Atomic Systems

Central Trains have withdrawn cheap day returns thus making it 50% dearer to go from Nottingham to Birmingham or Peterborough. So much for their giveaway promotion. Have other rail companies withdrawn CDR's?

TOC's can't get rid of the Cheap Day Return, it was in the agreement left by BR. However they can get rid of thier promotional fares that they brought up.

I was wondering when this would pop up, i saw this while trauling through the papers at work, i was hoping it was a joke, but this is expected from National Extortion, they could'nt run a franchise to save there lives. that means i can't go to the SVR diesel gala now! ,YAARRRRGGGGGHHH :bad-words: .

i'll have a look at the National Fares Manual at work tomorrow.

It's possible they've got rid of thier 7 day and 3 day advance fares that they had.

I think Ed is right what has been curtailed are the Central specific "Value" fares which they are quite within their rights to do. Here in Norfolk the Norwich to Birmingham CT specific advance purchase ticket has virtually ceased to exist except on some very restricted and effectively useless timings, leaving just the extortionate Saver and Open fares.

Probably down to demand outstripping capacity on their trains, or the need to show a better financial return.

Just had a look at the Central Trains website.

Central Trains wrote:The changes are part of the company’s review of all of its Cheap Day tickets which has been ongoing for the last two years. The September changes affect the prices or availability of 14 Cheap Day Return ticket options currently available. In total there are 33,000 Cheap Day fares set by Central Trains on its services, of which around half relate to journeys over 50 miles.

Does make sense, bit different in the London and South East Area as London can be reached in around 2 - 3 hours which is good for a day trip. But might be different in other areas where people don't really want to travel far for a day trip.

central trains wrote: The 14 changes mean that 9 Cheap Day Return tickets will see price increases (at an average increase of 25%) to bring prices in line with the average cost of a journey with Central Trains.

The remaining 5 changes will see Cheap Day Returns withdrawn (on journeys over 50 miles distance). Alternative discounted tickets - Saver and, on Central Citylink services, Central Trains’ own “Central Valueâ€

I'm from the Lincoln area and heard that central have had to hike their fares up to reduce over crowding on their trains.

The way the world works is an absolute farce! Rather than be able to add coaches to their trains and cater for the increased demand, central are having to raise prices in order to discourage the demand.

Sadly it takes less than six months to raise fares to stifle demand - it will take over twelve months to order and commission new stock, as well as cost more to run in terms of lease charges, track access, maintenance and the like, assuming there is anyone willing to fund the cost of construction.

I had a shock yesterday when out of curiosity I looked at the fares from Norwich to Birmingham on Central's website. They have a range of fares, with the CT Value fare, booked seven days in advance, at £26, rising to £35 for three day advance purchase, and £45 for a one day advance purchase, then the open saver at £55 and full open at a laughable £69.

I then tried to check availability. Oh dear, Central Trains are becoming the Ryanair of the train world - advertise low fares then only offer a handful of seats at that price. I randomly picked dates, some including an overnight stop, some including weekends, at a variety of times including early morning red-eyes and mid evening. I could not find a £26 seat available at any time in October. Nor, it seems a £35 fare before October 12th. Most trains I selected only had the £55 saver fare left.

I'll stick to the car for now. I still would like to know when the first available £26 return is, though. Next January, probably.

The lack of investment in Lincolnshire's railways is stunning (presumably that's why there's not enough rolling stock to combat overcrowding properly), whilst a huge amount has just been spent on 'improving' the A46 between Lincoln and Newark - paralleling one of Central's busiest routes in the area. Yep, that's really going to get people off the roads .

WAGN have got rid many of the Network Awaybreak prices on thier networks.

Only found this out on the APTIS machines this week. Quite dissapointing really as we sell quite alot of these tickets.

(For those who don't know, the Network Awaybreak is a ticket where you can stay for up to 4 nights. Where as the Saver lets you stay up to one calendar month.)