyway, as you say, it'll be better soon when they start running longer trains on the Trent Valley route. Perhaps they could also stop running 4 car services up and down the south WCML at weekends!