Which TOC Gets My Money?

[Envoy]

Looking to buy a Bristol Temple Meads to Plymouth return for today, I see that I can pay £55 return and use either the 8.44 Cross Country departure from Bristol or the 9.13 FGW and any train back. What I would like to know is that when two operators operate on the same route, how do they know which train I am on with such a ticket and who would get the revenue?

Furthermore, I see that by buying a BRI > TAU return for £19.90 plus a TAU > PLY return for £18, I can do the same trip for £37.90 thus saving £17.10 whilst using the same trains. So, who would get this revenue and why do we have to constantly double check for split ticket options?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Around 10% of the revenue is given to the seller as commission (it varies according to seller). The remaining revenue from a ticket sale is split using a process called ORCATS. No-one on this forum has been able to determine the exact figures, but a percentage is attributed to each company for which the ticket is valid, based on things like frequency, number of changes required, journey time, etc.

The split would be valid on those trains, but remember that on the return your journey must include a train that calls at Taunton.

You don't have to check for splits, but obviously in quite a few cases it can save you money. There is a website that will do some spliting for you, but where is the fun in that?

Fares are not mileage based (that is a near impossible task), but mostly set according to market forces (and whatever the setting company can get away with), so splits become inevitable.

 

[Envoy]

Many thanks for rapid response. It seems to me that with these tickets, they would not know which TOC's trains I was actually being conveyed.

 

[yorkie]

These threads are worth a look:

• Train companies and tickets (June 2009)
• Orcats (August 2011)
• Revenue distribution among companies (November 2011)
• Article on ORCATS (April 2012)
• Who gets Season ticket money? (August 2012)

Hope that helps!

More results available via Google search for orcats site:railforums.co.uk

 

[OwlMan]

A copy of ATOC's "ORCATS" users guide appears to be online at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/105631983/ORCATS-User-Guide-v2

 

[swt_passenger]

Can passengers use ORCATS when stopped by revenue staff?

I can only let you have a fraction of my excuse, because most of it has to go to another TOC?

 

[yorkie]

I know you're joking but I feel it's important to point out that revenue allocation does not in any way determine validity.

And even if your ticket isn't valid on - or wasn't being used for travel by - a particular TOC, if they are authorised by the TOC you are using to handle revenue matters, then you still have to comply with them.

For example, EC might not get any revenue from a Huntington - Peterborough Season plus a Huntingdon - London Day Return, yet the combination is valid on a non-stop EC service.

A ticket might not be valid for travel on SWT, and you might not have stepped foot in a SWT train, but SWT could still issue a Penalty Fare to a Southern customer at, say, Clapham Junction, if Southern have authorised SWT to do so.