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Why no off-peak option?

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VideozVideoz

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Hello There. I am travelling Preston - Lancaster return off-peak yet the only ticket I can find is an £8 anytime day return. Why are there no off-peak tickets? Is it something to do with the fact its the west coast mainline?
 
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Lrd

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Some ticket flows do not have Off-Peak day returns. It's something to do with the previous set up and how it all transferred to the new system (or 'simplified').

The longest flow I can think of that only has Anytime fares is the Cardiff to Portsmouth FGW route.
 

calc7

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This fare is priced by Northern Rail. On most of their "flows" outside PTE areas, they only offer Anytime Day Returns. This is actually beneficial to the customer - they are priced similarly to Off-Peak Day Returns elsewhere.
 

VideozVideoz

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Thanks guys. Either way £8 return is a lot for Preston - Lancaster! I see also Oxenholme - Carlise also doesn't have an off-peak ticket. Again, anytime only.
 

calc7

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Thanks guys. Either way £8 return is a lot for Preston - Lancaster! I see also Oxenholme - Carlise also doesn't have an off-peak ticket. Again, anytime only.

No, it has a fare structure typical for non-commuter lines in the North - an Anytime Day Single, but an Off-Peak (Day) Return: see here
 

David Goddard

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The longest flow I can think of that only has Anytime fares is the Cardiff to Portsmouth FGW route.

Probably also down to length of journey.

Anytime Return £48.70 on direct trains only
Off Peak Return £95.00/Super Off Peak Return £95.00 valid direct and via Reading/Basingstoke.
Anytime Return valid all routes £234.00
 

VideozVideoz

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No, it has a fare structure typical for non-commuter lines in the North - an Anytime Day Single, but an Off-Peak (Day) Return: see here

It may be a non-commuter line but many people still commute from OXN-CAR as I've seen them board the train! I guess not in the same capacity as a normal commuter route though...
 

All Line Rover

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It may be a non-commuter line but many people still commute from OXN-CAR as I've seen them board the train! I guess not in the same capacity as a normal commuter route though...

What an odd fares set-up! No Anytime fare, £14.90 for an effectively unrestricted Off-Peak fare (restriction code 2T), and £102.10 for a 7 Day Season, which is almost 7x the price of the daily fare. How is this permitted?
 

Southern

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Hello There. I am travelling Preston - Lancaster return off-peak yet the only ticket I can find is an £8 anytime day return. Why are there no off-peak tickets? Is it something to do with the fact its the west coast mainline?

You may find it advantageous to purchase a Railcard, brings the fare down to £5.30.
 

VideozVideoz

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You may find it advantageous to purchase a Railcard, brings the fare down to £5.30.

Alas i am no longer 25... nor am I an OAP! Full price for me only. Whatever happened to that 'national railcard' they were going to launch that was going to give either a 1/3 or 1/2 off full price tickets. I believe it was going to be priced at £50
 

General Zod

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Alas i am no longer 25... nor am I an OAP! Full price for me only. Whatever happened to that 'national railcard' they were going to launch that was going to give either a 1/3 or 1/2 off full price tickets. I believe it was going to be priced at £50

That would be a godsend to regular train passengers but I imagine the TOCs would be seething at the vast drops in their revenue !
 

RJ

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Alas i am no longer 25... nor am I an OAP! Full price for me only. Whatever happened to that 'national railcard' they were going to launch that was going to give either a 1/3 or 1/2 off full price tickets. I believe it was going to be priced at £50

Become a member of railway staff then - you can get a Priv working for two days a week ;)

 

johnnycache

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I think under fares simplification you can't have an Off-Peak fare with no time restrictions because an Off-Peak fare is defined as a fare which has time restrictions
Therefore these fares have to be classified as Anytime
 

yorkie

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I think under fares simplification you can't have an Off-Peak fare with no time restrictions because an Off-Peak fare is defined as a fare which has time restrictions
Therefore these fares have to be classified as Anytime
Some TOCs took that view, and there were several 'solutions':-

1) Rename the Saver (SVS/SVR) as Anytime (SOS/SOR).
2) Rename the Saver (SVS/SVR) as Off Peak (SVS/SVR), introduce additional time restrictions, and introduce a new Anytime at an inflated price.
3) Rename the Saver (SVS/SVR) as Super Off Peak (SSS/SSR), introduce additional time restrictions, and introduce a new Off Peak at an inflated price, and a new Anytime (SOS/SOR) at an even more inflated price.

I am aware of flows where the fare from A to B and from A to C that is the former SVR is priced at ~£22. However A to B has this fare re-named SSR, and there are newly created SVR and SOR fares used as fare increases by stealth, while the fare from A to C remains the same price, but is an SOR! So anyone who wants to buy on board and/or travel at peak time from A to B can buy an A to C ticket, and not be 'penalised'.

However, going back to the original point that you can't have an Off Peak ticket that is valid at any time, it's not actually true, and some TOCs have persisted with this, and their SVRs remain identical to the original SVRs except with the Off Peak name. ATW is a good example, say Cardiff to Crewe, there is no SOR for this flow, the only standard class return fare is the SVR, which has an 8A restriction, which is valid at any time, but retains the original SVR restriction of not being valid for break of journey.

So yes, some Off Peak tickets are valid at any time.

There's also an Anytime ticket that purports not to be valid at any time but I believe this is unenforceable as there is documentation on the National Rail website that states that these tickets are valid at any time.
 

Michael.Y

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Are you employed by a TOC?

By their wholly-owned in-house catering subsidiary, but yes, I get the badge, uniform, branded payslips etc., free travel on their trains but no Priv rights.
 

RJ

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I think under fares simplification you can't have an Off-Peak fare with no time restrictions because an Off-Peak fare is defined as a fare which has time restrictions
Therefore these fares have to be classified as Anytime

8A has no time restrictions on it. There are certain other flows which have a time restriction that don't actually apply to any services - see the Crewe to Lancaster Off Peak Return for example.
 
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