I was going to Chatham today, from Z3 West London, and thought the
cheapest fare might be to get a Travelcard and use that as far as
Bromley South (where all the Victoria-Chatham trains stop, so no
problems with 2-ticket rules) plus a Bromley South to Chatham CDR.

The latter was 7.20 when I looked online.

I explained this all to the chap at the ticket office, after he'd tried
to sell me a significantly more expensive dedicated day return.

"Oh, you want to do it like that, do you?" He asked, and looked
something up in a big book. The train was due so I paid up and ran.

He had sold me a Z6 Travelcard [which was correct in any event] plus BZ6
to Chatham CDR which was charged at £8.00.

Why is that more expensive than the Bromley South CDR, particularly
considering that Bromley is on the inner edge of Z5?

Q1: Did he deliberately (or even accidentally) diddle me out of 80p?

Q2: As the station nearest BZ6 is actually St Mary Cray (or is it
Swanley, the online map has a big ATOC watermark obscuring the exact
boundary), and the train I caught stopped there too, how much cheaper
yet is a St Mary Cray to Chatham CDR?
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
y.com...
Q1: Did he deliberately (or even accidentally) diddle me out of 80p?

Possibly - since zone extensions are meant to be issued. In any case CDRs
are usually cheaper. Is this policy perhaps?

Q2: As the station nearest BZ6 is actually St Mary Cray (or is it
Swanley, the online map has a big ATOC watermark obscuring the exact
boundary), and the train I caught stopped there too, how much cheaper
yet is a St Mary Cray to Chatham CDR?

5.40 (1.80 cheaper)

The train has to stop at St Mary Cray (which is the last station in zone 6).

--
TC

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 18:43:34 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

I was going to Chatham today, from Z3 West London, and thought the
cheapest fare might be to get a Travelcard and use that as far as
Bromley South (where all the Victoria-Chatham trains stop, so no
problems with 2-ticket rules) plus a Bromley South to Chatham CDR.

The latter was 7.20 when I looked online.

I explained this all to the chap at the ticket office, after he'd tried
to sell me a significantly more expensive dedicated day return.

"Oh, you want to do it like that, do you?" He asked, and looked
something up in a big book. The train was due so I paid up and ran.

...

I did something similar today. I had a weekend travelcard, and wanted
a BZ6 (or Bromley South) to Chatham return. A chap at East Croydon
told me this would be expensive, and I would be better off going to
Victoria and buying a ticket from Victoria to Chatham. I said that was
fair enough, but could I buy the ticket at Croydon to save queuing
again at Victoria. He told me he couldn't sell the ticket to Chatham,
as it was on "a different line"(!). I asked how much the BZ6 ticket
would be, he reluctantly looked at up, and said GBP5-summat (with Y-P
railcard). I got one of those, as I suspected any saving would hardly
compensate for (probably) missing the connection from Victoria while
buying another ticket there.

I didn't really understand what he was trying to sell me, and why he
claimed he couldn't sell a ticket valid from another station.

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In message , Barry Salter
writes
Why is that more expensive than the Bromley South CDR, particularly
considering that Bromley is on the inner edge of Z5?

Q1: Did he deliberately (or even accidentally) diddle me out of 80p?

Sort of...The ticket he sold you is valid by any train to Chatham, be it
via Dartford or Bromley South, and £8.00 is, indeed, the correct fare
from Boundary Zone 6 to Chatham with an Off Peak Day, Family, or
Weekend, Travelcard (being the difference between an All Zone Off Peak
Day Travelcard and an Off Peak Day Travelcard from Chatham).

It also means you don't have to get a train that stops at the station
where you change from the Travelcard to the CDR.

Having looked up the timetable online, I was only offered trains from
Victoria, all of which stop at Bromley South. I can see that the BZ6
ticket gives some extra flexibility (so perhaps that's why it's more
expensive?), but I didn't need it!
--
Roland Perry

In message , Arthur Figgis
] writes
I did something similar today. I had a weekend travelcard, and wanted
a BZ6 (or Bromley South) to Chatham return.

There's a co-incidence!

A chap at East Croydon told me this would be expensive, and I would be
better off going to Victoria and buying a ticket from Victoria to
Chatham.

Poor advice, obviously. That ticket is going to be about £14 I guess.

I said that was fair enough, but could I buy the ticket at Croydon to
save queuing again at Victoria. He told me he couldn't sell the ticket
to Chatham, as it was on "a different line"(!).

Wrong.

I asked how much the BZ6 ticket would be, he reluctantly looked at up,
and said GBP5-summat (with Y-P railcard). I got one of those, as I
suspected any saving would hardly compensate for (probably) missing the
connection from Victoria while buying another ticket there.

I didn't really understand what he was trying to sell me,

Sounds like a Victoria to Chatham CDR. And ignore the Travelcard's
ability to cover the route as far as BZ6.

and why he claimed he couldn't sell a ticket valid from another
station.

Bad training?

--
Roland Perry

In message , TC
writes
Q1: Did he deliberately (or even accidentally) diddle me out of 80p?

Possibly - since zone extensions are meant to be issued. In any case CDRs
are usually cheaper. Is this policy perhaps?

Even when I've specifically asked for a Bromley South-Chatham CDR, *and*
all the trains stop there (so we can ignore all the complex rules about
joined-up tickets).

Q2: As the station nearest BZ6 is actually St Mary Cray (or is it
Swanley, the online map has a big ATOC watermark obscuring the exact
boundary), and the train I caught stopped there too, how much cheaper
yet is a St Mary Cray to Chatham CDR?

5.40 (1.80 cheaper)

The train has to stop at St Mary Cray (which is the last station in zone 6).

Yes, I know, and only the slow trains do. Which is why I originally
chose Bromley South where they all stop. (And I have to admit I'd
forgotten about the BZ tickets, but would have expected it to be cheaper
than 7.20 not more!)
--
Roland Perry

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 07:00:18 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:

It seems to be fairly common amongst the ex-Southern TOCs to employ
clueless members of staff at inner suburban stations, including London
Termini. And that's not a sweeping generalisation based on a few bad
experiences, it's based on nigh on 3.5 years of having to deal with the
results of their cock ups.

I'm not sure it was complete clue-deficiency, as he /was/ trying to
sell me something else, and seemed to know (or thought he knew) enough
to think there was a better alternative. I would expect most less
clued up staff would just sell what I asked for, even if there are
cheaper options. Maybe he just thought he knew, but was wrong.

As for the claim that he couldn't do a remote issue, that would have
involved him actually having to look something up and entering the fare
manually, requiring a whole...Oooh...10 extra button presses on his
APTIS, if that.

West Croydon have always seemed happy to sell me remote tickets, but
Sutton seem to explicitly refuse.

A while ago I wanted a ticket to near Cardiff and my local station
told me to buy it as two legs, without me even asking (someone esle
was paying!). Having said that, they are usually pretty good, and can
usually cope with obscure destinations.

FWIW, DB recently quoted me ~GBP350 for a ticket by e-mail. Phoning
them up got it down to GBP175 plus a cheap advance Eurostar ticket,
which should be a lot less than the difference. But then Zone 5 to
Zagreb is probably a fairly uncommon trip ;-)

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 11:37:16 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , Arthur Figgis
] writes
I did something similar today. I had a weekend travelcard, and wanted
a BZ6 (or Bromley South) to Chatham return.

There's a co-incidence!

Model railway show?



--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In message , Arthur Figgis
] writes
Model railway show?

Of course :-)
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 08:04:20 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , Arthur Figgis
] writes
Model railway show?

Of course :-)

I suppose there are very few other reasons to want to go to
Chatham....
--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK