The Lack Of A Standard In Buying Train Tickets
I regularly buy tickets from lots of train companies. Over the last few months, I’ve bought tickets from GreaterAnglia, East Coast, East Midland, Southern, First Great Western and Virgin to name just six of them.
Today, I bought a ticket on First Capital Connect and duly registered.
I didn’t have any serious problems, but I do have some observations.
Why is it, that I can’t have a global account, that works with all train companies? That way, I wouldn’t have to deal with several different logins and I could have access to all tickets I’ve bought and it would probably be a lot easier, to book a repeat journey. I would probably use one credit card for all tickets, so that the only thing, I would need to book, would be the security number on my card, after choosing the tickets.
I always pick up my tickets from Dalston Junction, as it is a shortish walk from my house. But some companies don’t have it on the list of their stations, where I can pick up the tickets. That is a bug to me!
In an ideal world, all of these web sites would have the same feel, even if they were to be individually branded.
I never use the all purpose sites like TheTrainLine, as when I did once, I just got a load of spam, that could probably be traced back to them. I always find that cutting out the agent is the best way to save money.
The Anonymous Widower 
For people like me who would like to use the trains more, one of the big obstacles is buying the tickets. I am expected to know the train system before I start, and that is a major issue. I live within a few miles of three main line railways and so I need to know which one I should use. As they all go north/south, that is not so easy, and sometimes there are 2 possible routes from different stations to the same place. I want to enter into a website where I live, where I want to go to (not the train destination, my destination), and be given the options. I want to know the route options for my time of travel, the facilities on the trains, the time for the journey, the changes (and times between trains), and I want to enter my required arrival time – not at the station but at my final destination. Many times I give up and decide to drive as that is much easier than booking a ticket. It would also be good to know my options at each end. How do I get to the station? Bus? Taxi? Car? Is there parking at the station? At the other end, how do I get to my destination? Bus? Taxi? Walk? How far is it? I also want to know the cost and be able to buy my ticket on-line. It is easier to book a plane than a train, but planes are only suitable for long distances. If the train companies want us to use their trains, then they will have to do better at making it easy to book. The problem is that the car is the easy and comfortable option. It starts where I am and it ends up where I want to be. It is warm and comfortable, provides me with a personal space, allows me to stop for a coffee or food whenever I want to, is relatively low cost per journey, allows me to transport things large or small, offers entertainment, and provides warmth in winter and coolness in summer. To wean people out of their cars requires the train companies to offer a step function in convenience compared with what they offer now. Otherwise they will only be used for journeys into cities where cars are even more inconvenient.
Comment by John Wright | November 19, 2013 |
The destination problem is something I’ve been banging on about for years. Now we know London, but the experience of finding your onward transport at say Euston, is so much easier than finding your way from Manchester Piccadilly.
Some routes are also much easier than others, as I find when I go to football. London to Blackpool is a difficult one, but London to Sheffield is easy.
I always apply the test of getting to a hospital from London to see perhaps, your favourite aunt, who’s an in patient. It should be easy for a non-Internet-savvy person of a certain age.
It certainly isn’t now.
One idea, might be that when you book your ticket, you can also book a taxi to your destination. You get one of the orange tickets and give it to the taxi driver.
Comment by AnonW | November 19, 2013 |