Justin Smith Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 One thing about this whole episode which has probably not been noticed, is that in Richard Branson`s tweet (or whatever it was), "prebooking your seat was advisable". That really annoyed me. The privatised railway are trying to get everyone to do that for a whole load of reasons, not least that if you prebook a ticket on a particular train that train operating company gets all the income (as opposed to a proportion of it). But there`s a deeper theme here, I think it`s a very retrograde step that it`s becoming expected that travellers prebook their seat, not "just" turn up and go. If we want to get people out of their cars then giving them flexibility in their transport without ripping them off, or implying they might not even et a seat, is vital. Why the hell should train passenger have to lose even more of the flexibility advantage that a car gives them ? One of the main reasons the country is subsidising the railways, even no rail users, is to get car drivers out of their cars ! Actually, upon thinking about it, what Richard Branson said about prebooking your seat makes no sense at all. Bear in mind we`re talking about there (possibly) being no available seats. Prebooking sets does not increase the total number of seats, it just means those who have prebooked them get a seat and those who haven`t don`t. Also remember that those who have purchased their tickets on a turn up and go basis, are likely to have paid significantly more than those who have prebooked a seat. The whole thing seems bizarre to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Actually, upon thinking about it, what Richard Branson said about prebooking your seat makes no sense at all. Bear in mind we`re talking about there (possibly) being no available seats. Prebooking sets does not increase the total number of seats, it just means those who have prebooked them get a seat and those who haven`t don`t. Also remember that those who have purchased their tickets on a turn up and go basis, are likely to have paid significantly more than those who have prebooked a seat. The whole thing seems bizarre to me. It makes sense if there is a good chance you won't get a seat unless you pre-book a seat. That in itself is an indicator of a lack of capacity or at least of a capacity that is likely to be exceeded. I can understand that airlines have to operate like that and the reasons are obvious but we are talking about public transport here, not private airlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacifica Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 It makes sense if there is a good chance you won't get a seat unless you pre-book a seat. That in itself is an indicator of a lack of capacity or at least of a capacity that is likely to be exceeded. I can understand that airlines have to operate like that and the reasons are obvious but we are talking about public transport here, not private airlines. Apart from season ticket holders who only travel 3 or 4 days a week but the seats are stickered because a season ticket holder has a daily booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaati Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 The attacks have been removed. Including all the post chain that had to go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacifica Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Pretending? What like an endless stream of people on here have tried to pretend that Corbyn had no point to make at all about our rail services? Anway, there is a political point to make. Train capacity is stretched to capacity. It's often misery for passengers. Huge profits are being made by private companies and the taxpayer is subsidising those profits. 58% of the public support re-nationalisation of the railways. ---------- Post added 28-08-2016 at 21:32 ---------- There is a point to make about the state of our railways. Perhaps this will help you to work out the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Bynnol Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 One thing about this whole episode which has probably not been noticed, is that in Richard Branson`s tweet (or whatever it was), "prebooking your seat was advisable". That really annoyed me. The privatised railway are trying to get everyone to do that for a whole load of reasons, not least that if you prebook a ticket on a particular train that train operating company gets all the income (as opposed to a proportion of it). But there`s a deeper theme here, I think it`s a very retrograde step that it`s becoming expected that travellers prebook their seat, not "just" turn up and go. If we want to get people out of their cars then giving them flexibility in their transport without ripping them off, or implying they might not even et a seat, is vital. Why the hell should train passenger have to lose even more of the flexibility advantage that a car gives them ? One of the main reasons the country is subsidising the railways, even no rail users, is to get car drivers out of their cars ! The vast majority of Open or Off Peak tickets can be reserved by any retailer and used on any train- the revenue is shared by agreement between the TOCs and difference revenue received does not depend on reservation. Advance fares are specific to a train and therefore to a TOC and are used to attract/spread passenger use onto underused trains. The Rail Settlement Plan is an organisation that collects and distributes ticket revenue and data to and between the TOCs. A commercial goal of a TOC is to increase passenger loading and so "full" national, regional and local trains will become the norm as will reserving seats. Some companies which have a monopoly over a route are increasingly making Advance tickets become more restricted/unavailable as the TOCs reach this goal. They are also putting more restrictions on Off Peak tickets. The Government control the number of seats available to the TOC by controlling the route, timetable, existing stock and new build. All the TOC can do is distribute this stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon1 Posted August 29, 2016 Author Share Posted August 29, 2016 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/23/jeremy-corbyn-virgin-trains-disputes-claim-over-lack-of-seats And Owen Smith just comes across As completely disingenuous No idea what he expects to achieve Other than his own massive defeat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eater Sundae Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Deliberate misinterpretation is very immature Eater Sundae And extremely hypocritical So spare us the sanctimony ---------- Post added 29-08-2016 at 13:40 ---------- And more of the truth: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/23/jeremy-corbyn-virgin-trains-disputes-claim-over-lack-of-seats I see you're still trying to defend the indefensible. Corbyn misrepresented a situation in order to criticise privately run trains. (There is probably a good case to criticise private trains, but he chose to be dishonest and over egged the pudding). In doing so, he showed himself to be not quite the honest politician that he tries to portray himself to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 The majority of passengers on this service would have been Advance ticket holders- all of theses would have reserved seats. This train is in the cheapest ticket window. Ticket and reservation would be forfeit so nearly all will travel. A tiny percentage would be Season ticket holders and some would be open ticket, return and off peak return, break of journey, rover etc., ticket holders, all of which could reserve tickets if they want to. Many popular tickets do not require a seat reservation but invite you to make one. Some passengers make a best guess but end up using another service. As there is usually no cancellation facility these seats are therefore reserved but unused but you can sit there! Walk on purchasers will often ask which coach(es) are unreserved. Many will read the reservation cards to see if the reservations are for later sections of the journey. Most will ask people to remove luggage, bags etc., from seats so that they can sit. As the first stop on these ECML services is can often be over an hour into the journey empty reserved seats can usually be assumed to be not required. Thank you Annie, you seem pretty clued up on the workings of the system, nice to get some facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaati Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 And since you can't seem to cease with the attacks. Closing. A new thread is not to be made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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