Fare Dealer
RAIL fares expert Barry Doe says ScotRail and Transport for London score paper-free own goals.
I received a very large postbag regarding my criticisms of ScotRail for its clear intention of working towards the abolition of printed timetables ( The Fare Dealer, RAIL 899).
One reader on holiday, travelling daily between Crianlarich and Oban, said there were no printed timetables in the area or at Glasgow Queen Street, adding: “A visitor doesn’t want to search on a phone for times, when a quick glance at a paper timetable provides the info.”
He concluded: “Of course, in these areas of few trains there are also huge gaps in internet access. This is an absolutely mad policy.”
Glasgow Central has Avanti, CrossCountry and TransPennine Express booklets, but the ScotRail racks are empty. ScotRail is trying to play this down, but another reader showed me a poster which has appeared at many stations which says: “ScotRail and Transport Scotland are working together to take our first steps towards a paper-free timetable.”
So, is Transport Scotland behind this retrograde step? I don’t know, but I am encouraged by the large number of readers who are taking it up with their respective MSPs.
On the same subject I have frequently praised Great Western Railway for its excellent publicity, but even here a chink in the armour is emerging. Its London suburban publicity includes TfL Rail services to Reading, but no longer shows any trains to Heathrow or TfL services that terminate at Hayes & Harlington. They have also dropped all mention of stations like Hanwell that are managed, and served only by, TfL services.
Between Basingstoke and Reading they include Cross Country and South Western Railway services, but when it comes to Heathrow, it’s ignored. Is it considered an insignificant branch? Hardly! No, the truth is TfL as a whole is putting on pressure to make
sure printed timetables are suppressed.
GWR told me users should consult TfL timetables. When I pointed out TfL doesn’t produce any, either for TfL Rail or Overground, they told me they’re online. Really? GWR produces excellent printed publicity precisely because it knows online files are not sufficient.
Finally, something to ponder. Retailer Argos has a vast website and many people use it to buy products. So why does Argos also produce a 1,748-page full-colour catalogue (very expensive to print) and invite people to take copies from its stores?
The answer, of course, is browsing. People buy what they know they want online, but get ideas from browsing, leading to greater sales.
Why can’t ScotRail understand the parallel? You browse a timetable to get ideas, not least if you’re on holiday. You can’t browse a journey planner.