was I correct to be refused this plusbus

[34D]

Just now, at the booking office of a Northern-operated station in West Yorks, I requested a day return from there to a station outside the county, and also a west yorks plusbus ticket.

Plusbus tickets in west Yorkshire are (as far as I am aware) valid from any of the rail stations in west yorks for unlimited bus travel in west yorks (regardless of whether the ticket is labelled Leeds plusbus, wakefield plusbus, etc).

The member of staff refused, saying she could only sell a Leeds plusbus if she also sold me a rail ticket from my local station to Leeds, though she did offer to sell my rail ticket from Leeds instead of from the station we were both in at that time.
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Just to advise that an RPA on the train I am currently travelling on was happy to issue me the plusbus I require, interestingly giving me the option of Leeds or Wakefield plusbus.

I chose Leeds, purely because I will shortly be using it on an Arriva bus in wakefield

 

[hairyhandedfool]

PlusBus should only be issued where a rail ticket to or from the PlusBus station is held. For example, if you held a Greenfield-Leeds ticket you could have Leeds PlusBus ticket, but not a Stalybridge PlusBus ticket, even though you hold a ticket valid into both of the PlusBus zones.

 

[yorkie]

PlusBus tickets for West Yorkshire are only printed with an origin/destination of Leeds/Wakfield, despite being valid at any station in West Yorkshire.

The question is: does your ticket have to be specifically to/from Leeds/Wakefield to be able to buy such a PlusBus? I don't know the answer for sure, but if the answer is "yes" then it makes a mockery of PlusBus, defeats the purpose of it, and makes many of their claims false.

Whatever the rules, guards appear to typically be more likely to apply common sense than ticket clerks.

 

[IanD]

PlusBus tickets for West Yorkshire are only printed with an origin/destination of Leeds/Wakfield, despite being valid at any station in West Yorkshire.

Leeds/Bradford/Halifax/Wakefield/Dewsbury/Huddersfield/Keighley/Castleford last time I checked. But still daft that you can't get one for any station in West Yorks!

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Many PlusBus schemes have a PlusBus ticket for every station in the area (Luton PlusBus also has Leagrave PlusBus and Luton Airport Parkway PlusBus for example), but the PTE size PlusBus areas tend to only have the larger stations or places where bus connections are more likely.

IIRC, most PlusBus areas came from pre-existing 'bus links' and they were often only for people arriving at the named station and then going by bus to their destination.

 

[34D]

Thank you all. I now see that the clerk was technically correct http://www.plusbus.info/stations/2

Is it worth asking Northern about it?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Well, if you moan enough they might give you a voucher as compensation for the inconvenience of not being able to get the ticket (even though the clerk was right), but otherwise I doubt it will change anything.

 

[185]

Thank you all. I now see that the clerk was technically correct http://www.plusbus.info/stations/2

Is it worth asking Northern about it?

Probably worth mentioning as there are that many irregularities and mistakes in Plusbus, that technicalities like that should have been ironed out long ago. The clerk is correct but the rules themselves are a farce.

 

[Smethwickian]

The PTE size PlusBus areas tend to only have the larger stations or places where bus connections are more likely.

Certainly the case in the Centro area, yes. PlusBus can be added only to a handful of main destinations such as Birmingham Stations, Wolverhampton etc, but regardless of which one is chosen the ticket is subsequently valid throughout the West Midlands County on all operators participating in Network West Midlands' nBus ticketing.

 

[pemma]

Leeds/Bradford/Halifax/Wakefield/Dewsbury/Huddersfield/Keighley/Castleford last time I checked. But still daft that you can't get one for any station in West Yorks!

Same in Greater Manchester you can get one for Altrincham but not Hale or Navigation Road, which are both very close to Altrincham.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Same in Greater Manchester you can get one for Altrincham but not Hale or Navigation Road, which are both very close to Altrincham.

IIRC, the Greater Manchester ones are Bolton, Wigan, Manchester, Rochdale, Stalybridge, Stockport and Altrincham.

 

[CyrusWuff]

It's worth noting that a number of PlusBus "destinations", primarily in PTE areas, were removed a while ago due to non-use. I'm fairly certain that, at the time, it was explicitly stated that you could still sell PlusBus tickets for a journey involving same by using one of the railheads that remained as the interchange point.

It still remains the case that you can't buy a PlusBus ticket for a rail journey wholly within the relevant zone, so you couldn't buy a "West Yorkshire" PlusBus for a rail journey from Huddersfield - Leeds, but you could for Stalybridge - Leeds.

 

[sheff1]

It's worth noting that a number of PlusBus "destinations", primarily in PTE areas, were removed a while ago due to non-use. I'm fairly certain that, at the time, it was explicitly stated that you could still sell PlusBus tickets for a journey involving same by using one of the railheads that remained as the interchange point.

That sounds feasible. Often, though, with that sort of thing an intent/promise (call it what you will) exists at the time of change but is not incorporated into the formal documentation and so future system programmers/ticket issuers etc are not aware of it and it disappears.

I would have thought a simple solution wouuld be to have one West Yorkshire / Greater Manchester etc Plusbus which could be issued with a ticket to/from any station in the area.

 

[pemma]

I would have thought a simple solution wouuld be to have one West Yorkshire / Greater Manchester etc Plusbus which could be issued with a ticket to/from any station in the area.

Would it be that simple though? Would there be a risk of having PlusBus available from certain stations but no participating operator's service stopping anywhere near the station?

 

[sheff1]

Which stations are you thinking off (bearing in mind that all operators in the PTE areas accept Plusbus) ?

 

[pemma]

Which stations are you thinking off (bearing in mind that all operators in the PTE areas accept Plusbus) ?

But only if you remain in the PTE area so for the last station in the PTE area there may be very limited bus choices that accept your PlusBus ticket.

Also could making PlusBus available to PTE stations result in some non-PTE stations getting added accidentally as being part of the same station group? It would be quite funny if Ashley got accidentally added with Altrincham, given it's only public transport link is the train. I'm not sure if there are any places similar that are within a PTE boundary though. Some bits of Merseyside are quite rural.

 

[34D]

I can't think of any station in WY that _doesnt_ have buses available within a 5/10 minute walk. Pontefract Baghill is perhaps close to 10 mins.

As a general rule, it would be nice if a plusbus could be issued if a train ticket to any station in that plusbus zone (from outside) was held.

Finally, it is a shame that boundary places like Todmorden can't have a plusbus zone that is centred on the station, and not just over to one side.

 

[CyrusWuff]

As a general rule, it would be nice if a plusbus could be issued if a train ticket to any station in that plusbus zone (from outside) was held.

I would hope that, at least for the PTE areas, a Ticket Office (or Conductor) would have no issues selling a PlusBus for that area regardless of the "actual" railhead.

Similarly, I would suggest it reasonable that, where multiple stations exist in a given PlusBus zone (such as Reading, which has Tilehurst in the zone) you could get a PlusBus ticket for that zone even if the station(s) in question aren't official interchange stations.

 

[pemma]

Finally, it is a shame that boundary places like Todmorden can't have a plusbus zone that is centred on the station, and not just over to one side.

I agree in principle. However, could this create a lot of complications. For instance, what if one bus operator agrees to accept Plus Bus beyond the PTE boundary but another running along the same road doesn't?

 

[Scotty]

I have bought a rail ticket to Fairfield, and asked for a Manchester PlusBus addon which was sold without quibble.

 

[kieron]

Finally, it is a shame that boundary places like Todmorden can't have a plusbus zone that is centred on the station, and not just over to one side.

I agree in principle. However, could this create a lot of complications. For instance, what if one bus operator agrees to accept Plus Bus beyond the PTE boundary but another running along the same road doesn't?

They could negotiate something with the bus companies, in the same way they do for non-PTE Plusbus tickets. I doubt a Todmorden Plusbus ticket agreed on that basis would reach the PTE boundary, though, as it's not that close.

There may be more scope for a cross-border Plusbus ticket for Newton-le-Willows, given that most of the 'buses leave Merseyside en route to St. Helens anyway, and Golborne is only a couple of miles away in the other direction. As things stand, Plusbus isn't available for any station on the Chat Moss line between Liverpool and Manchester.