Anyone who has read this blog before will know about the trouble I’ve had attempting to get a legitimate refund from Virgin Trains – or their website operator The Trainline.com. Well, I’m likely to have to travel to London and Southampton a number of times over the next few weeks, so I’ll need train tickets, which got me thinking … Remember – You can buy a train ticket from ANY rail operator for any UK journey.
So, I’ve started work on a list of those Train Operating Companies (TOC’s) that do and do not use The Trainline.com for their booking agent. I tried to find this information myself earlier today, but couldn’t, so I figured I’d go ahead and work it out for myself.
It doesn’t claim to be a particularly scholarly piece of research; I went to each operating company’s website and tried to buy a ticket, then searched the source of the page to see what system they use. To be honest, once you’ve seen a few, it’s pretty obvious.
Here begins my semi-definitive list of where to book a train ticket without having to go anywhere near The Trainline.com. I can’t guarantee that the others are any better, but they surely couldn’t be any worse …
(more…)
If, like me, you’re an honest passenger but are worried about landing a Penalty Fare because you were legitimately unable to buy your ticket, you should pop over to the ‘Penalty Fare Appeal Support’ website, and read their article on how to avoid potentially being bullied into paying a fine, over and above the cost of a standard single ticket.
I would like to print the details here, but the article is expressly stated as being the Copyright of the publishers, and I can’t find a way of contacting them at the moment, so you’ll need to follow the link below.
The article was written by Andrew Gilligan. Yes, THAT Andrew Gilligan - the one unlikely to be getting a Christmas card (ever!) from Alastair Campbell 
The original article is HERE.
I’ll continue to try and get in touch with them so I can at least print an extract from it here, if possible. I’m no legal-eagle, but it makes sense, and would seem a rational way of dealing with the situation should it arise.
I see on the new-look Merseyrail website that they’ve changed their policy on ticket refunds …
If you hold a daily ticket and you are delayed for more than half an hour we will refund the price of the ticket. If you hold a weekly or monthly Railpass ticket you will be entitled to a percentage of the cost. To make any claims on daily tickets, send in the details of the journey you could not make along with the original ticket to Customer Relations, Rail House, Lord Nelson Street, Liverpool, L1 1JF.
(more…)
Comments Off
The new ‘Zero Tolerance’ approach from Miseryrail caught me out this morning – and a few others.
I arrived at Manor Road in plenty of time (unusually for me) to be greeted by a lengthy queue at the ticket counter. A woman was doing God alone knows what, I couldn’t hear, but she was getting money returned onto her debit card, and it took AGES. By the time she finished, the 8:26 to Liverpool had arrived at the platform, and there were still several people waiting to get tickets.
One chap asked if he could buy his ticket in Liverpool, to save him being late, but was told “no”. So that was it – the train left, leaving four or five of us to buy our tickets and wait for the next train.
(more…)
Comments Off
Well, my Freedom of Information request hasn’t gotten me any further. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has replied to my request, the meat of which is quoted below.
Thank you for your email of 15 April 2009 regarding your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.
With regard to your query about whether Network Rail falls under FOIA, I can confirm that Network Rail is not currently covered by the Act and is under no obligation to respond to requests for information from members of the public.
(more…)
Comments Off
It looks like Merseyrail did …
Read this article from the Penalty Fare Appeal Support website.
Race goers wishing to travel home using Merseyrail services were forced to purchase a £3 day pass before being allowed to board the train.
Passengers were unable to purchase a £2.25 single ticket to get home. It has been reported that confrontations between staff and passengers occurred who were furious having to pay an extra 75p for a ticket that they didn’t need.
Comments Off
Eh, not likely.
I asked this evening if MerseyRail would be offering their passengers on the Wirral line a discount during the engineering works that are coming up, even if just a token amount, as some compensation for the disruption that they will suffer.
This was the reply from one of their ever-jolly staff …
“They never have before, so I don’t see why they should make an exception for you.”
Not much you can say to that really. Not without the risk of landing an ASBO, anyway.
Comments Off
