SWT new website live

[infobleep]

At least the lost property link on Twitter now opens a mobile friendly page. Before twitter loaded pages inside itself, one use get a page not support yet message.

It took many years but finally it's supported!

Surprised their hasn't been a bug marketing launch on Twitter. I don't k no ow about the other day but this morning I've not seen anything promoting it.

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[jon0844]

This will of course mean SWT the see an increase in visitor numbers to their main Web Site as a result, which in this modern age is a good thing, as that is where one would expect to go first.

As long as it is designed to cope with extreme load during disruption.

Although social media may lighten the load a bit, many TOCs now direct people to the website for a lot of info. Like local stations showing 'weekend engineering - check website' instead of even giving a basic summary of info.

Anyone without a phone or easy Internet access must feel like total outcasts these days!

 

[infobleep]

As long as it is designed to cope with extreme load during disruption.

Although social media may lighten the load a bit, many TOCs now direct people to the website for a lot of info. Like local stations showing 'weekend engineering - check website' instead of even giving a basic summary of info.

Anyone without a phone or easy Internet access must feel like total outcasts these days!

Well it make a change from those with a phone and mobile Internet feeling like an outcast.

The only way to get hold of the NOMAD Internet provider number for the WiFi on board South West Trains, trains, was via a web page not supported on mobiles or tablets and that includes 9.7“ tablets.

I imagine the iPad Pro with its 13“ screen wasn't supported either! The screen being larger than some supported laptops screens!

Thankfully that's all changed now.

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[Dr_Intoxicated]

Yes it is exactly that problem that I am getting and it's still like it today. I can not though seem to be able to bypass beyond the warning though. I just get a link "back to Safety" or something that say "Advanced", is that what you mean. ? Then a tick box also shows, saying something about reporting the problem to google. Hopefully they will sort this out asap. It was a pain yesterday when I was travelling with them and there were some disruptions, although to be fair this did not cause too much of a problem.

Yes if you choose the advanced option and scroll down, my phone has the link and go to site anyway option.
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Timetables are now up. They're not listed in numerical order - it seems quite random, with the first 4 being:

Basingstoke to London Waterloo (fast)
Basingstoke, Alton and Aldershot to London Waterloo (stopping service)
Brockenhurst to Lymington
Dorking and Chessington to London Waterloo

Respectively, these are numbers 60, 10, 27 and 5.

As ever, there's a preamble - but no 'create your own timetable' link.

Looks like it may be in alphabetic order of the description, this may be to allow peoplw that do not know the timetable number to find the relevant timetable assuming they know where they are intending to travel between.

 

[swt_passenger]

delete please. Made same point as previous post at the same time...

 

[backontrack]

Oh.

 

[swt_passenger]

...It took many years but finally it's supported!

Surprised their hasn't been a bug marketing launch on Twitter.

They'll wait til it is bug free surely?


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Found the page below by googling, which includes a few upcoming temporary timetables and engineering work summaries, (which I usually found gave a better explanation of the effects of engineering works compared to the stuff that seems to be ported from the national rail site).

https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/plan-your-journey/planned-improvements/

Thing is, unless I'm missing something obvious, I cannot navigate to this page from the new SWT home page. Is this a glitch or am I going web-blind...

 

[infobleep]

They'll wait til it is bug free surely?

They'll never announce it then! Lol.

No large Web Site is ever 100% bug free.

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[embers25]

As with the new GWR website when you buy tickets you no longer get a via option meaning that although it says you will be shown the cheapest ticket for your journey that is simply not true. Try getting it to show route salisbury fares on route where there is a faster via Reading fare. My issue is that if ticket machines won't sell Al routeings (which SWT's don't) and the ticket offices are being closed, if you can't buy online it is a backdoor way of eliminating all cheap routed fares and forcing people to buy much more expensive tickets. I know not all websites are doing what SWT and GWR are doing but if they can get away with it I can see the others following.

 

[Helvellyn]

They'll wait til it is bug free surely?


--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Found the page below by googling, which includes a few upcoming temporary timetables and engineering work summaries, (which I usually found gave a better explanation of the effects of engineering works compared to the stuff that seems to be ported from the national rail site).

https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/plan-your-journey/planned-improvements/

Thing is, unless I'm missing something obvious, I cannot navigate to this page from the new SWT home page. Is this a glitch or am I going web-blind...

So looking at the URL I see one of the yellow boxes at the top of the page is labelled "Plan Your Journey" and hovering over that one of the boxes that appear is labelled "Planned Improvements" so looks like that is it.

 

[David Goddard]

As with the new GWR website when you buy tickets you no longer get a via option meaning that although it says you will be shown the cheapest ticket for your journey that is simply not true. Try getting it to show route salisbury fares on route where there is a faster via Reading fare. My issue is that if ticket machines won't sell Al routeings (which SWT's don't) and the ticket offices are being closed, if you can't buy online it is a backdoor way of eliminating all cheap routed fares and forcing people to buy much more expensive tickets. I know not all websites are doing what SWT and GWR are doing but if they can get away with it I can see the others following.

I always used the SWT website to buy tickets before, but when I went to use the new one on Wednesday evening I could not find the via option, nor could I select a travelcard. It would only let me enter a point to point journey, then it asked me if I wanted to add a travelcard for £12.60, which made the total a tenner more than the correct ticket! Has anyone else found this?

Trying Great Western next, this also failed to offer a "via point" for my journey so I ended up buying my ticket from Cross Country instead.

 

[swt_passenger]

So looking at the URL I see one of the yellow boxes at the top of the page is labelled "Plan Your Journey" and hovering over that one of the boxes that appear is labelled "Planned Improvements" so looks like that is it.

I don't think that was the case before I posted.

But they've still ended up with an orphaned page, if you go one step back from that page using the clickable links below the header image to: https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/plan-your-journey/
...then that page is no longer accessible from its higher level page, the home page.

I don't think the previous site was 100% correct in terms of internal links, so they've probably carried forward a few original sins...

 

[Helvellyn]

I always used the SWT website to buy tickets before, but when I went to use the new one on Wednesday evening I could not find the via option, nor could I select a travelcard. It would only let me enter a point to point journey, then it asked me if I wanted to add a travelcard for £12.60, which made the total a tenner more than the correct ticket! Has anyone else found this?

I noted the lack of a via/avoid button. However, you can get a Travelcard by putting London Zone U123456 as your destination. Took some figuring out.

 

[WatcherZero]

Not wanting to start a new thread and most relevant thread I could find for the tidbit, the Government published updated Franchise agreements for SWT on the 28th May.

 

[bb21]

As long as it is designed to cope with extreme load during disruption.

Although social media may lighten the load a bit, many TOCs now direct people to the website for a lot of info. Like local stations showing 'weekend engineering - check website' instead of even giving a basic summary of info.

Anyone without a phone or easy Internet access must feel like total outcasts these days!

I am interested in hearing where this occurs, and seeing some examples. I do not believe this is permitted, as by my understanding there is a certain timescale engineering works posters (with a summary of service alterations) must be displayed at stations although I can't recall the exact timescale off the top of my head.

That said it was from a while back so not sure whether things have changed on that front.

 

[Siemens Staines]

I see that there is some publicity for the new SWT website

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2016/2016-06-01.aspx

But, and maybe it is just me using Google Chrome on Windows 10, I have been unable buy tickets or use the journey planner on the new website. The journey From/To and Date boxes appear for a fraction of a second before becoming obscured by the blue page containing "Plan your journey", "Travelling with us" etc. Clicking X on this blue screen does absolutely nothing, and so the process can go no further. I found I could enter the journey details by entering them in to nationalrail website which then parses them in to the South West Trains website, but there are then some further details which need to be entered and the same obscured page occurs, so the process stalls again.

Using an old PC running XP, I was able to get further but then it timed out with the page that should have been entering payment details.

The only solution for me seems to be to use another train operators website, even for journeys which are solely within South West Trains domain.

 

[RailAleFan]

I see that there is some publicity for the new SWT website

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2016/2016-06-01.aspx

But, and maybe it is just me using Google Chrome on Windows 10, I have been unable buy tickets or use the journey planner on the new website. The journey From/To and Date boxes appear for a fraction of a second before becoming obscured by the blue page containing "Plan your journey", "Travelling with us" etc. Clicking X on this blue screen does absolutely nothing, and so the process can go no further. I found I could enter the journey details by entering them in to nationalrail website which then parses them in to the South West Trains website, but there are then some further details which need to be entered and the same obscured page occurs, so the process stalls again.

Using an old PC running XP, I was able to get further but then it timed out with the page that should have been entering payment details.

The only solution for me seems to be to use another train operators website, even for journeys which are solely within South West Trains domain.

Any joy using

https://buytickets.southwesttrains.co.uk/journey

...instead of going via the home page?

 

[Wookiee]

I was trying to upload a scanned ticket for a compensation claim on this site yesterday, but couldn't tell if it was working or not. It didn't give any message that the upload was successful and there was no space showing any uploaded files, so I'm guessing not. Back to the postal option - very digital!
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Also, just looked at booking tickets through SWT and they aren't offering GroupSave. Got right through to entering card details without GroupSave appearing.

 

[Helvellyn]

Also, just looked at booking tickets through SWT and they aren't offering GroupSave. Got right through to entering card details without GroupSave appearing.

Look under railcards - which is where the old website had it too!

But, and maybe it is just me using Google Chrome on Windows 10, I have been unable buy tickets or use the journey planner on the new website. The journey From/To and Date boxes appear for a fraction of a second before becoming obscured by the blue page containing "Plan your journey", "Travelling with us" etc. Clicking X on this blue screen does absolutely nothing, and so the process can go no further. I found I could enter the journey details by entering them in to nationalrail website which then parses them in to the South West Trains website, but there are then some further details which need to be entered and the same obscured page occurs, so the process stalls again.

That's odd as I use Windows 10 and it works fine for me in both Chrome and Firefox. I don't use Microsoft Edge so no idea what it is like in that.

The drop downs at the top of the home page are still a bit sensitive though! Just seem to hover near them and they activate.

 

[Siemens Staines]

Any joy using

https://buytickets.southwesttrains.co.uk/journey

...instead of going via the home page?

No luck with this. It is exactly the same, I get the correct page for a split second before the blue page appears and totally obscures it with no way of clearing it out of the way. I do not have any problems with any other website, it is solely with SWT new website that this issue occurs.

Possibly it is related to my hardware/software configuration, but it is an off the shelf product bought three months ago so I would have expected it to work.

11.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display

Windows 10 Home (64Bit) English
Intel Celeron Processor N3050 (2M Cache, up to 2.16 GHz)
Intel(R) HD Graphics

Google Chrome Version 51.0.2704.84m

 

[jon0844]

I am interested in hearing where this occurs, and seeing some examples. I do not believe this is permitted, as by my understanding there is a certain timescale engineering works posters (with a summary of service alterations) must be displayed at stations although I can't recall the exact timescale off the top of my head.

That said it was from a while back so not sure whether things have changed on that front.

GN (and FCC) regularly had 'see website' written on the screens. There may be posters on the station too, but people weren't told to look for them.

I do remember when on the earlier pre-ATOS software, you'd often get an actual scrolling list of works (with times). Could take a long time to read, but often you'll have the time when waiting for a train. Now you just get a very VERY brief summary at best.

I'll try and take a photo next time I see it, but bear in mind that it can often be near impossible to get a good picture of an LED display with a cameraphone.

 

[Wookiee]

Look under railcards - which is where the old website had it too!

Misleading and not user-friendly. Who undertook the user research that they trumpeted the arrival of the new website with?!

 

[Dr_Intoxicated]

OK I have given it time to settle down and to get used to the new design, after all change is difficult. That said I do not like this redevelopment at all.

 

[Kite159]

One slight flaw with the booking engine with the new website is having to enter your details in every time you want to purchase a ticket. I can't see any way to "create" an account where the details are filled in automatically when you are signed in.

 

[swt_passenger]

One slight flaw with the booking engine with the new website is having to enter your details in every time you want to purchase a ticket. I can't see any way to "create" an account where the details are filled in automatically when you are signed in.

I had an account via the old site, but when I bought a ticket (last Friday) from the new site I didn't see an obvious way to use the existing account. It did occur to me that they weren't bothering with accounts any more, but that would be a bit strange? Did I miss something?

Which reminds me, I also didn't see any obvious way to select First Class fares. But by a wild guess I found them by double clicking on the standard fare shown. Weird...

 

[Kite159]

I had an account via the old site, but when I bought a ticket (last Friday) from the new site I didn't see an obvious way to use the existing account. It did occur to me that they weren't bothering with accounts any more, but that would be a bit strange? Did I miss something?

Which reminds me, I also didn't see any obvious way to select First Class fares. But by a wild guess I found them by double clicking on the standard fare shown. Weird...

At least I'm not the only one puzzled by the lack of customer accounts, especially since it reduces the mild hassle of entering details in every time you want to buy a ticket.

 

[swt_passenger]

At least I'm not the only one puzzled by the lack of customer accounts, especially since it reduces the mild hassle of entering details in every time you want to buy a ticket.

Yeah, it's quite reassuring to know you aren't alone in finding these glitches...

 

[embers25]

Yeah, it's quite reassuring to know you aren't alone in finding these glitches...

Apparently future "enhancements" will include the via option and customer accounts...the word "enhancements" in their reply did make me laugh given they were the ones that took them away in the first place whilst destroying their website. Also try getting it to sell their own £16 offer fares for some routes as it won't due to their being a quicker train option despite it saying it offers the cheapest option even if slower (eg Havant to Exeter). So it's not just normal fares it doesn't offer the cheapest option, it won't even offer their own offer fare!

 

[Kite159]

Another issue I've found is I'm on the Contact Us page (https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/contact--help/contact-us/contact-us/), and it asks to upload scans of a ticket, there is nothing to confirm that the upload was successful (or unsuccessful). I've submitted a delay claim and have no idea if my scan actually uploaded (and I doubt I will get an email with a reference number on to give me something I can chase up on when SWT do their usual and take seemingly forever to answer enquires).

And you would have imagined it would be easy enough to put a little calender to select the date from to ensure it is in the correct format, and maybe an address field so that any RTVs are sent in the post.

Although I suppose that would be counter-productive as it makes it easier for passengers to claim when they are delayed for over an hour due to staff shortages

 

[embers25]

Another issue I've found is I'm on the Contact Us page (https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/contact--help/contact-us/contact-us/), and it asks to upload scans of a ticket, there is nothing to confirm that the upload was successful (or unsuccessful). I've submitted a delay claim and have no idea if my scan actually uploaded (and I doubt I will get an email with a reference number on to give me something I can chase up on when SWT do their usual and take seemingly forever to answer enquires).

And you would have imagined it would be easy enough to put a little calender to select the date from to ensure it is in the correct format, and maybe an address field so that any RTVs are sent in the post.

Although I suppose that would be counter-productive as it makes it easier for passengers to claim when they are delayed for over an hour due to staff shortages

I had this same problem too.I have no idea what things were uploaded so I added details in text too. I also didn't get an email confirming my claim had been raised. Did you?

Also I find it ridiculous that whilst we can only use their new website with all its flaws, when you call them they book tickets using their old website with all it's functionality that has been removed for us. What is really bad is that, despite the £16 ticket being available between any two SWT stations, their website very often won't allow you to buy it due to their being a faster none SWT service and so you have to call up and get them to book it on the old website they still use!