GNER train question
 

I booked two tickets from London Kings Cross to Leeds with return. I
had to use a separate credit card for each ticket because my company
wouldn't like paying for my wife's ticket while i'm on business :).

Anyway, since I booked them separately, they wouldn't seat us
together. How difficult will it be come trip time to get two seats
together? Are there usually open seats, are people willing to move a
bit, how flexible is it?

Thanks

GNER train question
 

On Sep 6, 3:56 pm, Russ wrote:
Anyway, since I booked them separately, they wouldn't seat us
together. How difficult will it be come trip time to get two seats
together?

If the ticket type is "GNER Advance" (or thereabouts) than you're only
allowed to sit in the reserved seat. GNER are notorious arseholes on
this point. If it's an ordinary ticket (Saver Return or whatever) you
can sit where you like.

Are there usually open seats, are people willing to move a bit, how flexible is it?

Most Leeds trains start there, and all GNER trains start at King's
Cross, so if you get there a little bit early and head for Coach H
(which is kept unreserved) you'll be fine.

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

GNER train question
 

"Mr Thant" wrote
Russ wrote:
Anyway, since I booked them separately, they wouldn't seat us
together. How difficult will it be come trip time to get two
seats
together?

If the ticket type is "GNER Advance" (or thereabouts) than you're
only
allowed to sit in the reserved seat. GNER are notorious arseholes
on
this point.

Not usually true in my experience; it's a myth started by one of the
denigrators of GNER in uk.railway. I travelled from Retford to
London and back today using GNER Advance tickets, sitting in
unreserved coach H each way, wth no difficulty. Of course, they are
entitled to make you occupy your reserved seat, and apparently it
happens occasionally - but never to me.

If it's an ordinary ticket (Saver Return or whatever) you
can sit where you like.

Are there usually open seats, are people willing to move a bit,
how flexible is it?

Most Leeds trains start there, and all GNER trains start at King's
Cross, so if you get there a little bit early and head for Coach H
(which is kept unreserved) you'll be fine.

Agreed - for any ticket type.

GNER train question
 

In article ,
(John Salmon) wrote:

If the ticket type is "GNER Advance" (or thereabouts) than you're
only allowed to sit in the reserved seat. GNER are notorious
arseholes on this point.

Not usually true in my experience; it's a myth started by one of
the denigrators of GNER in uk.railway. I travelled from Retford to
London and back today using GNER Advance tickets, sitting in
unreserved coach H each way, wth no difficulty. Of course, they are
entitled to make you occupy your reserved seat, and apparently it
happens occasionally - but never to me.

Also true on FGW. My daughter and her baby were booked on FGW from
Cornwall back to Cambridge in one of their new HST coaches with high
density mainly airline seats. It was impossible to accommodate the baby
without blocking the corridor so the train crew helped her moved to
somewhere more suitable.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

GNER train question
 

On 6 Sep, 23:53, "John Salmon" wrote:

Not usually true in my experience; it's a myth started by one of the
denigrators of GNER in uk.railway. I travelled from Retford to
London and back today using GNER Advance tickets, sitting in
unreserved coach H each way, wth no difficulty. Of course, they are
entitled to make you occupy your reserved seat, and apparently it
happens occasionally - but never to me.

On our trip to Edinburgh (First Advance), I'd removed the reservation
tickets from the seat to look at them - and left them on the table.
This was because we'd booked airline seats, but been given window
seats. More confusing than that was the fact that we had 'A' seats
(airline) but was told it stood for aisle. Great theory, except the
numbers meant window.. A doesn't mean window!

Anyway, he demanded our ticket AND reservations and then consulted a
notepad which seemed to have details of the reservations (he must have
seen the seat back tickets on the table, or could have asked). We
hadn't done anything wrong (or should we be fined £200 as mentioned on
the cards?), so he muttered something and wandered on, never to be
seen again for the whole journey.

On the way back, you couldn't have asked for a more friendly person to
check tickets, or serve tea and coffee.

When NatEx take over, I'd like to think they could be choosy about who
they keep but those damn TUPE rules will probably stop that
happening!!

Jonathan

GNER train question
 

On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:56:43 -0700, jonmorris
wrote:

On 6 Sep, 23:53, "John Salmon" wrote:

Not usually true in my experience; it's a myth started by one of the
denigrators of GNER in uk.railway. I travelled from Retford to
London and back today using GNER Advance tickets, sitting in
unreserved coach H each way, wth no difficulty. Of course, they are
entitled to make you occupy your reserved seat, and apparently it
happens occasionally - but never to me.

On our trip to Edinburgh (First Advance), I'd removed the reservation
tickets from the seat to look at them - and left them on the table.
This was because we'd booked airline seats, but been given window
seats. More confusing than that was the fact that we had 'A' seats
(airline) but was told it stood for aisle. Great theory, except the
numbers meant window.. A doesn't mean window!

Back in the good old days, seats facing each other across a table
shared a number; hence one was able to book a seat with face to
direction of travel, which is particularly useful for those who suffer
certain forms of kinetosis.

The new trains operated by Virgin and GNER (and possibly others, but
those two run 99% of the trains on which I reserve seats) have
uniquely-numbered seats, the result of which is that one cannot
reserve a seat with face to direction of travel, despite
thetrainline.com still offering it as a booking option - all seats are
listed as Airline (which simply means that the booking system doesn't
know whethere they will be Face or Back on the particular journey).

Personally, I always request forward-facing seats, and if I get a
backward-facing one, I move. I've had to explain myself once (in
somewhat over 50 journeys); and the staff member didn't complain.

GNER train question
 

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:35:42 +0100, James Farrar
wrote:

The new trains operated by Virgin and GNER (and possibly others, but
those two run 99% of the trains on which I reserve seats) have
uniquely-numbered seats, the result of which is that one cannot
reserve a seat with face to direction of travel

Which is just lazy on the TOCs' and Trainline's part, as Pendolinos
are always the same way round...

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

GNER train question
 

On Sep 6, 2007, jonmorris wrote:
This was because we'd booked airline seats, but been given window
seats. More confusing than that was the fact that we had 'A' seats
(airline) but was told it stood for aisle. Great theory, except the
numbers meant window.. A doesn't mean window!

Is it not the case these days that every seat is classified airline on
some trains, because the two sides of a table now have different numbers?

--
Kirk

GNER train question
 

On 7 Sep, 01:56, jonmorris wrote:
[...]
When NatEx take over, I'd like to think they could be choosy about who
they keep but those damn TUPE rules will probably stop that
happening!!

Those damn TUPE rules helpfully stop a company from taking on only the
yesmen or those whose faces fit, regardless of their ability or lack
thereof.

Every company has its own disciplinary procedures to deal with people
who are incapable of doing the job - the fact that GNER seems happy to
have the amount of arrogant arseholes it does suggests that GNER feels
that sort of behaviour is acceptable. The complaints posted here
passim about the attitude of CT and MML staff suggests that NEG feels
much the same way...

GNER train question
 

On 7 Sep, 06:16, (Neil Williams) wrote:
On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:35:42 +0100, James Farrar

wrote:
The new trains operated by Virgin and GNER (and possibly others, but
those two run 99% of the trains on which I reserve seats) have
uniquely-numbered seats, the result of which is that one cannot
reserve a seat with face to direction of travel

Which is just lazy on the TOCs' and Trainline's part, as Pendolinos
are always the same way round...

Except the Edinburgh - Euston and return which are always the wrong
way round.
(You can spot if the southbound set has been stepped up to another
service if you get the set that is back to front later in the day on
another service!)

Could the reservation computer cope with that?

Tony

GNER train question
 

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:35:42 +0100, James Farrar
wrote:

The new trains operated by Virgin and GNER (and possibly others, but
those two run 99% of the trains on which I reserve seats) have
uniquely-numbered seats, the result of which is that one cannot
reserve a seat with face to direction of travel, despite
thetrainline.com still offering it as a booking option - all seats are
listed as Airline (which simply means that the booking system doesn't
know whethere they will be Face or Back on the particular journey).

The GNER website gives you a choice of facing or back when you reserve
a seat.

It doesn't always allocate your choice though, IME :-(
--
Regards

Mike

mikedotroebuckatgmxdotnet

GNER train question
 

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:03:21 -0700, wrote:

Except the Edinburgh - Euston and return which are always the wrong
way round.

Er, why? But if they are *always* the wrong way round, any decent
reservations system would be able to know that.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

GNER train question
 

On 7 Sep, 14:03, wrote:
Could the reservation computer cope with that?

Surely it doesn't have to? As long as an F is always opposite a B, the
passenger for can just sit in whichever seat is facing forward or
backward regardless of which way round the set is. The reservations
computer never has to know.

(although on a Pendolino you'd also have the train's computer to
contend with)

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

GNER train question
 

"Mr Thant" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 7 Sep, 14:03, wrote:
Could the reservation computer cope with that?

Surely it doesn't have to? As long as an F is always opposite a B, the
passenger for can just sit in whichever seat is facing forward or
backward regardless of which way round the set is. The reservations
computer never has to know.

(although on a Pendolino you'd also have the train's computer to
contend with)


But they don't give the options of F or B on newer trains with uniquely
numbered seats, which is the whole basis of the problem, they all show as A,
which leads to confusion - people have wrongly interpreted it as meaning
Aisle, or mistaken it for coach A.

Paul

GNER train question
 

On 7 Sep, 18:56, "Paul Scott" wrote:
"Mr Thant" wrote in message

oups.com...

On 7 Sep, 14:03, wrote:
Could the reservation computer cope with that?

Surely it doesn't have to? As long as an F is always opposite a B, the
passenger for can just sit in whichever seat is facing forward or
backward regardless of which way round the set is. The reservations
computer never has to know.

(although on a Pendolino you'd also have the train's computer to
contend with)

But they don't give the options of F or B on newer trains with uniquely
numbered seats, which is the whole basis of the problem, they all show as A,
which leads to confusion - people have wrongly interpreted it as meaning
Aisle, or mistaken it for coach A.

Paul

True. Very True.
Or if you have people used to flying, they are off looking for seat
21A (must be in the same row as 21B 21C...)
I certainly believe that a reservation system, in 2007, should have
the ability to hold the following details:
Airline or Table seat,
Window or Corridor seat,
Quiet, Normal, Family (if available) Carriage or near the Bar,
and possibly Facing or Backwards seat. (This is difficult on some
trips, like CrossCountry, where trains may reverse 2 or 3 times,
particularly on the Bournemouth route)

But it's much like the following conundrum - why can't most of these
sites comprehend that I am buying tickets for 4 adults, one who owns a
YP railcard, and one who owns a Senior railcard.

Neither of these things is beyond a modern reservation engine. SNCF-
Voyages.com seems to handle most of it. Frankly, I think it is about
time one is able to nominate a seat. Many long-haul airline sites let
you chose your seat by clicking on the diagram of the airliner - and
unavailable seats are greyed out.
I understand Deutche Bahn allow you to nominate a seat on ICEs in some
circumstances, and they are certainly fine with different discounts
for different people.

But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

It has to be said, I don't know how much the underlying reservation
system can store - I know it was replaced a few years back, so one
would hope there are some custom fields available, but if ATOC
specified a like-for-like replacement....

GNER train question
 

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:56:55 -0700 a message from
contained:

[problems with seat reservations]

Frankly, I think it is about
time one is able to nominate a seat. Many long-haul airline sites let
you chose your seat by clicking on the diagram of the airliner - and
unavailable seats are greyed out.
I understand Deutche Bahn allow you to nominate a seat on ICEs in some
circumstances, and they are certainly fine with different discounts
for different people.

But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

According to their website (http://www.youreastcoast.co.uk/?page_id=4)
National Express East Coast will 'during the lifetime of the
franchise' introduce a 'state-of-the-art website ... where specific
seats can be reserved'.

--
Chris Silke

GNER train question
 

On Fri, 7 Sep 2007, wrote:

True. Very True.
Or if you have people used to flying, they are off looking for seat
21A (must be in the same row as 21B 21C...)

If all the seats are individually numbered from 1-78 or whatever, the 'A'
is both useless and confusing.

I certainly believe that a reservation system, in 2007, should have
the ability to hold the following details:
Airline or Table seat,
Window or Corridor seat,
Quiet, Normal, Family (if available) Carriage or near the Bar,
and possibly Facing or Backwards seat. (This is difficult on some
trips, like CrossCountry, where trains may reverse 2 or 3 times,
particularly on the Bournemouth route)

Totally agree.

I've been reserved into the quiet coach and family coach before, neither
of them were really where i wanted to be. It make the whole thing a bit
pointless if you can't specify where you want to sit when you book your
tickets. I've read on here before stories of families being reserved into
the quiet coach.

It's probably easier to number each seat and handle the rest by the
reservation system rather than have the airline/facing/back reservations.
It's less confusing, especially for trains that reverse. "Coach C, seat
21" can only be one seat on the train.

It has to be said, I don't know how much the underlying reservation
system can store - I know it was replaced a few years back, so one
would hope there are some custom fields available, but if ATOC
specified a like-for-like replacement....

You can probably still request a seat in the smoking carriage (I think the
trainline still offers that as an option on the website).
--
Chris Johns

GNER train question
 

On Sep 6, 11:53 pm, "John Salmon" wrote:
Not usually true in my experience; it's a myth started by one of the
denigrators of GNER in uk.railway. I travelled from Retford to
London and back today using GNER Advance tickets, sitting in
unreserved coach H each way, wth no difficulty. Of course, they are
entitled to make you occupy your reserved seat, and apparently it
happens occasionally - but never to me.

Yeah, but GNER do have a rule to that effect, and the other companies
doing advance tickets don't, so it's something to look out for.

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

GNER train question
 

On 7 Sep, 18:56, "Paul Scott" wrote:

people have wrongly interpreted it as meaning
Aisle, or mistaken it for coach A.

I assumed it was Airline, as this is what I'd booked on the GNER
website. However, on the train I was told by a GNER member of staff
that it meant Aisle.

In fact, as you say, it meant nothing; we both had front and rear
facing WINDOW seats!

So, if GNER doesn't know (either from when you book to when you board)
then it's no bloody wonder passengers will get confused.

(Mind you, I never thought it could mean coach A!).

Jonathan

GNER train question
 

On 8 Sep, 08:59, (Chris Silke) wrote:
According to their website (http://www.youreastcoast.co.uk/?page_id=4)
National Express East Coast will 'during the lifetime of the
franchise' introduce a 'state-of-the-art website ... where specific
seats can be reserved'.

Does that mean they can wait until they had the keys back?

(I'll let others make the joke that this could be just a few months!!)

Jonathan

GNER train question
 

On 8 Sep, 12:48, Mr Thant
wrote:
Yeah, but GNER do have a rule to that effect, and the other companies
doing advance tickets don't, so it's something to look out for.

People have quoted experiences of GNER staff stating that a ticket is
invalid if you're not in your reserved seat, and not for the entire
journey. This means you can't join the train later on, or leave before
the destination. I can see this being likely because of the time our
TM spent checking our tickets and his list, because I'd removed the
reserved tags (to read them because of the whole Airline/Aisle/Window
confusion) and left them on the table - albeit in clear view of him.

Obviously, they're going to struggle to do anything if you leave early
as we did on the way back, getting off at Stevenage when our ticket
was to King's Cross!!

I must say that, while I am always ready for any impending battle or
argument with a gripper that is trying it on, the fact that people can
be treated like this (or believe that they might) would put many
people off travelling in the first place. I know that the staff are
stuck a little, because nobody (especially myself) want to see people
getting away without buying a ticket, but there are different ways to
treat people.

Jonathan

GNER train question
 

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:56:55 -0700,
wrote:
But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

As far as I know, Trainline has many improvements on the way.

It has to be said, I don't know how much the underlying reservation
system can store - I know it was replaced a few years back, so one
would hope there are some custom fields available, but if ATOC
specified a like-for-like replacement....

It isn't like-for-like at all, luckily! Thinking back a few years...
if I remember correctly, the new reservation system has "attributes"
that can be set up for a seat, and the system can be queried about
which attributes are supported for a particular journey and then a web
app (or human) could offer those to the customer. Obvious examples
are window, aisle, quiet, wheelchair... It could be that the TOCs
could set up their reservation data better, rather than being a
feature of the web sites.

Richard.

GNER train question
 

On 8 Sep, 01:56, wrote:
But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

Virgin now have their own non-trainline booking system (though the
Virgin-branded trainline is still around). It has options for Quiet
Zone, Power Socket, Table Seat and Window or Aisle (but not Facing or
Backwards) for any train, including non-Virgin.

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

GNER train question
 

Today at 07:21, jonmorris wrote:
Obviously, they're going to struggle to do anything if you leave early
as we did on the way back, getting off at Stevenage when our ticket
was to King's Cross!!

Am I not right in saying that if you join or leave a service not at the
stated places on any single ticket, the ticket is effectively invalid?

--
Kirk

GNER train question
 

Kirk Northrop wrote:
Today at 07:21, jonmorris wrote:
Obviously, they're going to struggle to do anything if you leave early
as we did on the way back, getting off at Stevenage when our ticket
was to King's Cross!!

Am I not right in saying that if you join or leave a service not at the
stated places on any single ticket, the ticket is effectively invalid?

You're not right, unless it's some special advance purchase ticket with
special conditions.

--
Jeremy Double jmd.nospam@btinternet
German steam photos at: http://tinyurl.com/frrx8

GNER train question
 

Today at 18:12, Jeremy Double wrote:
You're not right, unless it's some special advance purchase ticket with
special conditions.

I thought you couldn't break journey on a single ticket?

--
Kirk

GNER train question
 

On 8 Sep, 18:12, Jeremy Double wrote:
You're not right, unless it's some special advance purchase ticket with
special conditions.

These were First Advance tickets, but nobody chased after us when we
alighted!!

In the incident that was publicised, a woman had boarded further down
the line and GNER stated (on the train) that her ticket was invalid
the second the train started its journey without her on it.

Jonathan

GNER train question
 

Kirk Northrop wrote:
I thought you couldn't break journey on a single ticket?

No, you can:
http://ukrailwayfaq.wikispaces.com/Ticket+Validity


Neil Sunderland
--
Braunton, Devon
Please observe the Reply-To address.

NP: Blues Traveler - Hook (from the album 'Four')

GNER train question
 

In article . com,
says...
On 8 Sep, 01:56, wrote:
But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

Virgin now have their own non-trainline booking system (though the
Virgin-branded trainline is still around). It has options for Quiet
Zone, Power Socket, Table Seat and Window or Aisle (but not Facing or
Backwards) for any train, including non-Virgin.

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/

U

However they don't sell tickets for children, only young goats!

GNER train question
 

Kirk Northrop wrote:
Today at 18:12, Jeremy Double wrote:
You're not right, unless it's some special advance purchase ticket
with special conditions.

I thought you couldn't break journey on a single ticket?

Finishing a journey short is not the same as breaking journey (which
involves continuing the journey later).

--
Jeremy Double jmd.nospam@btinternet
German steam photos at: http://tinyurl.com/frrx8

GNER train question
 

On Sun, 9 Sep 2007 09:11:11 +0100, Jim Brittin
[wake up to reply] wrote:

In article . com,
says...
On 8 Sep, 01:56, wrote:
But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

Virgin now have their own non-trainline booking system (though the
Virgin-branded trainline is still around). It has options for Quiet
Zone, Power Socket, Table Seat and Window or Aisle (but not Facing or
Backwards) for any train, including non-Virgin.

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/

U

However they don't sell tickets for children, only young goats!

That should make journeys more peaceful!

GNER train question
 

Today at 01:21, Neil Sunderland wrote:
Kirk Northrop wrote:
I thought you couldn't break journey on a single ticket?

No, you can:
http://ukrailwayfaq.wikispaces.com/Ticket+Validity

Fair enough, I'll shut up then :)

--
Kirk

GNER train question
 

In article ,
(Paul Scott) wrote:

But they don't give the options of F or B on newer trains with
uniquely numbered seats, which is the whole basis of the problem,
they all show as A, which leads to confusion - people have wrongly
interpreted it as meaning Aisle, or mistaken it for coach A.

More annoying is that it now seems impossible to book a seat with a table
any more. I don't particularly care which way I face but I hate airline
seats with a vengeance. Most don't have enough legroom for me and they
make me feel claustrophobic.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

GNER train question
 

In article om,
(jonmorris) wrote:

(Mind you, I never thought it could mean coach A!).

Do GNER have trains with a coach A these days? Their electrics don't seem
to have them any more.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

GNER train question
 

On Sat, 8 Sep 2007 23:38:13 +0100, Kirk Northrop
wrote:

I thought you couldn't break journey on a single ticket?

You can on pretty much all single tickets other than Saver Singles,
but only within the validity of the ticket. In the case of a Standard
Open Single I recall you can do one overight BoJ but in the case of
all the others the journey must be completed on the date shown with
some very specific exemptions on the Saver Single relating to the
availability of trains (and the Sleeper services).

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

GNER train question
 

On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:45:19 -0700,
Mr Thant wrote:
On 8 Sep, 01:56, wrote:
But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

Virgin now have their own non-trainline booking system (though the
Virgin-branded trainline is still around). It has options for Quiet
Zone, Power Socket, Table Seat and Window or Aisle (but not Facing or
Backwards) for any train, including non-Virgin.

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/

Although the Virgin website doesn't sell tickets for all their trains.

I always go to the GNER website (mainly because 99% of my tickets are on
GNER) but I recently wanted to buy tickets Watford Junction to Chester.
I'd found the tickets on GNER but then remembered that last time I'd
booked Virgin tickets via GNER the tickets had only arrived about three
days before travel which is a bit nerve wracking so this time I decided
to buy them on the Virgin website.

Went onto the Virgin website and found the Northbound ticket no problem
but the Southbound one required me to go all the way into Euston
(departing Chester at the same time as the GNER website said) and then
back out on Silverlink (and was more expensive than the GNER direct
ticket). So went back to GNER and then realized that the GNER ticket was
first class, so not only a direct train and cheaper but also first class
as compared to standard class.

I could understand that possibly there were advance purchase first class
tickets available that I hadn't seen on the Virgin website but not that
you can't buy a standard class direct ticket at all (even though the
train does stop at Watford Junction - presumably you aren't allowed to
get off when you are on a standard class ticket?)

Tim.


--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/

GNER train question
 

"Tim Woodall" wrote

(even though the
train does stop at Watford Junction - presumably you aren't allowed to
get off when you are on a standard class ticket?)

In 1938 the 3.55 pm Paddington to South Wales Express called by request at
Badminton 'to set down 1st class Passengers from London on informing Guard
at London.'

Peter

GNER train question
 

On 11 Sep, 23:36, Tim Woodall wrote:
I could understand that possibly there were advance purchase first class
tickets available that I hadn't seen on the Virgin website but not that
you can't buy a standard class direct ticket at all (even though the
train does stop at Watford Junction - presumably you aren't allowed to
get off when you are on a standard class ticket?)

Yes, you can. Unless you're travelling on a Megatrain ticket or some
other to-be-announced fare type where it is explicitly prohibited, you
can *always* stop a journey short. Starting short is less clear.

(this sometimes provokes dispute in uk.r, but is unequivocally
permitted by the NCoC. Suffice to say if anyone ends up in court for
doing this, I hereby offer to pay you double your fine plus legal
costs. Contact me at the address below...)

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

GNER train question
 

On 8 Sep, 17:45, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 8 Sep, 01:56, wrote:

But while TheTrainline.com has a de-facto monopoly (it seems all the
others license their system), nothing will happen. Particularly now
Trainline is owned by some venture capital firm or other - they have
absolutely no interest in spending money improving a product which has
the market by the balls, since they get little benefit out of
passenger satisfaction, while the TOCs get the bad publicity if
Trainline's crap web-app is unable to perform such basic tasks.

Virgin now have their own non-trainline booking system (though the
Virgin-branded trainline is still around). It has options for Quiet
Zone, Power Socket, Table Seat and Window or Aisle (but not Facing or
Backwards) for any train, including non-Virgin.

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/

U


No - this is not a new non-Trainline system - it is just a different,
custom front end for Virgin Trains, it's still TheTrainline under the
hood.

GNER train question
 

In article . com,
(John B) wrote:

Yes, you can. Unless you're travelling on a Megatrain ticket or some
other to-be-announced fare type where it is explicitly prohibited,
you can *always* stop a journey short. Starting short is less clear.

Didn't cause me any problem using my Central Trains discount
Cambridge-Stamford day return to go from Cambridge to Peterborough for
the evening last night.

This might have been affected by the complete failure of anyone to look
at my ticket all night, mind. Cambridge station booking office said it
was OK.

--
Colin Rosenstiel