Friends of the Rail Forum

Train passenger needed FOURTEEN tickets to complete simple round trip from Leeds to Leicester

- Rachel Woodward had two tickets for herself plus four seat reservations and eight other tickets for her bike
- The 28-year-old's experience prompted a review by rail bosses who admitted the paperwork was 'excessive'

By MARTIN ROBINSON
PUBLISHED: 11:39 GMT, 26 June 2012 | UPDATED: 17:09 GMT, 26 June 2012
Daily Mail

A railway passenger was left stunned after she needed a staggering 14 tickets just for a simple return train trip.

Project manager Rachel Woodward, 28, booked the easy journey from Leeds to Leicester online, only to be bamboozled by a huge pile of paperwork.

When she arrived at the station she was shocked and confused when the machine spewed out 14 separate tickets for the £16.50 trip - plus a receipt.

The pile included two tickets for herself, four seat reservations, four tickets for her bike as well as four further bike reservations.

This stack of tickets was needed to cover Rachel changing trains at Sheffield and for her return journey home.

Ms Woodward has said the amount of tickets was 'confusing' as she did not know which one to show at the barrier or show the guard on board the train.

And now the Association of Train Companies say they are looking at reducing the amount of tickets passengers need as a result.

The 28-year-old, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, said: 'When I was at the machine the tickets would just not stop coming out.

'At first I thought there was something wrong because there were 15 bits of card.

'There were ticket reservations for me, ticket reservations for my bike, and because we changed trains and it was a return trip there more and more tickets.'

She added: 'It’s confusing because with 14 tickets I wasn’t sure which one I needed for the automatic barrier.

'When the guard came on board to check my ticket he had to go through them all and help me give him the correct one.

'I think it’s also really wasteful, especially at a time when people are becoming more conscious of the environment.

'I don’t see why we can’t have an Oyster card like in London or a bit of paper with a barcode on it.'

A spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: 'We’ve used these tickets since the 1980s and we are looking at updating how things are done.

'Fourteen tickets does seem excessive, I’ve never heard of that many before.

'We would like to redesign tickets to make them easier to understand and be more efficient.'

THE TICKET TOTAL FOR 200-MILE RETURN TRIP

2x passenger tickets
4x seat reservations
4x cycle tickets
4x cycle reservations
TOTAL = 14 tickets

I had to laugh while reading the posting above.
Unbelievable. Really funny but I think they have to do it easier.

Andreas, the UK train ticketing system is often very confusing to anyone living there, not just to visitors.

For example, as I found out, buying an "off-peak" ticket and starting a journey during "off-peak" time does not necessarily mean that one can complete that entire journey either without enduring massive delays or paying a huge surcharge. If one changes trains (as is often necessay) and it has now become "peak time" then one either must wait until the end of that peak time or else pay a huge peak fare surcharge.

One would have thought that an "off-peak" fare would have been valid for an entire contiguous journey, including any necessary train changes, even if that journey runs into peak time, provided that one commenced the journey during the off-peak period. But NO, not so. One is prevented from boarding a peak time train with an "off-peak" ticket, even if it is a required train change that forms an integral part of a contiguous journey to the destination printed on the ticket.

Hmmm - I have never really had a problem.

But TIP - I generally use the human ticket sellers instead of the machines if I am not 100% sure what I am doing - and they generally are really great and sort me out with the releavant tickets etc with no fuss or subsequent travel inconvenience. Yes, the system is very complex, so I use the experts!!!! And I think an expert one has to be!

Although there is also evidence that the human ticket sellers are not complete experts. Rail enthusiasts who pore over the various ticketing websites are often able to come up with cheaper options than they are offered at the ticket window. But I agree that generally the ticket sellers are helpful and give a reasonable deal.

Steve, Kevin & John,
it is all interesting what you wrote and I think you have (are) all right.

In Germany we have special tickets for the weekend. It is called "Schönes Wochenendticket" and you can travel through Germany,
but only on trains for the local traffic. That means you may not use the IC, EC, ICE trains with that ticket.
You can have a look here:

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/prices/index.shtml

Than look at that site for "Regional tickets within Germany"
There are many informations about the conditions and prices.

There are also special tickets during the week, but they are not to use before 9h00.

Would be nice when someone of you will come to Germany to let me know via pm or so. Maybe we can meet if I've got time then.