Travelling on Crosscountry?

[james60059]

For arguments sake, if I was on a West Midlands Day Ranger, and wanted to travel from Wolverhampton to Coventry (a valid route), could I be refused travel if I haven't a reservation even though I have a valid ticket?.

 

[Roast Veg]

For arguments sake, if I was on a West Midlands Day Ranger, and wanted to travel from Wolverhampton to Coventry (a valid route), could I be refused travel if I haven't a reservation even though I have a valid ticket?.

You could be refused boarding, and could be turfed off at a station en route if the TM thinks the service is too busy. Both scenarios are unlikely at present.

 

[father_jack]

Traveled on Cross Country yesterday. 4 Car + 5 Car. Both almost empty on arrival at Oxford at 18.15. Myself and just a few others boarded and traveled to Reading, no ticket inspection, no reservations asked for, in fact no visible staff to be seen at all. Everything closed at Oxford station but Reading almost back to normal. E tickets not working at either station causing staff to come and hover right over you at the barriers.

I was in the reservations system yesterday (Monday), there was no available space northbound Bristol Parkway/ Cheltenham to Birmingham or Reading/Oxford to Birmingham all day long. Opposite direction of travel to you granted.

 

[LA50041]

For arguments sake, if I was on a West Midlands Day Ranger, and wanted to travel from Wolverhampton to Coventry (a valid route), could I be refused travel if I haven't a reservation even though I have a valid ticket?.

If you know at least 10 mins beforehand you can always use the ten minute reservation

 

[Andy Pacer]

If you know at least 10 mins beforehand you can always use the ten minute reservation

I had this same conundrum earlier in the week on a West Mids Daytripper. In the end I just used WMR but it is nice to have the option.

 

[plugwash]

If you know at least 10 mins beforehand you can always use the ten minute reservation

Do crosscountry release more reservations to the "10 minuite reservation" system once it's confirmed the train will be a double and/or have a seperate quota of reservations for that from the normal reservation system?

If not then it seems unlikely you will get a reservation this way.

 

[LA50041]

Do crosscountry release more reservations to the "10 minuite reservation" system once it's confirmed the train will be a double and/or have a seperate quota of reservations for that from the normal reservation system?

If not then it seems unlikely you will get a reservation this way.

The trains I used yesterday were nothing like at capacity so realistically you could’ve just got on and as there were no ticket check that I saw, except a cursory “have you got a reservation, and if not try and use TMR” at Bristol.

I used TMR 4 times yesterday, once with about 12 mins before departure from Exeter and got reservation on all trains.

 

[CrispyUK]

Do crosscountry release more reservations to the "10 minuite reservation" system once it's confirmed the train will be a double and/or have a seperate quota of reservations for that from the normal reservation system?

If not then it seems unlikely you will get a reservation this way.

The XC communication shared in post #96 suggests that certainly in some cases (if not all, it’s not totally clear) there will be additional seats available for reservation on the day using TMR compared to what can be reserved in advance.

Travelling on Crosscountry?

You don't need a reservation, end of. There's no way in hell I'd waste my time getting 10 reservations a week to get something that doesn't even guarantee a specific seat. XC have done a very good job at alienating customers but it doesn't take much to see through their ludicrous bluff and...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Ianno87]

Trip up to Darlington and back today - chance to see some Double Voyagers (from the outside) on the ECML.

Genuinely flabbergasted with how empty they are running, especially alongside LNER who have been pushing fare deals to get folks back on their trains.

 

[route101]

Took XC between Edinburgh and Glasgow earlier, i didnt have resercation, coach i was in, all seats were showing availible.

 

[infobleep]

I wouldn't put it like that.

But I believe the issue is that some TOCs have got Union agreement to reduce social distancing measures and/or introduce ticket checks on trains, and some haven't...

The whole thing is a mess, but the result is LNER are around 50% of capacity in the coaches they open up for reservations while XC is less than 20%.

I've had ticket checks on two GWR services within the same day. This was between Salisbury and Bath and Bath and Westbury.

I've travel on the North Downs Line on mutiple other days and not once had a ticket check, although the guards have come through the train.

Is it possible that TOCs have only had agreements to do ticket checks on some trains and routes and not others?

 

[Merseysider]

I searched for Birmingham to Derby this morning. If you want an Off Peak Return, CrossCountry will tell you the trains are sold out.

However, if you search for a one way journey, CrossCountry’s Advance fares appear (which out and back would cost more than a return) and the train is magically no longer sold out.

Voila.

 

[trainophile]

Fair do’s - I just used Trainsplit at 12:30 today (confirmation email time) to buy an Advance on the 1312 XC from Basingstoke to Southampton Central. It came with the same seat reservation for both parts of the split.

Same tickets not even available on TPE website. Top marks Trainsplit.

Also top marks Basingstoke station, super slick operations and very helpful gate staff when I went to pick up the tickets.

 

[_toommm_]

Fair do’s - I just used Trainsplit at 12:30 today (confirmation email time) to buy an Advance on the 1312 XC from Basingstoke to Southampton Central. It came with the same seat reservation for both parts of the split.

Same tickets not even available on TPE website. Top marks Trainsplit.

Also top marks Basingstoke station, super slick operations and very helpful gate staff when I went to pick up the tickets.

I've found TPE struggles to get on-the-day advances for XC (not sure if it's the same for other operators). They were quoting me full price for Chesterfield to Leeds, but I went on TrainLine and they found several advances straight away.