When No Doesn’t Mean No!
I hate spam e-mails, cold calls and text messages I don’t need.
I am very careful, to whom I give my communication details.
No-one gets my mobile phone number since I gave it to John Lewis, so they could deliver a parcel and an hour later I got a call on it trying to sell me a service to check my PPI status. I only had one issue on that and I sorted it myself.
Courier companies do get annoyed I won’t give them my mobile phone number, but as I’m generally in, what’s wrong with a landline?
What really annoy me are companies, where I’ve bought something on-line and despite saying I want no marketing calls or e-mails, the e-mails keep coming through in a flood.
One of the train companies is a bad serial offender and as I sometimes buy long-distance tickets with them, I have to give them my e-mail and other details. They recently sent me two e-mails; one of which said I might like to travel with my partner and the other that I might like to go and see my mother or other family. The first would have been offensive and truly hurtful to some and as my only family is in Walthamstow, which is Freedom Pass territory, the company did themselves more harm than good.
But increasingly, I’ve found a way to get good priced tickets for shorter journeys, both in and out of London and say between two stations anywhere in the UK.
And that is to buy the ticket after 16:00 on the previous day at the ticket machine at my local Overground station. At least Transport for London only send you targeted e-mails on subjects you have requested like weekend engineering works. And of course no-one has developed an automatic machine that senses your mobile number or e-mail address!
What is needed is a site like the Telephone Preference Service, where you can register your e-mail to stop marketing e-mails.
There is also a marketing opportunity for someone to see up a train ticketing site, for those who need to take trips out of London.
1. Such a site would generally sell out and return tickets from London.
2. It would also sell extension tickets from Zone 6 for Freedom Pass holders. At present you can only do this from a Ticket Office or one of London Overground’s excellent machines.
3. It could also find you a nice day out on say next Thursday, linking to the weather and the sort of place you’d like to visit.
4. It could be geared to Londoners and tourists alike!
In some ways the site would be a clone of the London Overground machines, which are Internet terminals anyway!
When will innovators realise that one person’s annoyance is another’s business opportunity?
Transport for London Is The Fastest Growing Contactless Merchant In The UK
The title of this post is the title of an article in Computer Weekly, which describes the enormous take-up of using contactless cards for payment on London’s transport system. This is the first two paragraphs.
Transport for London (TfL) has become the fastest growing contactless Visa merchant in Europe, and the fastest growing Mastercard and American Express merchant in the UK, a mere six months after it first launched contactless payments in September 2014.
TfL claimed 60 million contactless journeys had now been made on its system since September 2014, 20 million of those since mid-February 2015, and 14% of all journeys made on the system were now contactless.
Perhaps, the most surprising thing, is why so few other transport operators in the UK, Europe and the wider world, have disclosed plans to go to a similar system.
Perhaps, what is most remarkable about London’s contactless payments system, is that there seem to have been no adverse media reports on the system, whereas before it started various political parties were saying it would be a disaster of Titanic proportions.
It probably says more about the average politician’s knowledge of technology, than anything else.
I believe that any city or region that doesn’t sign up for contactless ticketing will see a reduction in visitors and economic activity.
If you take Scotland as an example of a region, where several antique ticketing systems are still in existence, the total population is less than that of Greater London. So if it can be implemented in London, surely an appropriate system can be used in Scotland.
A Dreadful, But Totally Avoidable Train Journey
As a coeliac who avoids gluten and also because I’ve had a stroke and am on Warfarin, I have to be very careful about my diet. For this reason I plan my pit-stops well when I travel by train. If I do change trains, I usually arrange this at a station like Birmingham New Street, Cambridge or Leeds, where I know there is a good M & S Simply Food or a selection of restaurants that I trust.
The last couple of days, I have been in Scotland and on the way back I saw Ipswich Town play at Middlesbrough.
As Middlesbrough is a particularly difficult town for suitable food, I decided to come south as soon as possible after the lunchtime match. I did get lunch of sorts from the M & S in the town.
Quiche And Lemonade On A Bitterly Cold Day
It was bitterly cold and I ate it in the gardens in from of the Crown Court. But hey, two of my family’s bloodlines are Jewish and Huguenot and I reckon at times, they’d have found my simple lunch a veritable feast.
A couple of weeks before, I’d tried to book a First Class ticket from Middlesbrough to Kings Cross, but found the prices rather stratospheric, so in the end I bought a reasonably priced First Class ticket from Middlesbrough to Peterborough changing at York, from where I could get a Great Northern train into London.
I had assumed that the difficult availability of tickets was because of the England-Scotland match at Twickenham and at no time did the on-line booking process on East Coast inform me of the real reason for a ticket shortage.
It was only, when I caught the Virgin Trains East Coast train at York, did the staff inform me of the reason. The East Coast Main Line was subject to engineering work and we’d be using a diversion.
Unlike some other companies, East Coast’s gluten-free offering is non-existent, so I was getting hungrier by the hour, as we were shown the delights of the GNGE in the dark.
As the train was going on to Kings Cross and there were plenty of empty seats, I asked the conductor if I could buy a ticket to complete the journey on the train, rather than decamping at Peterborough to purchase a ticket for another train.
Astronomic prices were mentioned, which bore no relation to the twenty pounds or so, my phone said I would need to spend on-line for a Standard Class ticket. So I got off and bought a ticket in the Booking Office for around ten pounds for Great Northern. Incidentally, the Off-Park Single with a Railcard for East Coast is £14.75. So where did a price of three times that come from?
I finally arrived in London six hours after I left Middlesbrough. To cap it all, the only gluten-free food left in M & S at Kings Cross was one packet of sandwiches.
I could say the sandwiches were stale to add colour to this tale! But they were excellent!
If the works on the line had been flagged up when I tried to book the ticket, I would have only used East Coast as a last resort. After all, I could have gone via Sheffield or Manchester, where I can at least get something to eat. The Booking Office clerk at Peterborough had told me that they have to tell personal callers that there are problems! So why not on the web?
The conductor on the train, said it was all my fault, as I should have gone to Kings Cross, to read all the information about engineering works. Doesn’t that remove one of the advantages of booking on-line?
If you say you want to collect a ticket from a station that is not the starting point of your journey, the train purchase web sites ask you if this is what you want to do. Surely, a warning if there are works or likely delays on your route could be similarly indicated.
The real losers in this tale are Virgin Trains East Coast, as they had an empty seat between Peterborough and Kings Cross, for which I would probably have paid a reasonable amount. Next time I go to York or Doncaster where there is an alternative, I will also probably use it.
Rules For Using German Trains
Deutche Bahn is not the most difficult railway system to use, but from the German part of my trip, it is worthwhile following a few rules.
1. Learn to use the ticket machines
The standard DB ticket machines work well, and as well as issuing tickets are a good way of finding the train to do a later or next day journey.
2. Don’t expect the same frequency you get in the UK
I’ve just looked up Kassel to Frankfurt and compared to say Norwich to London, which is a similar journey, there are perhaps half the trains.
Because of this always make sure you plan the train you are going to use for the next leg of the journey before say you explore something you’ve come to see.
Turn up and go often means a two-hour wait for even the simplest journey.
As an example, at Darmstadt I checked and found the next-but-one direct train to Karlsruhe left in three hours, which was good for my break and explore in the city. So I bought the ticket there and then.
There were other trains, but they meant going back to Frankfurt to get an ICE. These tickets were more expensive.
3. Use the regional trains
As I did between Kassel and Frankfurt, don’t ignore the regional trains, as often they are cheaper and usually pretty comfortable, and often with a panoramic view from a top deck. They may be a bit slower, but often they are less crowded.
4. Take as little luggage as you can
Often German trains are not the level access we see so often in the UK, like on the Overground, so cut your luggage to a minimum, unless you want to lug cases up and down steps.
5. Be prepared for lots of steps
Some stations have lifts and escalators, but most just have steps and some are exceedingly long.
6.Plan your route in detail before you leave
7. Investigate the Bahn cards
If you do a lot of travel on German trains, a Bahn card may be a good idea.
8. Don’t expect to see helpful staff
You do occasionally, but usually you’re left to your own devices and the excellent ticket machines. And if things go really wrong, like they did for me last year at Osnabruck, you won’t get a hotel.
9. A warning about on-line ticketing
When you buy on-line there is no problem and I think it can sometimes be cheaper than a machine. But as in some UK machines for shorter journeys the machines now give a best price, if you discount a specific advanced purchase.
I bought my ticket for Brussels to Kassel on-line before I left and as Deutsche Bahn don’t accept Amex, which is my usual travel card, on-line, I used another credit card.
The ticket inspector needed to see this, as of course I didn’t have an identity card. I don’t think passports are acceptable, as your identity card must be entered in the on-line purchase.
These sort of rules, are perhaps a good reason to use the ticket machines for all shorter journeys.
Conclusion
Work out your methods and at least plan your route before you leave. But don’t bother to buy lads of individual tickets, as German trains do seem to drop me in it, more than say Virgin, East Midlands or First Great Western.
From Kassel To Frankfurt
I could have taken a German ICE train from Kassel to Frankfurt, but I took a regional train, hoping to get some good views from the top deck.
Unfortunately, as the pictures show, the weather wasn’t that good. But you do see the countryside better from the high position and the comfort and ride is of the same standard as something like the ubiquitous Class 377 in the UK.
One reason I took this train, was that I’d been told by the lady in the Tourist Office in Kassel to buy a Hesse Ticket.
My Hesse Ticket
I thought it was a bit steep at €33 for twenty-four hours, but it did include the buses and trams in Frankfurt and the train between the two cities.
The price actually included up to five passengers. But there is no similar ticket for a person like me, who usually travels alone.
How visitor-friendly is that?
Travel First Class For Less Than Standard
I’ve just booked my train ticket for the Rotherham Ipswich match next Saturday on East Midland Trains.
Coming back, the First Class ticket was actually four pounds less than Standard.
It’s actually costing me £38.25 with a Senior Railcard for the First Class Return. Typically, I pay £35.45 for a First Class Return to Ipswich, which is a journey that normally takes under half the time of one to Rotherham.
Musical Buses In Malta
Malta has an efficient bus network and as everybody speaks English and seem to believe in Old World courtesy and common sense, using them is very easy.
It is an ideal place to play musical buses, where you get on a bus see where it goes, explore the destination and then get another.
You pay a flat daily charge of €1.50 and the driver gives you a ticket, which you show on all future journeys. This fare system could in the future be modified with the appropriate reader, to accept bank cards as tickets.
The bus company is the same as that that runs the 38, I regularly use in London; Arriva.
Some bus systems are impenetrable to visitors, but in Malta, buses are easier to use than those in say Manchester or Sheffield.
How To Make The Most Of Trains From London
Many people come to London and I’ve met several who have thought about going to say Stratford upon Avon, Bristol or Cambridge, but have not known how to get the tickets in the most affordable manner.
So here’s a few rules.
1. Get Yourself An Oyster Card
Oyster Cards are preloaded with cash, which can then be used to pay for your journeys.
You can use Oyster over a wide area and on many modes of transport.
Most London attractions are within the scope of an Oyster.
Buying a card is easy.
- Use an automatic machine at any Underground station.
- If you come in to the UK on Eurostar you buy one on the train, which avoids the queues at St. Pancras
- You can also buy one on-line
You can also use a contactless bank card instead of Oyster. I watch the media for problems with this technology, which gives the same price as Oyster, and I’ve yet to read a negative story.
If you’re only in London for a few hours or a day or so, you can always buy a Travelcard, if you don’t want to use Oyster or a contactless bank card.
2. Learn To Use London’s Buses
Londoners and many of those who live in the city, use buses regularly, as they are often more convenient than the Underground. Often they are the quickest way to get from a budget hotel a few miles out to the centre.
Remember though that London’s buses do not take cash, so you’ll either have to use an Oyster card, a Travelcard or a contactless back card.
In London most bus shelters double as information kiosks, with bus spider maps and sometimes an electronic display detailing the next few buses. Each bus stop also has a five digit code, that can be texted to 87287 to get information on the next few buses.
3. Learn To Use National Rail Enquiries
I get it on my smart phone by typing National Rail into the browser.
National Rail Enquiries
The picture shows the journey planner, where I am requesting trains from London to Ipswich. It is also available on the Internet.
When planning a train journey always use this tool.
Although as UK rail data is now being made freely available to developers, I suspect that some very good free apps will appear.
Call me cynical if you like, but I would never use any tool or app, that was provided by a company that was a ticket agent.
4. If You’re Entitled To One Get Yourself A Railcard
I am over sixty and am thus entitled to a Senior Railcard. It costs thirty pounds for a year and gives me a third off all UK rail travel, including trains like the Caledonian Sleeper.
If you are not a UK national, all you need to get one, is the charge and a valid passport, with your brth date on it.
A recently-introduced product is the Two Together Railcard, which gives one third off for two people over sixteen travelling together. It can be ordered on-line, but it must be delivered to a UK address.
Railcards are in need of sorting out, as there are quite a few. If you think you might be entitled to one and will be doing a lot of travelling on trains, go and talk to someone in a Ticket Office at a slack time.
5. Never Use An On-Line Ticket Agency
Type something like “Train Tickets From London to Ipswich” and you’ll probably get a ticket agent company. I never deal with these companies and they are a waste of space.
I also believe strongly, that someone who works for one of these companies sold my address and e-mail address details to someone, who was less than honest.
I may be tarring them all with the same brush, but they are leeches, who don’t provide any service you can’t get from the train companies themselves. You’ll also often pay a booking fee for the privilege.
Whether you buy your ticket on-line, from a ticket machine or personally at a booking office, try to buy it from the company who is providing the trains.
There is one exception to this, which I suspect will broaden with time.
I live close to Dalston Junction station on the London Overground. This sister company to London Underground has recently installed ticket machines that allow you to buy National Rail Tickets between any two National Rail stations at the best price. I suspect over the next few years these new ticket machines or similar ones will be rolled out all over London.
For visitors, who don’t have English as a first language, these machines also work in several common alternative languages.
This will make getting tickets so easy for visitors. Although, you’ll still need to find out your route!
6. Buy Tickets On-Line In Advance If You Can
There are effectively two forms of Advance ticket.
The first is just an ordinary ticket that you buy a couple of days or so before you need. If say, I was going to see Ipswich at Bolton and then perhaps having supper with a friend in Manchester, who is notoriously unreliable on punctuality, I would buy an ordinary Off Peak Manchester to London ticket to get me home.
On the other hand if I knew that I would be catching the 20:15 Virgin, I would book an Advance Ticket, that tied me to a particular train. Which can be a nuisance if you get delayed.
Incidentally, I’ve just bought a First Class Advance ticket from London to Manchester and a Standard Class Off Peak to get back on Saturday week. The first is tied to the 08:40 train cost £25.10 and the second is allowed on any train and cost £26.30. These prices are with a Railcard.
I buy quite a few Advance tickets on line and pick them up at any convenient station. As an example of the price savings, a Standard Class Off Peak Single from Manchester to London costs £78.70, but an Advance Ticket for a week from now costs £35.30. With a Railcard these tickets are a third less.
A few points to note.
1. Always use the same credit card for train tickets and make sure you make a note of the 8-character pick-up code.
2. I ask for the tickets to be collected at my local station, Dalston Junction. But in fact you can pick them up from any UK Rail and most London Overground stations, provided you have the right card and code. One day, I forgot the code and a friendly Ticket Office guy, located the ticket and gave it to me on production of the correct credit card.
I would like feedback, where someone from Switzerland say, bought a ticket on-line for say a trip from Gatwick to Nottingham, which they picked up at Gatwick.
7. Which Train Company And London Terminus Should You Use?
This is a list of UK postcodes with their major towns and cities and the train companies
AB – Aberdeen – East Coast
AL – St. Abans – Govia Thameslink Railway
B – Birmingham – Chiltern Railways, London Midland or Virgin Trains
BA – Bath – First Great Western
BB – Blackburn – Virgin Trains
BD – Bradford – East Coast or Grand Central
BH – Bournemouth – South West Trains
BL – Bolton – Virgin Trains
BN – Brighton – Govia Thameslink Railway or Southern
BR – Bromley – South Eastern or London Overground
BS – Bristol – First Great Western
CA – Carlisle – Virgin Trains
CB – Cambridge – Govia Thameslink Railway or Greater Anglia
CF – Cardiff – First Great Western
CH – Chester – Virgin Trains
CM – Chelmsford – Greater Anglia
CO – Colchester – Greater Anglia
CR – Croydon – Govia Thameslink Railway or London Overground
CT – Canterbury – South Eastern
CV – Coventry – Virgin Trains or London Midland
CW – Crewe – Virgin Trains or London Midland
DA – Dartford – South Eastern
DD – Dundee – East Coast
DE – Derby – East Midlands Trains
DG – Dumfries – Virgin Trains
DH – Durham – East Coast
DL – Darlington – East Coast
DN – Doncaster – East Coast or Grand Central
DT – Dorchester – South West Trains
DY – Dudley – Virgin Trains
EH – Edinburgh – East Coast or Virgin Trains
EN – Enfield – London Underground, London Overground, Greater Anglia or Govia Thameslink Railway
EX – Exeter – First Great Western or South West Trains
FK – Falkirk – East Coast or Virgin Trains
FY – Blackpool – Virgin Trains
G – Glasgow – Virgin Trains or East Coast
GL – Gloucester – First Great Western
GU – Guildford – South West Trains
HA – Harrow – London Underground, London Overground or London Midland
HD – Huddersfield – Virgin Trains or East Coast
HG – Harrogate – East Coast
HP – Hemel Hempstead – London Midland
HR – Hereford – First Great Western
HS – Outer Hebrides – Virgin Trains plus ferry
HU – Hull – Hull Trains or East Coast
HX – Halifax – East Coast
IG – Ilford – Greater Anglia
IP – Ipswich – Greater Anglia
IV – Inverness – East Coast
KA – Kilmarnock – Virgin Trains
KT – Kingston upon Thames – South West Trains
KW – Kirkwall – East Coast or Virgin Trains plus ferry
KY – Kirkcaldy – East Coast or Virgin Trains
L – Liverpool – Virgin Trains or London Midland
LA – Lancaster – Virgin Trains
LD – Landrindod Wells – First Great Western
LE – Leicester – East Midlands Trains
LL – Llandudno – Virgin Trains
LN – Lincoln – East Coast
LS – Leeds – East Coast
LU – Luton – Govia Thameslink Railway or East Midlands Trains
M – Manchester – Virgin Trains
ME – Rochester – South Eastern
MK – Milton Keynes – Virgin Trains or London Midland
ML – Motherwell – Virgin Trains
NE – Newcastle upon Tyne – East Coast
NG – Nottingham – East Midlands Trains
NN – Northampton – Virgin Trains or London Midland
NP – Newport – First Great Western
NR – Norwich – Greater Anglia
OL – Oldham – Virgin Trains
OX – Oxford – First Great Western
PA – Paisley – Virgin Trains
PE – Peterborough – Govia Thameslink Railway or East Coast
PH – Perth – East Coast
PL – Plymouth – First Great Western
PO – Portsmouth – South West Trains
PR – Preston – Virgin Trains
RG – Reading – First Great Western
RH – Redhill – Govia Thameslink Railway
RM – Romford – Greater Anglia
S – Sheffield – East Midlands Trains
SA – Swansea – First Great Western
SG – Stevenage – Govia Thameslink Railway or East Coast
SK – Stockport – Virgin Trains
SL – Slough – First Great Western
SM – Sutton – Govia Thameslink Railway
SN – Swindon – First Great Western
SO – Southampton – South West Trains
SP – Salisbury – South West Trains
SR – Sunderland – East Coast or Grand Central
SS – Southend-on-Sea – Greater Anglia or C2C
ST – Stoke-on-Trent – Virgin Trains
SY – Shrewsbury – Virgin Trains
TA – Taunton – First Great Western
TD – Galashiels – East Coast
TF -Telford – Virgin Trains or London Midland
TN- Tonbridge – South Eastern
TQ – Torquay – First Great Western
TR – Truro – First Great Western
TS – Cleveland – East Coast or Grand Central
TW – Twickenham – South West Trains
UB – Southall – First Great Western
WA – Warrington – Virgin Trains
WD – Watford – London Underground, London Overground or London Midland
WF – Wakefield – East Coast or Grand Central
WN – Wigan – Virgin Trains
WR – Worcester – First Great Western
WS – Walsall – Virgin Trains
WV – Wolverhampton – Virgin Trains
YO – York – East Coast
ZE – Lerwick – East Coast or Virgin Trains plus ferry
Notes
1. Where two or more train companies are listed, they are in my order of preference.
2. With some of the Scottish islands, you’ll need to take a ferry to complete the journey.
This is a list of the train companies with some of their strengths and pitfalls.
Terminus – Marylebone
Strengths – Some very comfortable trains, reliable, affordable and free wi-fi everywhere
Weakness – Marylebone isn’t the easiest terminus to get to.
Notes
1. Slower, but more comfortable and pleasant to Birmingham
Terminus -Fenchurch Street
Strengths – Reliable and affordable
Weakness – Fenchurch Street isn’t the easiest terminus to get to.
Terminus – Kings Cross
Strengths – Some comfortable trains and fast
Weakness – The overhead line is always failing.
Notes
1. Some places like Huddersfield, Burnley and Halifax can be served by East Coast from Leeds or Virgin from Manchester or Preston
2. There is a certain amount of overlap between East Coast and Grand Central
Terminus – St. Pancras
Strengths – Some comfortable trains
Weaknesses – The Meridian trains and lack of late services back to London.
Terminus – Paddington
Strengths – Comfortable trains, fast and the Pullman Dining.
Weakness – Nothing obvious
Through Stations – St.Pancras, Fsrringdon and London Bridge
Strengths – Competent
Weakness – The line is a building site because of Thameslink.
Terminus – Kings Cross
Strengths – Some comfortable trains and affordable
Weakness – The overhead line is always failing.
Notes
1. There is a certain amount of overlap between East Coast and Grand Central.
Terminus – Kings Cross
Strengths – Good service, affordable and not affected by overhead line problems
Weakness – Not the best trains!
Terminus – Liverpool Street
Strengths – Lots of services and some good trains.
Weakness – Inferior service
Terminus – London Bridge, Victoria and St. Pancras
South West Trains
Terminus – Euston
Going to – Birmingham, Blackpool, Chester, Crewe, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Woverhampton, Carlisle, North Wales, Glasgow and Western Scotland
Notes.
1. Some places like Birmingham, Crewe and Liverpool are also served by London Midland.
2. Birmingham and the West Midlands are also served by Chiltern Railways.
3. Some places like Huddersfield, Burnley and Halifax can be served by East Coast from Leeds or Virgin from Manchester or Preston
First Class On Greater Anglia
I needed to go to my dentist in Felixstowe and then on to the evening’s match at Portman Road, so I took one of Greater Anglia’s Mark 3 services in mid-morning.
The coaches don’t have the style of the new First Great Western First Class, but I did get a large table to lay out my paper, unlike on Saturday’s Virgin to Manchester.
The trolley also came round twice and I had a welcoming cup of tea.
Incidentally, I had bought the First Class Off Peak Return at Dalston Junction from the ticket machine, the previous evening for £35.40.
That is the same as the best Internet price from Greater Anglia’s website. The return half has a validity of a month too, so you get the best value, if perhaps you’re going away for a few days.
We need ticket machines, like the ones on the London Overground all over London and the rest of the UK.
Buying Cheap Tickets If You Have A Freedom Pass
I talked about the Overground’s clever ticket machines in August and now for a lot of trips outside of London, I buy my ticket at an Overground station, as I get a better price than on-line and one that is only matched in a Ticket Office. There is no hassle, little wait and I don’t have to write down that impossible-to-remember eight character code.
Yesterday I went to Twyford from London and back for just £5.55.
Tickets And Passes For Twyford
Or should I say the Zone 6 Boundary, which is the limit of my Freedom Pass.
Today it was Shenfield for £3.95.
These new ticket machines that give you best value, should be rolled out everywhere.
The Anonymous Widower 