London Banter - View Single Post - Oyster: still an unreliable rip-off

Roland Perry · April 26th 14, 11:06 AM posted to uk.transport.london

In message , at 05:37:22
on Sat, 26 Apr 2014, remarked:
Surely this is simply a variation on the theme of "splitting
tickets", which National Rail ticket offices fail to do if you buy
for a journey starting in the morning peak but ending off-peak.

For example, Nottingham-Manchester:

NOT Depart 08.47 £53.50 Anytime Return
MAN Arrive 10.36

NOT Depart 08.47 £23.00 Anytime Return
SHF Arrive 09.37
SHF Depart 09.41 £18.30 Off Peak Day Return
MAN Arrive 10.36

Saving £12.20; you'd have to travel an hour later to get the
"through" off-peak ticket, albeit that saves even more (being priced
at just £29.70).

What's more worrying is that if there's ever a National PAYG scheme,
whether by paywave or ITSO, then it'll undoubtedly fail to volunteer
to save the traveller that £12.20 - unless perhaps they manage to
dash out of the barriers and back in the four minutes available.

Surely it's time that train operators were required to offer passengers the
cheapest fares, allowing for options like this and have done with it?

They prefer to sell end-to-end tickets, and have all sorts of excuses
why splitting tickets is a bad idea. Near London, the rule of "train
arrives London after 10am [or whatever]" does level the playing field
for everyone en-route. But in the rest of the country people have a
"train departs this station after 9am [or whatever]" rule, which is at
least simpler to describe even if it provides opportunities for splits.

Why should only those good at gaming the system benefit? It's
overcharging by stealth which shouldn't be allowed.

Ultimately, I suppose, there would need to be a system which made the
"polluter pay" according to the congestion on each individual station
pair. But that would probably introduce anomalies depending on whether
your train was fast or semi-fast. ie the fast train would have to be
high-price all the way, whereas a semi-fast might change to a lower
pricing band halfway home when the first tranche of passengers had
already got off.
--
Roland Perry