Problems persist with Advance on the day

A few readers have rightly expressed fears that the current situation, whereby LNER is insisting on seat reservations in order to travel, could lead to a permanent situation where not just a reservation becomes compulsory, but Advance tickets replace walk-on fares.

I don’t think this is at all likely, although I’m sure a few operators would welcome it. The railway is still predominantly a walk-on system and interavailable tickets between operators are enshrined in legislation.

Although we don’t seem to be getting far with a new, simpler ticketing system, I’m sure that change will eventually come and that a new singles-only system will retain the ability to buy walk-on fares.

I have nothing against compulsory reservations for some trains. Indeed, it seems sensible not to have long-distance trains with standing passengers who inevitably spoil the experience for those who are seated, by restricting aisles. And those standing don’t like it either!

This wouldn’t be new. I recall British Rail allowing access to the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’ only to those with reservations, even at intermediate stations, long before Advance tickets came in.

Nowadays, offering a reservation from a machine on the platform right up to departure would be straightforward - and, of course, open to those with Rovers and seasons as well.

What I am totally against, however, is Advance on the Day (APOD) - at least in the way it is managed by CrossCountry, which implemented the scheme.

It cannot be right that someone who joins a train at 0800, having paid perhaps £200 for a single at the ticket office and who sits in an unreserved seat, can be removed from that seat at 1200 by someone who joins en route with a cheap Advance fare that he didn’t even buy until 1100, and yet which came with a compulsory reservation.

That turns our first passenger’s seat from unreserved to reserved midway through the journey and is, to me, commercially immoral.

CrossCountry tries to maintain that only a limited number of seats allow this, but it isn’t true. I have joined Voyagers at the start of journeys and found every seat in a coach marked as ‘reserved’ or ‘might be reserved en route’.

A while back, I heard from a reader who travelled from Birmingham New Street to Newcastle on an early-morning four-car Voyager. A seat was available, but he subsequently had to move twice - firstly at Sheffield and then again at York - as initially available seats became reserved.

He rightly added that, in his opinion, once a train has left its station of origin no further reservations should be permitted. I totally agree.

I asked the Chief Executive of Transport Focus for his opinion, and he said TF’s view has always been that if APOD is used, then reservations should only be available if customers book before the train (not the customer) starts its journey.

If tickets are bought later, they should come without a reservation - which, after all, has always been the norm for those joining en route at the last minute.

In fairness, most operators offering APOD do just that. So why does CrossCountry continue with this wholly negative policy?