Why can't I select London Terminals on Trainsplit?

[trainophile]

Found the cheapest fare from Euston to Chester on BR Fares (£8.55 with senior railcard) but the origin station is given as London Terminals, which isn't given as an option on Trainsplit.

I can select London Terminals on TPE mixing deck website but there's no sign of that cheap ticket.

I know ticketing is complicated, but what does BR Fares actually tell you, if you are unable to then find the tickets it shows?

 

[biko]

As I understand it, BR Fares shows all fares in the database and thus those that can be offered theoretically. This £8.55 ticket is an advance, so it is not automatically available every day. Besides that, it is not valid from Euston as the routing is AP CH & TFW ONLY, so you need to use Chiltern from Marylebone.

 

[trainophile]

Thanks. It comes up in the list when I put Euston as the origin station, but I appreciate they may be showing it as they expect you to first travel to Marylebone.

Confusing.

ADVANCE Z01​

Route AP CH & TFW ONLY​

Validity BOOKDTRAINONLY (no break of journey) Restrictions CA NCH ADVANCE​

Adult SNR £8.55​

Child £6.50​

Do they ever actually offer this ticket?

 

[zero]

I don't think I have ever managed to buy a ticket at the lowest possible advance fare.

 

[alistairlees]

Thanks. It comes up in the list when I put Euston as the origin station, but I appreciate they may be showing it as they expect you to first travel to Marylebone.

Confusing.

ADVANCE Z01​

Route AP CH & TFW ONLY​

Validity BOOKDTRAINONLY (no break of journey) Restrictions CA NCH ADVANCE​

Adult SNR £8.55​

Child £6.50​

Do they ever actually offer this ticket?

Brfares shows what’s in the fares database. Not what is necessarily available. You should use a retailing site to determine what’s available for the journey you wish to make. On trainsplit “London all stations” is used to mean “London Terminals”.

 

[trainophile]

Right, thanks for the clarification. I thought BR Fares was a true "bible" of what was available, but given each journey I query seems to offer about 200 different variations I guess it's just to be used as a rough guide.

 

[Watershed]

Right, thanks for the clarification. I thought BR Fares was a true "bible" of what was available, but given each journey I query seems to offer about 200 different variations I guess it's just to be used as a rough guide.

It is indeed a "bible", but Advances are naturally a commercial product and therefore it is down to the TOCs as to whether they release any seats for each tier.

 

[Kilopylae]

I don't think I have ever managed to buy a ticket at the lowest possible advance fare.

I acquired a GWR Exeter to London Terminals via Taunton Advance at the lowest rate, once.

 

[ainsworth74]

I thought BR Fares was a true "bible" of what was available, but given each journey I query seems to offer about 200 different variations I guess it's just to be used as a rough guide.

Well it is definitely the "bible" of what fares exist. But particularly with APs it isn't a sign of what will actually be available as that will always be a commercial decision by the relevant TOC as to whether they actually make that fare available and how many fares at that price level are sold if they do make it available. The fare in question may well be available but at that price I can well believe it would only be available on a handful of services probably at very quiet times of day.

 

[Alex365Dash]

I don't think I have ever managed to buy a ticket at the lowest possible advance fare.

Managed to bag a few Southern Advances at the lowest fare (£3.30 w/ railcard from Portsmouth & Southsea to Clapham Junction via Horsham and back, although I don’t think that’s too difficult for pre-COVID), and also a GWR Advance at £3.75 (the lowest fare at the time) with a railcard from Portsmouth & Southsea to Cardiff Central purchased a few weeks prior to the recent withdrawal of advance fares on the route.

Usually a matter of trying to get an Advance as soon as it becomes available, although your chances do depend on the service(s) you’re trying to purchase Advance tickets for.

 

[maniacmartin]

BR Fares doesn't know anything about permitted routes. As far as it's concerned, Euston is a member of the London Terminals station group, therefore all London Terminals tickets should be offered, even if their route code is for a TOC or route that doesn't go into Euston.

Websites with a journey planner will check the routing and not offer this ticket into Euston.