Fare Dealer
RAIL fares expert Barry Doe says Tour of Scotland ticket is not quite as grand as it first seemed.
IN RAIL 831, I wrote in glowing terms about ScotRail’s new ‘Grand Tour of Scotland’ ticket. I did this in good faith after looking at all the conditions shown on the website.
Only after the issue had gone to print did ScotRail tell me that the ticket is only valid on ScotRail services. Use of both Virgin Trains
Advance on the day continues to expand
In RAIL 829’s The Fare Dealer I gave more details regarding ‘Advance on the day’. It seems that in addition to CrossCountry, Virgin Trains East Coast, Northern and Greater Anglia, another four have started: TransPennine Express, Grand Central, Caledonian Sleeper and Virgin West Coast.
The good news is that none of the seven newcomers is adopting XC’s system. Virgin West Coast told me that journeys may be undertaken between intermediate points, but that the seats must be booked at least an hour before the train starts its journey. That way, all seats will show any intermediate reservations at the start, and these will never change.
Incidentally, Virgin West Coast tickets can also be bought at stations on the day and are not limited to the internet, as with most other operators.
What a pity XC cannot see how unpopular its system is - not just with users (witness readers’ opinions in Open Access, RAIL 831), but also with other operators.
I note that reader Jonathan Martin in the same Open Access misunderstands my opinions of Advance tickets. I’ve often said that for those willing to trade in flexibility and accept risk, they can be very useful.
Elderly people visiting relatives or families going on holiday can predict their needs, so Advance is ideal. For many of us, however, the return must be flexible. My objection is just to ‘Advance on the day’, because it gives the benefits without the risk and that is unfair to walk-on users.
There is also no doubt that as some operators introduce the scheme, it is losing them revenue, as some regulars switch to it rightly perceiving that the usual risks have been removed. Less revenue and potential overcrowding is the result. How can that benefit the industry?
I hope HS2 might avoid all this by having a totally different fares system that makes walk-on cheap and Advance redundant, but I doubt this will happen. East Coast’s ‘ Highland Chieftain’ and the seated portion of the Caledonian Sleeper to/ from Fort William is barred.
The southbound ‘Chieftain’ at 0755 from Inverness would be before the 0915 time restriction on Mon-Fri. But it wouldn’t from Pitlochry (dep 0925), where people might well stop overnight. Use of the northbound 1633 from Edinburgh to Inverness would also be very useful for those coming from England.
There are alternatives, but the Sleeper is a very different matter - barring its use is a significant downside which, given the slender f t /f F t Willi d l th much as the Sleepers get to Glasgow and Edinburgh too late, and similarly the northbound leaves Edinburgh far too early.
What a total misunderstanding of the needs of those wanting to travel on such a 500+-mile tour! People don’t mind an early start for such huge distances, but most importantly it totally misses the point because of time restrictions.
As it would have no restriction, the Sleeper would allow Edinburgh folk to leave at 0450 and reach Fort William at 0955. But the 0915 bar on the main line means you can’t leave Edinburgh on a ScotRail service to reach Glasgow Queen St ti ti f th 0821 t M ll i