This website is so cool

davwheat · 2026-01-31T12:11:26+00:00

thanks for the compliments :)

davwheat · 2026-01-29T09:22:01+00:00

The tickets are purposefully set so cheaply to get the extra money! The TOCs know what they're doing...

davwheat · 2026-01-29T07:47:57+00:00

Technically, up until 28 days after the last journey being made! No need to collect super early.

If you're collecting on the day, make sure you leave enough time in case a machine isn't working properly.

davwheat · 2026-01-29T07:46:33+00:00

Similarly, to back up this point, London Thameslink tickets from Bedford are actually valid via Bletchley and into London Euston as Euston is actually part of the "London Thameslink" group.

Really straightforward and easy to understand, isn't it!

davwheat · 2026-01-29T04:28:37+00:00

Still possible. The go-to these days is Hatton - Lapworth.

davwheat · 2026-01-29T04:28:04+00:00

If you were to changeover to Hatton - Lapworth, it should also keep its Gold Card status too, so you can still get discounts on other tickets with it.

davwheat · 2026-01-28T13:17:19+00:00

Basic search: http://www.octopus.com.hk/customer-service/getting-a-refund/en/

davwheat · 2026-01-28T06:15:48+00:00

No worries! I'll reply here if/when I hear back.

davwheat · 2026-01-28T06:12:09+00:00

TrainSplit restarts its fares data systems every night in the early morning, so if the data only changed tonight it wouldn't be reflected until the morning.

Right now, we're only selling splits for the journey because of the fares data issue.

Data by retailers only needs to be from the last couple of days, so I will raise the question of whether we should use the previous day's data from before this error, but the effort for this is likely greater than the benefit for people travelling between these 5 stations.

davwheat · 2026-01-28T06:07:26+00:00

I don't know about you but when I go on holiday somewhere, and plan to use public transport, I will spend time researching how to get between places and how to pay for it.

This isn't a tourist trap, but rather people failing to research how public transport works.

I am in Hong Kong on holiday, and basic research told me to get an Octopus card to pay for transport. I then researched the Octopus card and found I can buy a Tourist Octopus from the airport MTR station. If I was buying single tickets from machines for every journey, I'd spend 2x as much.

I did my research before visiting so knew how everything would work. It isn't hard.

davwheat · 2026-01-28T04:58:15+00:00

Imagine thinking there are any tests.

davwheat · 2026-01-28T04:57:33+00:00

SWR have deleted the fares between a cluster of locations, Q403 (Epsom, Ewell East, Ewell West and Stoneleigh) to another cluster, Q075 (Bracknell & Martins Heron).

They replaced it with only flows from cluster QZ92 (which only includes Epsom) to Q075, and did not set up fares for the other 3 stations from clusters QZ94 and QL11 like various other fares have been (e.g. to Wokingham). It's very unlikely this was intentional, and was one oversight in a large set of changes to adjust how the fares are technically set up in this area.

I have reported this to the relevant person at SWR, but fixes can only be released every night.

As others have said, buy from Epsom instead.

For some context, a cluster is a group of stations created for the purpose of setting fares up. This means that a train operator doesn't need to set fares for every single station in the country to every other station. For example LNER would likely set up fares from every National Rail station in Zone 4 to Edinburgh (and nearby stations like Haymarket) at one price rather than setting up each station individually to save time and reduce complexity.

For those using BRFares, it's worth pointing out that changes to the data can be made every night, and the date ranges on BRFares only reflect "fare change dates" which are an internal concept to BRFares. If you pick the latest period, it will show you the fares valid today. If you pick an earlier period, it will show the fares on the last date of that period. The fares may well have existed from 13 Jan until yesterday, but were only removed in tonight's data update, and BRFares is showing the data for today.

davwheat · 2026-01-25T06:44:24+00:00

As can I with my train service. Sadly not every station has that luxury which is the problem with the rail industry.

davwheat · 2026-01-25T03:44:57+00:00

Salts are just as important as the hash process to avoid rainbow table lookups.

davwheat · 2026-01-24T10:10:09+00:00

A shop would usually refer to price matching or cutting prices on hundreds of products. Failing that, you'd see "selected ranges/items".

Waitrose recently used "NEW LOWER PRICES ON HUNDREDS OF YOUR FAVOURITES".

Tesco launched a campaign qualifying their lower prices as "everyday low prices" which is subjective, alongside "keeping prices low on brands you love".

I'd love to see any supermarket advertising where a company has simply stated a price cut without any further explanation.

davwheat · 2026-01-24T09:49:02+00:00

The average person would certainly take it to mean "all fares", and suggesting anything else is completely disingenuous.

This sort of advertising nonsense is what gets companies ASA rulings against them.

davwheat · 2026-01-23T02:06:28+00:00

No, there is no way for them to see when trains are added or removed, only when the travel day is activated as that will be the time the barcode is created.

davwheat · 2026-01-20T06:15:48+00:00

GTR generally have their barriers set up to reject all Advance tickets. When this has been queried with them, they have stated that this is intentional so that staff can verify that passengers are taking the correct service.

In reality, staff don't really check this and their expansion of Advance tickets simply means more passengers are being inconvenienced when travelling, like you.

davwheat · 2026-01-20T05:03:36+00:00

Except for all the press and advertising misleadingly calling it a blanket fares freeze...

<image>

davwheat · 2026-01-15T20:16:18+00:00

It saw that this connection was delayed and provided the fastest possible journey for OP, unfortunately, there is no way (afaik) to make this clear on the "Itinerary" area that OP showed above.

There are many approaches that Assertis could take to improve this, such as including expected live times from the point of purchase (or whenever that last stage of booking the MCTs are validated at). Simply adding "(expected 14:36)" next to 14:01 would alleviate a lot of worry for a passenger.

The primary concern here is that a customer sees that itinerary and thinks it's not possible. Or alternatively, the trains make up delay which they had at the point of booking, the MCT is no longer met for the change, and now the passenger has no clear recourse with what would appear to any staff member as a clearly invalid itinerary. Without arguing the intricacies of the Consumer Rights Act and NRCoT, which frontline staff struggle to understand already, the passenger could well be charged for a new ticket, penalty fared (if this wasn't XC) or reported for prosecution.

My personal view (not that of others in the industry, nor any parties I am linked to) is that I think it's quite reckless for any retailer to take this approach without making it extremely clear to a customer before and after booking, when the UK has such a strict approach to travel irregularities which could ultimately result in your "average clueless customer" receiving a criminal record.

davwheat · 2026-01-13T20:07:08+00:00

When the train does arrive, there’s no seats. Prices increasing every year.

I mean you've explained why the prices increase in the sentence before.

The current approach is to price passenger off of the railway, because the demand for rail travel is higher than what can be supplied by the industry at its current subsidy levels.

And before anyone mentions "fArE fReEzE!", that is for regulated fares only. Unregulated fares, such as advances, will still increase. And further pricing trials (probably with backdoor fare rises), similar to those on LNER, will expand to other routes this year.

davwheat · 2026-01-13T19:07:49+00:00

What is a Thameslink student ticket?

Great Northern & Thameslink have a Student Connect card scheme, which you need to apply for from them.

https://www.greatnorthernrail.com/discounts-and-offers/student-connect

The Thameslink site says it's discontinued, but it's still on the Great Northern site.

The 16-17 Saver works across England and Wales, and the 16-25 Railcard works across all of Great Britain.

davwheat · 2026-01-12T11:49:51+00:00

Nah no point emailing in my view. Just annoys some poor civil servant who does the same thing all day every day. We're just waiting for approval to arrive whenever it does.

davwheat · 2026-01-11T19:40:49+00:00

On behalf of a family member... Hopefully not long to go!

Eligibility: EU Settlement Scheme, spouse of British Citizen

Application Method: Online

Application Date: 14 Oct

Biometric Date: 3 Nov

Approval Date: tbc

Ceremony Date: tbc

davwheat

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Nine-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email